“Nope,” Cal grunts. “But she pulled it off nicely. I think she’ll finish as Dr. Williams though, won’t you? You can’t let the college down.” Something in his tone seems like almost a challenge.
I glare at him, mostly because my mind is trying to conjure up what the fuck is about to happen to my brother. The truck bounces into the farm entrance, and as I peer behind me, the wrought iron gate closes us in.
As soon as it comes to a stop in front of the larger cabin, which I realize is the bunkhouse, I throw the door open and hop out, sprinting toward the warm glow coming from the window.
“Jenna!” Cal shouts after me.
But I’m faster, up the steps and through the door before they can stop me. I burst into the warmth of the bunkhouse, my eyes landing on my wide-eyed brother.
He spins around, dressed in the black jacket I found on the hook when I first got here. “What the fuck, Jenna?” His eyes are back to their normal color, his expression not dead like it was earlier. “Why are you still here?” His eyes drop to the bruises on my neck, and he winces.
“What the hell are they about to do to you?” I exasperate, just as the door behind me bangs open.
“Move out of the way, Jenna,” Bradford snaps, and I turn to see a rifle pointed at my brother’s chest. Behind him, Turner has his own, and Gunner lets out a howl that rattles the freaking walls.
“Oh my god…” My eyes jump back to my brother, who doesn’t even remotely look surprised.
“When you act like a deranged animal,” he sighs, “You get treated like one.”
“You’re not a deranged animal, you just… You need to accept you need help…” My voice trails off, as my heart starts to pound so hard, I feel lightheaded.
“You want this,” Cal’s voice booms through the room. “Don’t you?”
Cade meets my gaze, years of pain etched in the lines of his twenty-five-year-old face. “It’s for the best, Jen. It really is.”
“No, it’s not,” I argue, grief clenching down on windpipe. “It’s not. You’re not too far gone. We can… You can… You can let him help you.”
“I don’t want his help,” Cade’s voice is monotone. “I got mixed up with some guys here, behind Bradford’s back. I killed two Marines, just because they were doing something I’ve never been able to do without thinking of…him.” Cade’s voice breaks. “I don’t wanna be here anymore.”
Turner’s rifle drops. “Fuck, man.Fuck.”
“Please don’t do this to him.” My mouth moves, pleading with Bradford. “He doesn’t… He doesn’t deserve this. He just needs open up.”
Bradford doesn’t take his eye off Cade. “I have orders.”
“Please,” a sob racks my chest. “Please.”
“He tried to hurt you,” Cal grits out, the tension in his trigger finger visible. “I don’t like that.”
Cade’s expression shifts. “How do you know my sister? And who gave orders?”
“She’s been wasting her life searching for you,” Cal answers him, rifle still pointed. “But she’s mine now. Indebted on lies and the death of the NCIS agent coming for me because of you.”
“You don’t get to own my sister,” Cade takes a step forward, his entire demeanor darkening. “She’s not fucking property.”
“I want him,” I blurt out, my face growing hot as I admit the truth. “I want him, Cade.” I pause, and then turn to Bradford, “But if you put a bullet in my brother, you will be fucking my dead body. I’llneverlet you have me.”
Tension grows in the room, as Cade reaches out, and places a hand on my shoulder. I flinch at the touch, still remembering what happened earlier.
Cade’s voice softens. “You don’t have to protect me, Jen.”
I peer up at him. “I never did. And I should’ve.”
“It was never your job.” He kisses the top of my head, and then pushes me off to the side. “Follow orders, Bradford. Be a fucking man.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, just as a shot tears through the bunkhouse.
Chapter 35
