I covered my face with my palms, feeling so damn small. Crushed by the weight of that memory, forced to relive it anytime someone offered me their condolences for his death. Forced to keep my mouth shut about what had happened to me.
“The next morning, he didn’t even acknowledge it. And that was the last time I saw him.”
I’d been a statue, eyes burning, as he took hold of my arm, leaned in, and kissed my cheek to say goodbye. He’d stared long and hard at me as if he had something he wanted to say, and I doubted that something had been an apology. But nothing ever came.
“My God.” Ryder wrapped his hand over my shoulder.
“I should’ve pressed charges, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. I didn’t want anyone to know. And I was also afraid of what would happen if I did, of what he’d do.”
Silence settled in the room, broken only by the sound of my breathing, still hitched and shallow.
“This is my fault.” At the feel of Trevor holding my wrists, I heeded his request to lower my arms so he could look at me. He was crouched in front of me, and he let go of my wrists and cupped my cheeks. “I should’ve protected you. I’m so sorry, and I’m so fucking sorry you didn’t feel you could tell me this.”
“I couldn’t tell you. You’d have killed him, and I didn’t want Chase’s father in prison for murder.”
Trevor’s eyes glinted with unshed tears. “There are visiting hours in prison.”
I pressed a hand to his chest. “Is that supposed to be a joke?”
“I’m not being funny.” He rose slowly, giving me a clearer view of Ryder still kneeling beside me like he had no plans to leave until I was steady again.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.” Ryder’s voice broke, cracking under the weight of his guilt. The tear down his face sent more down mine.
“If you’d known me back then ...” I forced a half shrug. “I wouldn’t have told you. I wouldn’t want my brother behind bars, either.”
My gaze drifted to Alex next. He hadn’t said a word. His hand was over his mouth, eyes on the floor. His chest rose and fell in a heavy, uneven rhythm, like he was trying to physically breathe through the pain I’d laid out.
“I worked quietly with my lawyer while Mitch was deployed,” I continued, steadier now. “He rushed the paperwork, and I let Mitch know what was coming. His response was that we weren’t getting a divorce; then he hung up on me. Two nights later, his plane went down.”
The silence that followed was an almost mournful type of quiet.
Trevor went to the bed and picked up the envelope. “I, uh.” He stared down at what was in his hands as if the contents inside had personally betrayed him. “I need a minute to just ...” His words faded as he abruptly went for the door and walked out.
Ryder stood, then extended a hand. I took it, letting him help me to my feet. My legs were weak, like grief had rearranged my center of gravity.
I turned toward Alex, searching his face to get a read on him. “Do you regret staying?”
Alex’s hand plummeted to his side as he glanced at Ryder before meeting my eyes. “I only regret that anything ever happened to you.Andthat he’s already dead, so I can’t kill him.”
My shoulders rolled forward at his words. Chills spread across my back—not from fear, just from feeling too much at once.
“I guess Mitch wasn’t cheating, huh?” I tried to force levity, even though my voice sounded as though it were caught in quicksand, going down fast. “Or maybe he was. Who knows, and I guess, who cares.” I forced a shrug to better sell my words. “The secret phone calls and late nights must’ve had to do with whatever he was involved in, though.”
“We’ll figure this out and protect you. End the threat, I promise,” Ryder said steadily.
“I promise I’ll always love you and take care of you.” Mitch’s empty words from the day we exchanged vows came back to haunt me, and a forgotten memory slammed into me.
My ring.“A few weeks before Mitch’s last deployment, my band went missing. I don’t wear my rings to bed, and when I woke up, only the engagement ring was there. Mitch told me I must’ve misplaced it. He even accused me of losing my mind. Then he went out of town for a few days on some boys’ trip to Vegas, and a day or two later, after he was home, he found it under the bed.”
“He had to have taken it with him and had them modified with the inscription. Doubtful he really went to Vegas.” Ryder turned to face Alex next. “We need to go through the files Gray provided Trevor. Timeline everything. If anything Mitch was involved in lines up with that window—”
“It could explain why he modified the rings,” Alex said. “He knew something was coming, and he built a fail-safe.”
A backup plan?“Sounds like he also knew he wouldn’t be coming home to me, but what in the world was he involved in? Why would he betray his country? He wasn’t always that man.” At least, I didn’t think he had been. I would’ve seen it, never let him near my son if that were the case.
“People change,” Alex said flatly. “War can do it. Trauma. Money and power, too. Even to people we thought were unshakable. People who said they loved their country.” His voice hitched slightly.
I tried to read the storm behind his expression but failed. “How, um, did you even know there was some hidden inscription in his band?”
