I kiss the tip of her nose. “Later, firecracker.” We have a rule about not saying goodbye.
“Later, caveman.”
I’m bereft the instant she steps away from me, and the churning storm in the pit of my stomach is the same one that’s always there every time we are forced to separate.
One day, no one will be driving us apart.
I watch her hugging Drew and Rick but cast my gaze aside as she walks toward the door, already knowing she won’t look back.
The door softly closes, and I drop onto my bed, exhaling heavily.
“It sucks, man,” Drew acknowledges, sitting down beside me. “But at least you still get to see her. I don’t even have that luxury.”
I clamp my hand down on his shoulder. “When this shit is done, we’ll get your girl back.”
He shrugs. “It’ll be too late by then.”
I frown. “It’s not like you to give up.” The Drew I remember from my youth was like a dog with a bone once he got his teeth into something.
He sighs, scrubbing a hand along his jaw, looking world weary.
“What’s up?” I harrumph. “Besides the obvious.”
“I haven’t told Abby yet, but Dad’s found a new fiancée for me.”
“What. The. Fuck?” Rick explodes, almost falling off the couch.
“We wants us both happily married and settled before the vote.”
“He can’t force you,” Rick naively says.
“I had to agree,” Drew says with a loud sigh. “It was that or endure another punishing beating because he’s pissed at me again for defending Abby on Christmas Day.”
Blood boils in my veins, and a red layer coats my eyes. When he told me Charlie had bugged Abby’s purse and he’d seen everything that went down between us that weekend in my house, I wanted to shoot the bastard. Then he explained how Hearst had shown it to the room, on a large screen projector, and how everyone was witness to the first time Abby and I had anal, and I went fucking nuclear. Only the fact I was drugged up and in a shitload of pain stopped me from charging off and riddling Hearst and Barron full of bullets.
That and the fact I don’t want to make my wife a widow so soon after our wedding, because there’s no denying it would be a bloodbath with few survivors.
But I’m wracking my brains now for some way I can protect her. I know she’s tough as nails, smart, and reactive. I know she can take care of herself. But she needs to realize that’s my job now too. And I’m not going to let her do this without additional protection.
I just haven’t worked out what or how I can make this happen.
Getting back on my feet is priority number one. Then finding a way to protect my wife will take precedence.
“I’m sorry, man.” Drew took one for the team, and now, it’s come back to bite him.
“You don’t have to apologize. I was trying to help my sister and I’d do it all over again. It doesn’t matter anyway. He’d have found some way of foisting it on me anyway.”
“Who is she?” Rick asks.
Drew shrugs. “Who cares?” His Adam’s apple bobs in his throat. “The only woman I want to marry is Jane, and she’s gone.”
Gloomy tension hangs in the air, and I’m grateful when Lauder bursts through the door without knocking.
“Abby’s gone,” he confirms. “Xavier has gone after her to ensure she gets back okay.”
I nod, slowly warming up to the quirky tech nerd.
“What’s going on?” Hunt asks, leveling us with his sharp, observant eyes.
