Oliver (Project Arma Book 7)

Oliver watched Tori from the corner of his eyes as he made grilled cheese sandwiches.

She was sitting on the couch, picking at the wrapping on her wrist. It had only been bandaged for a day and he could tell she was already getting frustrated by it.

He clenched his jaw as he placed the cheese on the bread. Her injury was his fault, and he hated that. He’d been distracted for a second. That was all it took.

Sage had been able to tell from the physical exam that it was just a strain. Lots of icing and rest were required. Didn’t help ease his guilt. The woman had already rolled her ankle and fallen into a river, and now this. He was doing a bang-up job of protecting her.

Shaking his head, he placed the sandwiches on the griddle.

He’d tried to distance himself from her. He’d spent a week torturing himself by doing just that. But yesterday, seeing the pain she’d tried to hide creeping into her eyes, the desolation, it damn near tore his heart in two.

Tori had thought she was working for a government agency. She hadn’t intentionally worked for the wrong side. And Kye was right, Oliver needed to quit beating himself up about letting a woman he barely knew get close to him.

He shot a quick look at his watch. Kye would be here in five minutes to watch Tori while he trained. He needed to train. To blow off some steam. Exert his body. Exhaust himself. Even though it was damn near impossible.

He pulled the sandwiches off the griddle, plated them, and brought one to Tori.

“Thanks.” She lifted the plate. “I swear, the smell of grilled cheese is the most delicious smell in the world. I was drooling while it was cooking.”

Drooling should be a turnoff. When Tori said it, it wasn’t. Jeez, he was screwed.

“Grilled cheese is a favorite of mine, too. Although not sure I would go so far as labeling it the most delicious smell in the world.”

If they were talking anything, non-specific to food, then there was definitely a certain woman whose scent drove him crazy. She had more of a cinnamon and strawberry kind of smell to her.

“How’s your wrist feeling today?”

Tori lifted a shoulder. “I barely feel it. The bandaging is more itchy than anything. Sage did say it was pretty mild.” She looked at him, sandwich halfway to her mouth. “You’re not beating yourself up about it, are you?”

Yeah, he definitely was. “I should have protected you from the injury.”

Her eyes softened. “I’m okay. It’s more annoying than anything.”

Oliver nodded. It still shouldn’t have happened. Not under his watch. “Have you remembered anything about Hylar?”

And just like that, the light in her eyes dimmed. “No.”

Footsteps sounded outside seconds before Kye walked in. “I can smell that grilled cheese from the street. Tell me you made your best bud one.”

Tori chuckled. “I tried to tell him it was the best smell in the world.”

Oliver pointed to the kitchen. “Yours is on the island.”

Kye’s smile broadened. “You know me too well.”

You didn’t need to know Kye that well to know the man had an appetite.

Kye took a seat on the other side of the couch. “How we holding up today? Any more injuries to add to the ankle and wrist? Did you try headbutting his hard head today?”

Oliver mumbled under his breath while Tori chuckled again. Her laugh was lyrical. Like a damn bird song.

“Not yet,” Tori said in between bites. “But the day’s still young, give it time.”

“There won’t be any more injuries,” Oliver growled.

Tori nodded. “Yeah, let’s hope he doesn’t make me want to hit him. It’s like punching a brick wall.”

Kye shook his head. “Wish people knew I was built like a brick wall. Would save them a lot of broken bones.”

Tori grinned. “You get punched a lot?”

Oliver scoffed. “Not nearly enough.” A cushion hurled his way. Oliver caught to easily. “The guy likes to rile people up. They get mad.”

“That’s why I don’t widen my circle of friends.” Kye put his already empty plate on the table. “These guys have a good lid on their temper. Well, except for Hunter. I don’t piss that guy off.”

The small frown that creased Tori’s brow was cute. “Hunter. And you’re Cage.” She turned to Oliver. “Why do they call you Ax?”

“My middle name is Axel. Oliver Axel Bolten. The guys thought Oliver was too long and didn’t shorten well.”

Kye laughed. “We’re a lazy bunch, us military guys.”

Tori paused, seeming to mull something over in her head. “Maybe…” She stopped.

“What is it?”

“Maybe my middle name is Tori.”

Oliver shot a look to Kye and then back to Tori. “You don’t think Tori’s your first name?”

She lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. It doesn’t sound all that familiar for me to introduce myself as Tori. And no one has been able to locate a Tori near where I was found.”

They’d assumed that if her name wasn’t Tori, she would have remembered by now. But maybe not.

“Did Carter or your friend Samantha call you Tori in your dreams?” Kye asked, voicing the very question Oliver was about to ask.

Tori’s face dropped. “Yeah. Samantha did.”

Not promising. But still… “It’s a good thought. We can look into it.”

One side of her mouth lifted.

Oliver stood, taking his and Kye’s plates to the kitchen. “I’m going to head out now. You guys all good?”

Kye shifted closer to Tori, throwing an arm over her shoulders. “We’re good. Thanks.”

Oliver’s gaze narrowed to where he was touching her. He could see the laughter in his friend’s eyes. Could Kye tell Oliver was a second away from breaking his damn arm?

Luckily, Tori put down her sandwich and stood, walking toward him, saving Kye an injury.

Reaching up, she surprised Oliver by pecking him on the cheek. Christ, that small touch of her lips had him wanting more. Wanting to draw the woman into his arms and drag her upstairs.

“You really like him, huh?”

Tori’s head swiveled around at Kye’s words. “I do.” Even though he was stubborn as a mule and damn good at pushing her away, he’d been sweet the last twenty-four hours.

His mood changes were kind of giving her whiplash, though.

She turned back to the sink and rinsed her plate. She was about to place it in the dishwasher when suddenly Kye was beside her, taking the dish from her fingers and doing it for her. “Not gonna lie. I’m a big fan of the single life, and I assumed Oliver would be in it with me for the long haul.”

Tori’s heart kicked. “Assumed? Past tense?”

“Yeah. Not sure that’s the case anymore.” He winked at her.

Warmth filtered through Tori. “Aren’t you scared of what might happen if he trusts me and I’m not the person he thought I was?”

They had her memories but not her entire identity.

Kye was silent for a moment. “My gut tells me I can trust you. I’m rarely wrong.”

Tori laughed, grabbing a glass from the counter and passing it to him. “Everyone’s wrong sometimes.”

“Guess I’m not everyone.”

“None of you are,” Tori mumbled. They weren’t even close to being like everyone else.

Kye cracked a smile. “I never liked to fit the mold anyway.”

“Does it bother you? What they did to you?”

“It bothers me that my brothers were put at risk. That they had drugs injected into their bodies, which could have gone a different way.” He paused. “Those guys mean everything to me. If they’d died…” A menacing look crossed his face. The team joker temporarily missing.

She tilted her head to the side. “What about you? You could have died.”

“I voluntarily became a Navy SEAL, knowing it was a dangerous job. Death doesn’t scare me.”

“But losing people you love does?”

“Yes.”

His team was his family. And their lives meant more to him than his own. That was love right there.

Tori grabbed a towel and dried her hands. “Mind if I go upstairs and have a bath?” She was loving the deep tub in the bathroom connected to her room.

Kye headed into the living room, dropping onto the couch. “Go for it. If you hear the doorbell, it’s the food I ordered from Joan’s Diner.”

“You just had a grilled cheese sandwich!”

He popped his feet onto the coffee table, looking totally relaxed in Oliver’s home. “I didn’t know the man was going to make me food. Was I hopeful? You bet. But I wasn’t going to rely on it. And even if I did know, I probably still would have ordered more. This body doesn’t fuel itself. It requires sustenance.”

She smiled and headed toward the stairs. God, the man was a riot. “Okay.”

“Want me to save you some fries?”

Tempting. But with the time she planned to soak in the tub, the fries would be dead cold. “No thanks.”

Tori jogged upstairs and went to her bathroom, locking the door after her. What were the chances Oliver kept bath salts in his guest bathroom? Slim, but maybe…

Crouching down, she rummaged through the cupboard. When her hands slid over a small jar of salts, she almost thought her eyes were deceiving her. She shook her head. “Oliver, you surprise me.”

Moving to the tub, Tori turned on the tap. It had only been running for seconds when the doorbell rang downstairs. She could just imagine Kye right now, the smile on his face as he collected his second lunch.

Chuckling to herself, she grabbed her phone from her pocket. Well, Oliver’s phone, if she was being technical. She was about to place it on the side of the tub when a thump sounded from downstairs.

Tori froze. The thump had been loud enough for her to hear up a set of stairs and over the running water. What the heck had it been?

Switching the tap off, she took a small step toward the door. “Kye?”

She didn’t call his name loudly, knowing he would hear her anyway.

No response. No shouted words from downstairs that he was okay. Nothing.

Trepidation trickled down Tori’s spine. The sound could be nothing…

But a couple more seconds passed and there was still no word from Kye.

Lifting the phone, she clicked on Oliver’s number.

“Tori?”

She blew out a breath at his voice. “Hey, um, it might be nothing, but…”

Footsteps sounded on the stairs, causing her heart to jump into her throat. Heavy footsteps. They could be Kye’s—but something told her they weren’t.

“Tori, talk to me. What is it? Where’s Cage?”

She took a calming breath. “I was about to have a bath when I heard a thump from downstairs. I said Kye’s name, but he didn’t answer. Someone’s coming up now. I don’t think it’s him.”

A loud curse echoed through the line. “Lock the bathroom door. I’m turning the car around.”

A second later, the doorknob to the bathroom jiggled.

Tori jumped back, her gasp piercing the air. If the person was like Oliver, a locked door wouldn’t stop them.

“Talk to me, baby. What’s happening?”

She opened her mouth to respond, but the knob rattled a second time. She remained silent, waiting for the door to fly open. For Aiden or someone just as fierce to step in.

The knob went still. A beat of silence passed.

“They couldn’t break the lock.” She whispered the words, air whooshing out of her chest.

“Good. They’re not altered. You should be safe until I get there.”

Should be…nothing was certain though. Plenty of criminals could break bathroom locks.

“If they get in, be ready to fight.”

Her muscles tensed, going into fight-or-flight mode. There was nowhere to run. She had no choice but to fight.

You’ve got this, Tori. “Okay.”

There was a clinking noise from the other side of the door. It sounded like metal hitting metal. They were jimmying the lock. There was nothing she could do about it. Nothing but wait.

“They’re going to get in.” An odd calm settled over her as she whispered the words. Another curse sounded from Oliver. “I’m going to put you on speaker and set the phone on the counter.”

The sound of an engine revving roared through the phone. “Dammit! Be careful, honey.”

Tori did as she’d promised, then she bent and rummaged through the cupboard. She’d seen antiperspirant spray a second ago.

When it came into view, she grabbed it and removed the lid. Then she climbed onto the counter beside the door and waited. She’d have one shot. One chance to take him by surprise. If she failed, she would lose the upper hand.

More rattling. More clinking.

Then the door flew open. A man in a black sweatshirt with a hood over his head stepped into the small room.

Before he could take a second step, Tori sprayed the guy in the eyes.

He cried out, grabbing at his face.

She quickly shot a leg out, nailing the guy in the head. He fell sideways, slamming to the floor, a knife slipping from his fingers.

Jumping off the counter, Tori grabbed the knife before running out of the room and toward the stairs.

She’d made it to the top step when he pulled her backward before sending her to her stomach. The knife flew from her fingers, landing on the second stair, just out of reach.

Her arms were yanked roughly behind her back. When her injured wrist twisted hard, she cried out in pain.

Something was wrapped around her wrists. Something hard and plastic. She attempted to yank her wrists away but couldn’t.

Though she wasn’t about to stop fighting.

She tried pushing back against him, twisting around. It was impossible. The guy’s weight pinned her to the floor, immovable.

He pulled tighter on what had to be a zip-tie. She whimpered as the plastic bit into her flesh. Cutting into her already injured wrist.

He breathed heavily into her ear. “Gotcha.”

He pulled her to her feet. Still, she struggled. Kicking and writhing in his hold. He eased her down a step just as she threw her weight back.

The man stumbled, hitting the balustrade. Tori threw her head back, nailing him in the nose. The guy reeled back farther. Then she shot a foot backward, getting him between the legs.

It worked. He immediately released her. Unfortunately, in the process, he doubled over, shoving her down the stairs.

Tori had no hands to steady herself. No way to soften the fall. She tipped forward.