She took a shaky breath and coughed when she sucked some water into her lungs. Shoring up her defenses would be difficult, but she could do it. She’d done it before, and she’d do it again. Now, she just had to figure out how to protect her heart in the process.
“Baby girl, Rose?”
“Ca—Caleb?” So much for her resolve. Even the sound of his voice made her want to beg him to help her fix the mess that was her life. She reached for the shower curtain, but she didn’t look around it. She needed every available second to compose herself before she had to look him in the eye and lie her ass off.
He moved closer and stroked one finger over hers. “Are you okay?”
“No. No, I’m not.” Admitting she was not okay hadn’t been the plan at all.
One more day.
Just one more day, then I can be strong again.
Her seesawing emotions could not be allowed to make her make stupid choices, but the woman inside her craved comfort from him, and she just wasn’t strong enough to resist.
20
Caleb leaned over Trev’s shoulder and peered at the screen. He knew Trev wasn’t a fan of people leaning over him while he worked, but with Tex’s face taking up most of the screen on the wall, there wasn’t much choice.
Jesus, Rose was lucky to have escaped him.
His jaw clenched as Trev flipped through the images of two exes, both battered and bruised. “How was he not arrested?”
“They refused to press charges,” Tex confirmed. “I don’t know why the investigations were dropped. They could have pushed on anyway as they have those photos as evidence—” He stopped talking when a phone rang in the war-room. “I think that’s you, Hunt.”
He dug into his pocket for his phone and glanced at the screen. “One sec.” He almost didn’t answer, but every instinct he had demanded that he not ignore this call. If the alarms hadn’t gone off, he’d most likely have ignored Rexar’s call, but he just knew this was important. “Hunt.”
“Get your ass here, now. Your woman is in my house and scared out of her fucking mind.”
“On my way.” Caleb was already moving. “I gotta go. Rose needs me.” He didn’t wait for them to answer and took off for the elevator. Thankfully, the war-room door had unlocked when the alarms had shut down. “Come on. Come on.” Not having access to a staircase unless the power went out freaking sucked right now. He jabbed his thumb onto the button. Once he was in the elevator, and it was moving, he texted Dalton.
Bravo 5: Ugt. Clr. FD. HQ. Stat. B5.
Nemesis: Roger.
When you send your boss a text requesting urgent clearance at the front door of your headquarters, and he responds with ‘roger,’ He either knows what’s going on, or he trusts your ass. Probably a little of both.
Grateful that the disturbance from earlier wouldn’t slow him down, Caleb squeezed through the half-open elevator and ran for the security desks. “Incoming.” He yelled the warning, and the two guards stepped aside, one opening their half door for him, allowing him through. “Thanks.” He was already through the front door before he’d finished speaking.
I shouldn’t have left her without telling her where I was going.
Damn it.
He took the stairs in Bravo House two at a time. From the top, he could see Rexar standing sentinel at his front door. Caleb decided he was going to take great pleasure in kicking the shit out of the asshole who’d caused all this crap. He skidded to a stop in front of Rexar. “What happened? Is Rose okay?”
Rexar looked uncomfortable at the best of times. Right now, he looked like he’d prefer to be anywhere but here. “She’s bad, man. I’ve not seen anything like it since we pulled Willow out of that fucking box. Becky, too.”
“Shit. I should have stayed.”
“Or at least you probably should have told her where you were going,” Rexar agreed. “RJ found her. He came and got Lily.” He stepped to one side and opened the door. “Go on in. I sent RJ to the barn. Tell Lily I’ll take her to breakfast if she wants to get her sexy ass out here.”
RJ was getting an awesome freaking gift for Christmas or his birthday, whichever came first. Lily too. “I’m not telling your wife she has a sexy ass while she has access to the arsenal you keep in there. I’m stupid at times, but not braindead.” He slipped past Rexar but stopped before he was fully through the door to look over his shoulder. “Thanks, Rexar. I appreciate what you and your family did for her.”
“No worries.” These had to be the most words he’d heard Rexar say in years in a non-mission setting. “Family first, always.”
“Roger that.” He scanned the living space and spotted Lily coming out of the master bedroom. “Lily, your man wants to take you to breakfast.”
“Rose is in the shower.” Lily pushed the bundle of clothes she carried into his hands. “She’s about my size. Let her wear these.” She poked him on the arm. “Be careful. She was terrified.”
