My hand trembles around the phone.
“Diesel’s off the case. Stone will be stepping in to take over.”
I’m sure I’ve heard him wrong. “You mean to help?”
“No. Diesel’s not going to be anywhere near you.”
I pivot to look at Diesel through the window. He’s staring right at me. When my palm presses to the glass, he looks down.
“Why, Caleb?” I challenge.
When I look back at Caleb his anger is on full display. Color darkening his cheekbones, eyes flashing. “Because I fucking said so. Because you don’t understand these things.”
The top of my head is scalding hot. My hands are tingling, and I’m pretty sure that my face is as red as a stop sign.
“So you know.”
Caleb shakes his head, scrubbing a hand over his mouth. “I trusted him to protect you and he fucking touched you.”
“Wait a minute, Caleb. He only touched me because I allowed him to.”
“Well that’s WRONG! He’s fucking working, River. One hundred percent of his focus needs to be on his job. Keeping you safe.”
I’m shaking with anger. God, my chest hurts. Diesel has both his hands on top of his head, pacing back and forth on the sidewalk.
“I don’t want Stone,” I bite out.
“Diesel’s out of the picture.”
“I’m a grown woman, Caleb, you seem to forget.”
Someone walks behind Caleb on the video call and squeezes his shoulder. One of his teammates, checking on him.
“I’m fine,” Caleb says to them, before gripping the bridge of his nose. “Look. I need you to let this play out. Don’t cause trouble. I’ll only accept the most focused person on the LSS team keeping my only sister safe.”
“Caleb, that’s Diesel.”
“I’ve already spoken to Gray.”
Christ. This is a disaster. I can’t even catch my breath.
“You don’t have to do this.”
Caleb shakes his head. “Yeah, River. I do. I can’t lose you. And this threat is real. There is new intel and it’s not good.”
This revelation makes me even angrier. “What kind of intel?”
“I can’t talk about it, River.” His face goes stone-cold serious. “You’ll just have to trust me on this.”
Dammit. I’m sick of this. But it’s not going to be solved on this phone call.
“I’m trying.” I press my hand to my stomach as the memory of Diesel’s body filling me assaults my senses. “I’ve got to go. I’m not feeling well.”
He leans closer to the camera. “I love you, Riv’. Stay sharp. LSS is on this, but I need you to play by the rules. Stick close to Stone. Do exactly what he says.”
Winded, throat aching, I hollowly reply. “I’ll listen to him. I’ll be okay. Love you, Caleb. Stay safe.”
My older brother looks at me for a long moment, and finally hits the button to end the call. The screen blinks off. My heart tears in half, socking the breath out of me.
