I knew he was trying to lighten the mood, but I wasn’t feeling it. “Should someone go with him?”
“No. If he needs us, he’ll call,” Daredevil added. “He’s a grown man.”
I raised one brow at his smart answer. But I let it go.
“Well, this day has already been a shit show.” GQ looked at Daredevil. “You take my car, and I’ll have Phantom drop us back at the office. It looks like we’ll be rescheduling our meeting.”
I ran my hands over my head. I detested feeling out of control, but this is what came with being emotionally invested in someone else.
It wasn’t long before the tow trucks arrived and loaded the SUVs on the flatbed, leaving us free to head back to the office with Phantom. I heard them talking, but paid little attention to what was being said. I picked up bits and pieces of a conversation about Patrick Griffin’s rehab after his automobile accident and the implications for the startup for Fallen Angel’s late summer tour.
As I stared out the window unseeing as we made our way through downtown Portland, my mind kept wandering back to Brent. Why was his mother calling him such a big deal? I looked down at my phone and wanted to text him, but I didn’t have his number. We’d never exchanged them in Vegas. No reason to, really. Even though I could ask GQ for it, I wouldn’t put him on the spot, considering the circumstances. Brent had enough to deal with, but it still didn’t keep me from worrying.
My mind continued to jump from one thing to the other until Phantom pulled up to the office. It was located in a gated, residential neighborhood behind Aidan and Marcus Monroe’s home. The way GQ explained it Aidan wanted to be closer to home for their three children since Marcus still played for the Portland Pirates. I had to give it to the guy because I’d missed out on most of Laura’s life. It was time I wished I could get back.
“We’ll reschedule as soon as I hear from Dreamboat,” GQ said to Phantom.
The big guy I knew to be a cyber specialist looked in the rearview mirror at me. “Glad to have you on the team,Commander. Don’t worry about Dreamy, he’ll be okay. We’ve got him.”
I tried to smile and nodded. “Thank you. I guess we’ll see what happens.”
He chuckled. “That we will.”
When he pulled away, GQ led me back into the office. It was quiet, so I knew we were alone. When we sat down in the comfortable chairs in the lobby area, he looked over at me.
“Why don’t you come to stay with us at our apartment? We have more than enough room, and under the circumstances, maybe give Brent some time to get back here. I know that doesn’t help with your decision.”
Rubbing my fingers across my jaw, I wanted to ask for his number, but relented. “Okay. I’ll stay with you and Dominick until we can talk face-to-face. ”
GQ nodded. “Fair enough. Let’s get your bag from the hotel, and then I’ll take you for the best burger in Portland and get you set up with some contacts.”
I nodded and got up. “Sounds like a plan.”
CHAPTER 4
BRENT
The last timeI walked into a hospital was the day my younger brother died. We were two years apart, and losing him changed me forever. I might as well have died too, because that was the day I knew I was alone in the world until I found my brothers in the Navy.
No one knew this side of me. I worked hard to push it down and out of my head. Only after Nate died did I tell Daredevil, Phantom, and GQ I’d lost a sibling. I’d built walls around my heart to block out the pain from not only losing Matt but also from the pain of losing my parents. They were never the same after that.
As I walked down the hallway on the cardiac floor, I was assaulted by the familiar smell of the disinfectant and sounds of rubber wheels rolling on the floor as the nurses pushed their equipment carts in and out of rooms. The blips and alarms going off when a heart stopped made it almost too real for me.
I clenched my jaw and relied on my training to block it out and push it all down. Smothering the grief, I thwarted the memories and concentrated on the job I had to do. It wasn’t about me. It was about getting to my mother and checking on my father.
When I reached his room, I knocked lightly, then pushed through the door. My heart was ready to leave my chest as I stepped in to find my mother bent over, rocking back and forth in the chair.
Panic surged through me when I looked over at the space with no bed where my father should have been lying.
“Mom?” I called, my voice breaking.
She looked up, her eyes swollen from crying, then broke down again.
“Brent,” she cried, then covered her face with her hands.
I went over and pulled her to her feet to wrap her in my arms. She clung to me and cried into my shirt.
“I’m so glad you’re here. I can’t handle everything here alone.”
