Jake stared back at him with an understanding Grant knew the other man felt to his core. “I’m sorry you lost your chance to deal with Downing on your own. I know what having that taken away from you means.”
Grant licked his cold lips. “It’s all I’ve thought about since they took her into that room. Making him suffer...it’s what got me through that first hour. But when Ryker told us Downing was dead, I...” He shook his head and swallowed. “I don’t know. I guess I just lost it.”
“Trust me.” Jake took a step forward. “I get it. So do Trevor and Derek. Taking down the bastards responsible for causing the women we love so much pain...that kind of satisfaction is indescribable.”
As far as pep-talks went, Grant thought this one was pretty fucking shitty.
“But,” Jake continued on. “Revenge like that? It’s not everything. Not even close.”
The two men stood silently in the cold, their breaths escaping in puffs of white smoke as they became lost in their own thoughts. Grant finally broke the silence a few minutes later.
“I knew this would happen.” He looked back at his boss and teammate. “I knew if I let myself care about someone, I’d lose them.”
“You haven’t lost anyone yet. Brynnon’s still in there, fighting to stay with you. Don’t give up on her, now.”
“Losing my mom...” Grant shook his head. “That shit was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through. But this...I don’t know. It’s different.”
“I know.”
Grant swallowed hard. “I can’t get this fucking pain in my chest to go away.” He rubbed the area covering his heart to try and ease the pressure. “It feels like something’s got ahold of my heart, and it won’t let go.”
“That’s because you love her.”
“I didn’t want to,” Grant admitted quietly. “I didn’t want any of this.”
Jake smirked. “Unfortunately, my friend, that’s not always up to us to decide. Come on.” The other man slapped his shoulder. “Let’s go back inside and wait for the doctor to come give us the good news. I’m freezing my ass off out here, and that hand of yours could probably use a band aid...or a cast.”
Though he wouldn’t have thought it possible, one corner of Grant’s mouth lifted. As the two men walked back to the building’s emergency entrance, he turned to his boss.
“Thanks, Jake.”
“For what?”
“Not firing me, for starters.”
Jake gave him an incredulous look. “Why the hell would I fire you”
Blunt as always, Grant said, “I slept with a client.”
“Meh.” Jake shrugged. “Technically, Brynnon’s father was the client.” He waited a beat before adding, “Unless he’s the one you were referring to.”
He huffed out a silent chuckle. “Funny.”
Jake smiled. “I try.”
****
The first consciousthought Brynnon had was that she was finally, blessedly, warm.
After that, her body woke in stages, her mind trying to make its way through the odd murkiness to remember what had happened.
She remembered feeling cold. Colder than ever before. And the pain...God, the pain had been excruciating.
It was still there, on the left side of her back. But instead of the sharp, burning pain she remembered, it had become more of a dull ache. She could feel all her fingers and toes, which was a huge relief because it meant the bullet had missed her spine.
Brynnon tried opening her eyes, their lids heavily weighted. While she lay there, struggling to peel them apart, strobes of memories flashing behind them.
Her cabin. The bomb. Her brother. Martin.
