He took her hand in his. It was much bigger and rougher than she remembered. A man’s hand.
“I really am sorry, Olivia. I know things haven’t been easy for you. If it makes you feel any better, Idoknow how you felt. When I got word that Pops had died, it broke my heart. Ihatednot being able to go to his funeral. And then, when I saw on the news that you’d been killed, I...I lost it.”
He blinked quickly, and Olivia realized he was fighting back tears. She couldn’t remember ever seeing her brother cry, and despite the fact that she was still angry, she also felt badly for him.
Yes, it had been his choice to leave, but she knew what it was like to lose someone you loved. She hated that he’d had to experience that all alone, without family or friends there to comfort him.
“I nearly blew my cover, and I didn’t even care. I wanted to come home sooner, but I’m still under Uncle Sam’s fucking thumb. My contract isn’t up yet, and if I break it before it expires, I’ll be stuck in Leavenworth. Or worse.”
She tried to sound understanding. “I-I know whatever you’ve been doing had to be important for you to leave us like you did. It’s just that...damn it, Mikey,wewere important, too.”
“I know, Junebug. I know. And if I had it to do over again—”
She chuckled halfheartedly. “You’d do the exact same thing.”
Her brother gave her a lopsided grin. “Probably. What I’ve been able to do has helped so many people, Olivia. We’ve saved countless lives. There’s so much evil in the world, so many men and organizations out there, plotting against us. The people in this country have no idea, but I do. And the men and women I work with...we do everything we can to stop them.”
Olivia squeezed his hand. “You’re a good soldier, Mikey. A good man. You always were.”
Mike raised an eyebrow. “You know who else is a good man?”
Olivia stood, immediately missing the contact with her beloved sibling. “Mikey, don’t—”
“No, Olivia. You need to hear this. Theonly reason Jake knew about me all this time was because about a month after I ‘died’”— he used air quotes for emphasis—“Jake and a group of soldiers he was with were sent on a new mission. Their intercepted mine, and we ran into each other. It was fucking crazy odds.”
He waited a beat and went on to explain. “We were in this remote, hole-in-the-wall place that wasn’t even a blip on the fucking map, and I look up, and there he was. Staring right back at me. And he waspissed, Olivia. I’ve never seen him that mad before, not at me or anyone else. After he took me out back and beat the shit out me, he said he was leaving to call you.”
At that, Olivia’s ears perked up, and she tried to tell if he was lying. Which was ridiculous, given his entire adult life was based on nothing but lies.
As if reading her thoughts, Mikey said, “It’s no bullshit, Olivia. Jake was determined to tell you I was still alive. He knew what my death had done to you and Pops, and itkilledhim to see you that way.”
“If he was so determined, then why didn’t he tell me?”
Mikey shrugged a shoulder. “I made him swear to me that he wouldn’t.”
Olivia’s fists went to her hips as she stood there, her eyes shooting daggers into his.
“Oh, for God’s sake, Mikey! You were two adults. How in the hell did youmakehim not tell me? What did you do, threaten not to be his best friend anymore if he did?”
Olivia knew her sarcasm probably wasn’t helping, but damn it, this wasn’t a joke. This was her life.
“No,” he said, his expression deadly serious. “It wasn’t the threat of losing my friendship that convinced him not to tell you. Would you like to know what did?”
“Not that it’ll matter, but sure. Go ahead. Enlighten me,” she snapped, then immediately felt bad, which pissed her off even more.
Of all the people in this house who should feel badly, it sure as hell shouldnotbe her.
“It was the threat toyoursafety that clenched it.”
Olivia’s forehead creased, her hands falling to her side. “What threat?”
Mikey shrugged that damn shoulder again. “I played the ‘Keep Olivia Safe Card’. I knew Jake could never go against that.”
“I’m sorry, thewhat?”
Mikey held out his hand to her, and surprising even herself, Olivia took it. He guided her back to the bed, and she sat down, again. Her brother looked at her with the sweet, loving eyes she’d remembered.
“I knew Jake’s feelings for you went beyond a simple childhood friendship. So, I told him that if you knew about me and accidently said the wrong thing to the wrong person, then it would make you vulnerable. A target.”
