Olivia’s bottom lip quivered, and when she looked back up into those eyes—herbrother’seyes—she realized she was seeing them for the first time in ten, long years.
“Mikey?” she whispered his name.
He smiled wider, making his dimples cave in deeper. “Yeah, Junebug. It’s me.”
Olivia cried out and leapt into her brother’s arms. She squeezed him as hard as she could, sobbing loudly, and not caring one bit.
For a moment, the two didn’t move. They stood in the middle of Jake’s living room, trying their damndest to give each other a decade’s worth of love in that one hug.
When she eventually pulled back, Olivia ran her hand slowly across his hairy jaw.
“How is this even possible?”
Mike looked down at her and tried to explain. “Ten years ago, Jake and I had just finished a job with Delta. I went in for the debriefing, like always. But instead of the standard questions, I was put into a room with a man I’d never seen before. He was with a non-military government agency. Long story short, he was putting together a special team. An off the radar, deep cover team. Originally, I was told it would only be a year or two. But the government being what it is, ten years later, I’m still in.”
Olivia was dumbfounded. “I can’t believe this. All this time...I thought you weredead.”
He looked at her regretfully. “It was necessary, Liv. For my safety, sure, but more importantly, for yours and Pop’s. If the people I’ve been taking down knew who I really was, they would have been able to use you and Pops against me.”
“But...I don’t understand.Why?Why did you agree to do it?” Without warning, Olivia’s joy over her brother being alive transformed into an uncontrollable anger. “We were yourfamily, Mikey. I’m yoursister. How could you just walk away like that? From me...from Pops?”
Mikey’s look softened, but he only said, “I told you. It was complicated. The job was—”
“Fuck the job!” Olivia blurted out.
She ignored her big brother’s raised eyebrows, knowing he’d never heard her curse like that before. Well, too damn bad. She wasn’t a little kid anymore, and she was hurting.
“What aboutme? Do you have any idea what losing you did to me? Or Pops? It nearly killed him when that car pulled up to the house, and he saw the chaplain walking to the door.”
She swiped more tears away, and for the first time since she’d stood from the couch, she glanced in Jake’s direction.
“And what abouthim? Jake was your best friend, Mikey! Yourteammate. How could you do that to him?”
She did a double-take, glancing at Jake again. To him, she asked, “And why aren’t you as pissed off as I am? Why aren’t you yelling at him, too? Or punching him in the face orsomething!You should be. He left you, too. He...”
Then, it hit her. She suddenly understood why Jake wasn’t more upset, and that realization shredded her.
Feeling like someone had just kicked her in the gut with a steel-toed boot, Olivia inhaled sharply before whispering, “Oh, my God.”
Panic filled Jake’s eyes, and he quickly tried to explain. “Listen, Liv—”
She cut him off. “You”—she had to swallow before continuing—“you son of a bitch.”
There was no mistaking the guilt smeared all over his lying face. “Olivia, please...just—”
“How long?” Her voice was surprisingly controlled now. Jake’s, however, was not.
“Sweetheart, just let me explain—”
“Answer me!” she screamed. Streaks of new tears marked her face. “How long have you known my brother was still alive?”
Jake took a deep breath then shattered her world. “I found out a month after his funeral.”
Olivia let out a laugh of disbelief, and then covered her mouth, thinking for a moment that she was going to throw up.
“This whole time? You’ve known thiswhole time, and you never told me?”
“I couldn’t—”
