“Well, stop doing it…and finish the fucker. That’s one way, but…”
“But if you know where the lynchpin is in the building’s design, you only need one bomb with enough explosives planted in that location and you can bring down the whole building.”
“You think that’s what Zohar did?” asked Sawyer.
“It’d be the easiest. Otherwise, he’d run a risk of being found out if someone became suspicious about what all those workers were doing. Ahh…here it is.”
Sawyer looked at the door his mate had stopped at, then at Glenn. “Behind this door?” he asked.
“Think so…but won’t know for sure until I see it.” Reaching out, he grabbed the door knob, but before he could twist it, his mate’s hand gripped his, preventing him from opening the door.
“You are not going in there!” hissed Sawyer.
“Why not?” asked Glenn.
“If you’re right, there’s a real big fucking bomb in there!”
“I know,” Glenn said, clearly puzzled about his mate’s objection. “I need to see it in order to diffuse it.”
“DIFFUSE IT??? Are you fucking kidding me! There’s no way I’m letting you do that!”
Glenn stared at his mate in angry disbelief. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone dared tell him what he could or could not do. Biting the inside of his cheek, he waited until his temper cooled before responding. “Sawyer, I can andwilldo it…it’s what I was trained to do.”
“Duh…I know that, but that’s not what you’re going to do now.”
Frustrated, Glenn snarled, “Why not? Do you have the skills to give it a try?”
Sawyer’s jaw dropped. Then, snapping it closed, he leaned in until his face was merely inches away from Glenn’s. “No, asshole…but I’d never put the rest of the group in danger like you’re planning to do.”
Rearing back as if he’d just gotten slapped, Glenn growled, “I’m not doing that and you know it.”
“Yes you are,” Sawyer snapped. “What happens if…I don’t know…the bomb explodes while you are ‘diffusing’ it…what happens to me and the rest of our group? In case you haven’t figured it out…we die. And don’t tell me it won’t happen because there’s always a chance…and I bet Smokey and Ghost would agree with me. And what about Alex? How do you think he’ll feel when he finds out we’re both dead? Do you think he’ll understand your need to go it alone all the fucking time or have you thought he might lose the cub at the shock of it?”
Sawyer released his grip on his mate’s hand, stepping back, he snarled, “I give up. Your need to go it alone is never gonna change…and I can’t accept that. There. Are. Three. Of. Us. In. This. Relationship.”
“I know that,” Glenn said softly.
“I know you do, but you refuse to act like you do.” Sawyer turned away, running his fingers through his hair, his agitation rising. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly, before continuing, “Babe, look…I’m not doubting your abilities to take care of the bomb…what concerns me is your decision to do so without consulting me or Dylon or the others who came with us. Jackson selected Dylon to be the leader of this mission…and we agreed to it. That means, he decides what should be done…whether it’s rescuing low-level magic users, diffusing a bomb or fucking whatever.
“But damn it, Glenn, my cousins, their mates, Mystia, and Brady are in the building and they have the right to know what you plan to do so they can decide whether to stay or leave. It’s their choice and no one has the right to take it away from them. Look, I know tigers are solitary animals but the Fates picked me and Alex to be your mates…and I believe they did it for a reason.” Walking back to Glenn, Sawyer cupped his mate’s face, forcing him to look at him. “You want to know why I think they did it?”
Gazing into Sawyer’s eyes, Glenn found both love and worry swirling deep inside them, giving him hope he hadn’t totally wrecked their relationship. Unable to answer, he nodded ‘yes.’
With a knowing smile, Sawyer murmured, “Because they didn’t want you to be lonely ever again.” Caressing his mate’s cheeks with his thumbs, Sawyer leaned forward until his forehead touched Glenn’s. “I’m sure that’s why because I was also lonely…until I found you and Alex. I can’t lose you, babe…I just can’t.”
Glenn closed his eyes, hoping to quell his emotions that had risen too close to the surface, but it didn’t help. A lone tear slowly made its way down his cheek until it met Sawyer’s thumb. He shuddered as his mate brushed it away tenderly. Sawyer was right. Even as tight as his friendship was with Smokey and Ghost, he was always alone. It was one of the reasons he’d stayed with the agency—the demanding grind of assignments kept him busy and held his loneliness at bay. But even with all his effort to keep that part of him a secret, somehow Sawyer had found it. “How did you get so wise?” Glenn whispered.
“Not wise…just intimately acquainted with the feeling, so it was easy to see it in you.”
“Does Alex know?” Glenn asked, concerned about what he would think of him.
Leaning back slightly, Sawyer stared at his mate in amusement. “Uhm…weren’t you listening to him when he told you about his childhood? ‘Lonely’ was his middle name.”
“Yeah…but he’s so strong…I tend to forget that.”
“So are you,” Sawyer said softly. “We each are in our own way…our childhoods weren’t perfect but we all survived…with scars for sure, but in the end none of that matters because we now have each other. Oh, and in case you were wondering…Alex thinks you’re amazing.” Grabbing his mate’s hand, Sawyer led him back to the meeting room. “You know, Alex will have to go on a secret agent mission at some point.”
Grinning, Glenn lifted their joined hands to his lips, kissing Sawyer’s. “He can’t go until our cub is born.”
