My fist is hovering an inch away from the door, ready to bang the damn thing down if need be, when a twig snaps brashly under my boot, triggering a memory so fucking tangible it transports me straight back to my final military tour. To the desert. To that landmine. To the day I led my men to their deaths on my selfish jaunt.
My skin pricks with heat. Every fine hair stands to attention on my body. The sensation of dry, dusty sand grazes my face, my hair, and stings my eyes.
I crossed the line. Bent the rules once in my life.Once. And it left three of my best friends dead.
It should have been a simple mission.
We were withdrawing. The town we’d been assigned to protect was secure. The risks reducing with every day that passed. A few of us took a spin in a Land Rover to the nearest town. It was my idea. Totally against protocol. We weren’t supposed to leave the base unless it was a matter of life or death, but I bent the rules.
How was I to know rebels had planted a landmine on a dirt track near one of the small roads?
When the back left wheel of the Land Rover hit the mine, it blew Brady and Hanson to bits. Jones, who was in the passenger seat next to me, survived the initial blast, but died in my arms minutes later.
I survived physically. Mentally, I doubt I’ll ever be right again.
It was the worst day of my life.
The worst year of my life.
Victoria isn’t the only one who suffers from night terrors. The faces of my comrades, my friends, still haunt my dreams.
I sanctioned the unapproved trip.
I risked my men for my own selfish desire to prove to my father I was a hero. That Iwascut out for army life.
How can I compromise Victoria’s safety for another selfish desire?
Albeit it a very different one - the desire to make her mine.
If I get distracted, her safety could be compromised. I can’t risk losing anyone I love again.
And risk losing Ryan and Jayden and the entire Cooper family in the process.
My clenched knuckles hover against the door, torn between what I want and what’s right.
Victoria in there with that creep definitely isn’t right, though. It’s a fucking travesty. This whole situation is killing me.
‘No, Harrison! I told you, I agreed to a drink and that’s all,’ Victoria screams, those few snatched words coming from inside the apartment making the decision for me.
‘You want it, you slut. You know you do.’ Harrison’s deep booming voice is the final straw. I ram my shoulder against the door hard enough to take it off its hinges and send it crashing into the plasterboard behind it.
I fly through the narrow corridor and into the first door on the right, a deep dark kitchen with a cherry wood worktop which Harrison has Victoria rammed up against.
‘What the…?’ Harrison has Victoria by the wrist, his fingers digging into her skin tight enough to make it blanch.
At the sight of me, he releases her. ‘Dog.’ Cruel, low laughter rumbles from his throat as I grab it, squeezing his windpipe.
Nowhe’sshoved against the worktop. Let’s see how he likes it.
‘If you ever touch her again, I’ll snap your fucking neck in a heartbeat.’ Flexing my fingers, I tighten my grip to show him exactly what I’m capable of. ‘Got it?’
Harrison’s eyeballs bulge in their sockets, his complexion going a deeper shade of purple with every passing second. Satisfaction flows through me. Witnessing the life drain from him is positively thrilling.
‘Archie.’ Victoria’s voice yanks me from my fantasy of killing Harrison. Reluctantly, I release him. He’s not worth the jail time.
He crumples to the floor. ‘I’ll fucking sue you for this. Do you know who my family are?’
On jerky legs, he lurches upwards, swinging his fist. My elbow connects with his face. I may be the only non-medic in the room, but you don’t have to be a doctor to work out I’ve just shattered his nose.
