Oliver (Project Arma Book 7)

Oliver waited impatiently for Tori to finish her pasta. At least one thing hadn’t changed since he’d seen her last, she was still miles slower at eating than him. He’d finished his meal a good ten minutes ago and she was still going.

He’d tried to make light conversation, but everything so far had been stilted and awkward. Forced even. Too much anger was still pouring through his blood at Tori’s brush with danger. If he hadn’t gotten there when he had…

Oliver didn’t even want to think about that. He clenched his fists under the table. He should have followed her back to her motel on Monday. At least then he would have learned that she was staying at The Duck Motel.

The place wasn’t safe. It was dangerous during the day. At night, it was a damn death trap, particularly for women. The scum of the town stayed there.

Oliver could have killed the men in her room. Easily. He could have torn them apart and not batted an eyelid. They were not good people and wouldn’t be missed.

He’d only just stopped himself.

When Tori’s bowl was finally empty, Oliver cleared the table. Five minutes later and he was taking Tori’s small hand in his and leading her to the sofa.

He cut right to the chase. “What’s going on, Tori?”

She wet her lips. “I don’t remember—”

Oliver exhaled loudly, and she immediately stopped. He didn’t want to hear this same line again. As avoidance tactics went, it wasn’t a great one.

Tori leaned forward and touched his arm. “No, Oliver—I don’t remember anything. Not you. Not us. Maybe one or two childhood memories…but that’s it. I don’t even know who I am.”

Oliver studied her face, shocked.

She couldn’t be telling the truth…could she?

She was.

The woman hadn’t just forgotten his name. She’d forgotten almost every detail of her life. How the hell was that possible? “During our self-defense class—”

“My body reacted on autopilot, just like it did tonight when the first guy grabbed me.” Oliver’s jaw clenched. “I must have taken some self-defense classes or karate or something to know how to do that.”

She’d definitely learned it somewhere. “What do you remember?”

She rubbed her temple. “Inconsequential moments that contain no detail of my family or where I live or anything important.” She lowered her hand and shook her head. The woman looked beyond frustrated. “The doctors call it retrograde amnesia. It affects memories before the incident. They were optimistic the memory loss is temporary. That was the only good news.”

Amnesia? How had she acquired amnesia between when he’d seen her last and now?

Tori answered the question without him needing to voice it. “Damage was caused to the memory-storage area of my brain when I was shot.”

Oliver’s entire body flinched. “Shot?”

Her mouth opened and shut, but she didn’t say anything.

Oliver leaned forward and touched her arm. “Tori, did someone shoot you?”

She swallowed, and when she didn’t speak for another beat, Oliver thought he might lose his mind. Then she reached for her hair. Oliver was confused about what the hell she was doing. Until he saw it.

A wound. It wasn’t huge, but it was big enough to have required stitches.

“The bullet grazed your head.” He breathed as he gently touched her hair around the edges.

He’d seen bullet grazes before. As far as this one went, it wasn’t the worst. But the fact that she’d been shot at all…

Why?

She nodded. “Hikers found me floating in the Colorado River.”

A sick feeling hit his gut hard. He didn’t want to picture the woman in front of him floating unconscious in a river. Shot. Left for dead.

He had so many questions. Questions she would no longer be able to answer. More than that, he hated that she’d been hurt.

“How did you find me?”

Tori looked down at the couch as she fiddled with the edge of her shirt. “When I woke up in the hospital, all I had were my clothes. Inside my pockets, I had—”

She stopped mid-sentence.

“What was in your pockets, Tori?”

She sighed before looking up. “Ten thousand dollars and a note from you. That’s why I’m here. It’s how I know my name is Tori.”

If the note was in her pocket, either she’d kept it there since her last visit to Marble Falls, or…

“What day were you shot?”

Her nose wrinkled, like she was trying to piece her timeline together. “Next Tuesday marks four weeks since I woke up. Doctors told me I’d been unconscious for a couple of nights.”

Oliver’s heart pounded loud and hard in his chest. Sunday. She’d arrived unconscious at the hospital on a Sunday.

The same Sunday he’d said goodbye to her.

For a moment, he couldn’t speak.

Had his enemies tried to kill her because of him? Because she’d met him? Spent time with him?

Or maybe she’d already been connected to his enemies. Maybe their meeting wasn’t as random as he’d assumed.

“What is it, Oliver?”

His blood roared loudly in his ears, but he pushed it down. He pushed it all down.

“That Sunday you were taken to the hospital is the day you left my house. I kissed you goodbye at eight o’clock that morning, and last Monday was the next time I saw you.”

Her eyes widened. “So they’re probably connected? Me leaving here and…someone shooting at me? That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it?”

It was possible. So possible, his insides hurt. But he didn’t want to say that out loud. He couldn’t. She didn’t know his past. She didn’t know the enemy he and his team fought.

Or maybe she did…but she didn’t remember.

Oliver avoided answering her question by asking his own. “Police never found the person who shot you, or uncovered your identity?”

She shook her head. “They searched the bank of the river, but the person was long gone. There was no evidence to track him or her. They also did a search for anyone named Tori in the area and found nothing.”

From the outside, Oliver didn’t react to what she said at all. Internally, his mind was reeling.

Maybe they hadn’t found her because her name wasn’t Tori. It was possible the woman had given him a fake name the first time they met.

He was usually good at reading people. He damn well prided himself on it. He hadn’t suspected she was an enemy for a second. There’d been too much kindness in her eyes. Too much light.

Had he been wrong?

Oliver scrubbed a hand over his face. Jesus, he was confused. He’d spent a night with her. She hadn’t tried to hurt him, threaten him, anything.

Tori lowered her head as she continued. “When I woke up, the doctors were sure that someone would come and claim me. A parent. Friend. Someone who discovered I was missing. Once I was released, I stayed in a motel near the hospital. Waiting. Hoping someone would come. No one ever did.” Tori frowned, searching his face. “So you don’t know? Who I am?”

Oliver wished he did. “We bumped into each other at Joan’s Diner. There were no tables left and you asked if you could sit with me. We talked over our coffees. When we finished, we went for a walk. You told me you were passing through town for work, that you hadn’t been to Marble Falls before, so I offered to show you around. Ended up spending the day together. You stayed here that night.”

He didn’t want to think about that night right now. He’d felt like he’d connected with the woman. Over one night…how crazy was that? Now he was questioning everything.

A number of emotions scattered over her face. “What did I say I did for work?”

“Whenever I asked, you changed the subject.”

Damn, he was a fool. He’d let her distract him. Light touches to his arm. Leaning close and wreaking havoc on his system. He’d assumed he’d never see her again, so he hadn’t pushed. Right now, he could kick his own ass for that.

“Maybe I was unemployed and too embarrassed to tell you? No boss has come forward to say I didn’t show up for work.”

The uncertainty in her voice had him wanting to believe that. He knew she was telling the truth about her amnesia, and she’d clearly been through a traumatic experience.

But he needed to protect himself and his brothers first.

“Maybe. I have a friend who’s good at finding information. He might be able to help.”

Oliver had two friends who were good, actually. Both Wyatt and Evie were great at hacking systems that most couldn’t. Locating information they shouldn’t.

Tori didn’t look so convinced. “You think they might be able to find out who I am with just a first name?”

Oliver had no idea. “He might be able to use facial recognition. Or there might have been a missing person’s report filed that you don’t know about.”

She looked down. “I don’t know that the latter will do anything. Like I said, no employer came forward…and neither did any family.”

More vulnerability. More of his instincts wanting to trust the woman, though he shouldn’t.

When she blinked away the moisture in her eyes, Oliver couldn’t stop himself. Reaching over, he placed his fingers under her chin, tilting her head up. He waited for her gaze to meet his. “Someone is missing you. You have touched at least one person’s life in this world. Probably a hell of a lot more. I don’t have to know that…to know that.”

Some of her uncertainty lifted.

Like his hand had a mind of its own, it shifted from her chin to her cheek. Holding her. Cherishing her.

Tori leaned her face into his palm. His thumb swiped across her cheek. So damn soft.

Why did touching her feel so right? And why did he feel the need to soothe this woman, who was basically a stranger to him, when he knew damn well that she could be connected to Hylar?

“I wish I remembered you.” Tori spoke the words quietly. Like she was speaking to herself.

He almost wished he could forget their time together. The way her body fit so perfectly against his. The soft moans that had escaped her lips…

At the sudden tightening of his body, Oliver dropped his hand and leaned back.

He couldn’t touch her. She could be dangerous. Hell, she was dangerous. Just look at him. He was a mess around her.

Disappointment flashed over her face.

“I’ll make up the spare bed for you.”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

He stood before he touched her again. Because another five minutes in her company and he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop himself.

Yeah. She was definitely dangerous.