“God, he’s embarrassing.” She shook her head, a reluctant smile tugging at her lips. Her father had never been one for subtlety. “What did you tell him?”
“That it was complicated.” Dom sighed and leaned his head back against the cushion, closing his eyes briefly.
Complicated.
She supposed it was that.
She studied his face, noted the way his jaw tightened when he shifted position. “How’s your shoulder?”
“Hurts like hell,” he admitted. “Tessa says I didn’t tear anything, but I’m going to pay for it in PT tomorrow.”
Vivi reached toward his injured shoulder, but stopped just short of touching it. “You shouldn’t have gone.”
“Had to.” He caught her hand and laced their fingers together again. “Needed to see it through.”
She nodded. She understood. Wasn’t sure she approved, but she got it because she knew him through and through. His unwavering commitment to seeing things through, no matter the cost to himself, was one of the things that had always drawn her to Dom, even when she was furious with him.
“Did it help?” she asked quietly. “Killing him?”
He was silent for a long moment, his thumb tracing absent patterns on the back of her hand. “It didn’t fix anything. But likeyour dad said, there’s one less asshole in the world now. He can’t hurt anyone else.”
“Did Daddy...” She hesitated, unsure how to frame the question.
“He didn’t pull the trigger.” Dom lifted his gaze to hers. “That was me.”
“Good.”
How can she be both relieved that her father hadn’t killed someone and glad that Dom had?
Messy.
All of it was so messy on top of being complicated.
They sat in silence for a moment, hands still linked between them. The clock on the mantel ticked steadily. Outside, a car horn blared and then faded.
“There’s something else,” Dom said finally. “Sabin thinks he saw Brennan while he was being held by Praetorian.”
“But Brennan’s dead.” The words came automatically. Everyone knew that. Dom’s cousin had been killed in action two years ago.
“That’s what we all thought.” Dom dragged his free hand down his face. “But Sabin was certain. And then when I confronted Raines about it... Viv, he reacted. It was small, but it was there. I think Brennan is alive.”
“Oh God. Does the family know?”
“Davey and Elliot. Sabin. And now your dad, because he was there when I confronted Raines. No one else.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Find him.” The determination in Dom’s voice left no room for doubt. “Whatever it takes. If he’s out there, if Praetorian has him—has been conditioning him like they did Sabin—I’m going to bring him home.”
Another mission. Another fight. Another chance for him to put himself in the path of bullets meant for someone else. Thethought should have exhausted her, but she knew how much this meant to him. She couldn’t ask him to sit this one out.
“Then I’m coming with you,” she said.
He began to shake his head, but she cut him off. “Don’t even start. If Brennan’s been through what Sabin has, I’m the only one who truly understands what it will take to bring him back.”
Dom’s gaze searched her face. “It could be dangerous.”
“When has that ever stopped me?” She squeezed his hand. “Besides, we work better as a team. You know that.”
