She truly is incredible.
“Look at her, Alex.” Dan gestured toward the women. “Eden’s all but recovered, brother. Pretty sure you can ease up on the whole, alpha protector gig a bit.”
“Really?” Alex transferred the burgers to an empty platter. “Tell me, Romeo. How long did it take you to let go of the reigns after all that shit went down with Mia?”
Over drinks one evening, Dan and Mia had shared the full story of how they met. Dan had also given them more details about how Mia had almost died.
Having seen parts of it that first time she and Dan shook hands, Eden already knew most of the story. But hearing the entire thing had sent chills down Alex’s spine. From the look on Dan’s face, his friend was still as affected by it now as he was the day it happened.
“Point taken.” Dan took a swig of his beer. “Hover away.”
Chuckling, Alex put some more patties on the grill. His smile, however, didn’t last long.
“I just keep thinking about it, you know. How close we came to losing both her and Zoe.”
Thankfully, Zoe had pulled through surgery with flying colors and was scheduled to go back to work in a couple weeks. Of course, if Rhys had anything to say about it, the woman would be on bed rest for another month.
With a mental shake of his head, he wondered for the millionth time when that guy was going to finally man up and tell Zoe how he felt about her. Not that Alex had much room to talk.
He should’ve told Eden how he felt about her a long damn time ago. He’d made a promise—to himself and her that, going forward, he would always be honest with her. About everything.
Dan squeezed his shoulder. “I know exactly how you’re feeling, brother. Trust me.”
Alex glanced over at him. “So, how do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Everything.” He shook his head. “I can’t imagine what you went through when Mia was shot. I mean, hell. I know it’s not realistic, but all I want to do is lock Eden away someplace safe, where I know she’ll never be hurt again.”
“You’re right. That isn’t realistic.”
Both Alex and Dan turned to see Mike D’Antoni walking across the patio to join them. Handing them each a fresh beer, he looked over to the women then back to Alex.
“We’d all like to do the same with our wives, but the truth is, they’d resent the hell out of us if we tried.”
Alex took in Eden’s smiling face again. “I know you’re right. You both are. It’s just killing me to think about going back to the way things were before.”
“What do you mean?” Dan’s brows turned inward.
Alex shrugged, swallowing a swig of beer. “You know. Going back to work. Spending all those shitty hours away from her every day while she’s left alone.”
Dan shared a look with Mike, who gave him a single nod.
“What?” Alex asked cautiously.
His friend looked back at him. “We want you to come work for Phoenix.”
With his gaze bouncing back and forth between the two men, Alex was stunned at what he saw. “You’re serious.”
“Between your time serving with Force Recon and your law enforcement experience, you’re exactly the kind of agent The Phoenix Agency is looking for,” Mike told him.
Dan nodded. “Mike’s already spoken to the others at our Maryland office. They all agree. You’d still work closely with me and the rest of the San Antonio agents, but your home base would be on the East Coast.”
Mike smirked. “Job’s yours, Bennett. If you want it.”
Alex didn’t know what to say. He and Dan had joked over the years about him coming to work for Phoenix, but he’d never seriously considered it. Until now.
“I don’t know, guys. I already have a job.”
