Aaron moved to further shield Celine, a cold dread winding its way through him. For the first time in his life, he’d failed to report to his post.
Colonel Gray took a deep breath and then blew it out, disappointment lining his features. “We both know how dangerous this is.”
Aaron met his commanders disappointed gaze and knew he wasn’t referring to the current mission. Aaron had told Gray about his parents his initial interview for TF-S. “Yes, sir.”
“Are you sure this is the path you want to take?” Gray asked quietly.
The cold shackle of duty wrapped around Aaron’s insides and he lifted his chin. He’d never hid anything from his commander. “No, sir.”
“The Senator is on his way to collect his daughter. You’ve got three minutes to get dressed and report to duty or you’re both off the mission.” Gray grabbed the handle and quietly shut the door.
"Oh my God.” Celine reached for his arm, but Aaron pulled away and got to his feet.
"I have to go." He strode to his pants, physically putting her behind him.
"Wait, I'll come with you. I'll tell him it was my fault.” She ran to the desk, grabbed her dress off the floor and rushed to his side.
Aaron allowed himself to savor the site of her naked body one more second, openly acknowledging to himself exactly what he was giving up and willing to make the sacrifice to save her from himself. The thought of seeing her spirit crushed and bitter was enough to make him turn away. But the thought of something worse happening to her gave him the strength he needed to gently pry her dress from her hands and slide it on over her head.
"You're not going with me. You're going back to finish your job and then you're going home." Aaron embraced the emptiness seeping inside him and pulled on his button up shirt and then his jacket.
Celine's flushed cheeks turned pale. "What are you saying?"
"I need to get back to work." He forced his voice to stay detached.
She flinched, like he’d struck her. "But I thought…"
His lips twisted into a cruel, self-depreciating smile. "That we’d stay together?”
He knew that's exactly what she'd been thinking. He knew it, because he'd been thinking it too for one minuscule moment. "We had sex. It was great sex, but that's all it was.”
Celine lifted hand to her throat and took a step back. "So, I was just a lay to you? Nothing else?”
The pain in her face was a knife to his chest. If he thought trying to keep his hands off of her was the hardest thing he'd ever done, he'd been wrong. Now that he had her, he knew just how wrong he'd been.
Aaron forced his shoulders back, his chin up and looked down at her with pity, while he died a little more on the inside. He’d rather hurt her now than destroy her later. "Did you really think I would choose you over my Team?"
The fading light in her eyes died and her hand dropped from her throat to hang limply at her side. She stared through him, her voice flat, “No, I would never expect you to choose me over anything.”
She walked past him then, purposefully sidestepping so that her arm didn't brush his. Every instinct in Aaron's body screamed at him to go after her and beg for her forgiveness. Instead, he watched her calmly walk out the door and out of his life.
Chapter 9
“You ready, Hunter?”Aaron crouched behind a cluster of boulders on the west side of the road at the center of the valley where the meetup would take place. Mountains jutted up from the earth, tall and stark, marking the start of the Hindukush Mountain range at the border of the desert.
“I'm ready.” Hunter lifted his binoculars and swept the south region where the caravan should be arriving. “Crow's nest one, ready?”
“Roger,” Hoyt said through the comm. Hoyt had set up directly above Aaron and Hunter on the first over watch position.
“Crow’s nest two, ready?” Hunter asked.
“Roger, two is up and running.” Jared had set up on the hilltop across the road for second over watch.
Ethan and Ranger were positioned on the east side of the road behind some thick shrubs and rocks. “Check.”
“Got movement. Two tangos approaching from the south, one klick out.” Cord Carter's voice came through their secure communication line. He was with Merc and Riser at the south entrance to the valley, ready to fall in behind the cars carrying the girls coming up from the south.
“We got three coming from up top. Half a klick.” Aaron recognized Ethan's deep voice. “Three men per vehicle.They're armed.” He and Ranger would be ready to cut off any vehicle trying to make a run when the shit went down.
