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Rowe frowned at the weapon before he looked up at his friend. It wasn’t the gun that Rowe had given him. No, this one came with a silencer and Lucas knew his friend was unnerved.
“I was getting ready to come see you,” Lucas said, sitting down in the big leather chair behind his desk. He shuffled some papers, placing them in tidy stacks. Maybe he’d be able to work with a clear head later. He needed to hit the heavy bag for a while, burn off some of this excess energy.
“With that?” Rowe jerked his chin toward the gun still sitting out in the open.
Lucas didn’t bother looking up as he shoved a file in his briefcase at his feet. “I thought you’d prefer it if I had some protection.”
“Yeah, that’s why I gave you George. The bodyguard is the one to handle the weapons, I thought.”
“Speaking of which, where’s that knife you promised me?” Lucas demanded, looking up at Rowe.
The other man made a face and then sighed heavily as he reached inside of his jacket and pulled out the black-handled folding knife. Leaning forward, he slammed it down on the top of Lucas’s desk, but kept his hand over it, forcing his friend to meet his gaze. “We need to talk.”
“Later. When we’re sparring,” Lucas said gruffly, clenching his teeth.
“Now. Something’s up with you.” Rowe pushed back to stand in front of Lucas’s desk with his arms folded over his barrel chest.
Lucas reached forward and picked up the blade, his fingers moving over the patterned matte black grip. “There’s someone trying to kill me.” With a flick of his wrist, the four-inch blade jumped from the handle. It was also a dull black except for the shine along its incredibly sharp edge. Lucas continued to inspect the blade, testing its weight. He wasn’t as good with knives as Snow. No, he preferred a gun or even his fists, but a blade could work in tight quarters. “You track down that fixed blade I asked you about?”
“It’s on backorder,” Rowe replied without thinking and growled. “You know, I should find this fun. I like it when you stop by once a month and visit the gun range. I like sparring with you. But this,” Rowe paused, motioning toward the knife and gun. “This is too much even for you. Where the hell did you even get that gun?”
Lucas lifted one eyebrow at him and smirked. “Did you really think you were my only supplier?”
“YES!”
A dark chuckle slipped from Lucas as he closed the knife and slipped into his pocket. “Weren’t you the one who said I needed to take this more seriously? That I should be more cautious? This is me being cautious.”
“No, it’s fucking not and you know it!” Rowe shouted, pointing at Lucas. “This is you preparing for war. I’ve seen it before. That time you found out that we were gonna be sent on recon near that Khost training camp. You started going dark and loading up on weapons, things that weren’t standard issue.”
Lucas stared at his old friend, but for once there were no flashes of his time in the Army while stationed in Afghanistan. He saw nothing. There was just his need to prepare. A feeling of anger and dread were building in him and the only thing that could combat that feeling was the knowledge that he could take control again…or at the very least, take revenge. And for both those scenarios he needed to be prepared.
“Snow stopped by today,” Rowe announced in the silence that had stretched between them. “He said that he hasn’t seen you in two weeks and that you haven’t actually seen Ian in over a week.”
“It’s safer if I don’t see them. It’s dangerous to be around me,” Lucas said, his voice empty of all emotion.
“He said you fired Candace.”
Lucas flinched. That he regretted. “She was belligerent.”
“For calling you on being a maniacal douche bag? She should have been given a medal for putting up with your shit!”
Lucas blinked, his eyes focusing on Rowe who was staring at him as if he had lost his mind. “Are you done?”
Rowe threw his arms up in the air and paced a short distance away as if trying to get his temper back under control. “Man! I haven’t seen you in two weeks.”
“You’ve seen me every day.”
“No! I haven’t seen my friend, the man I love and respect as a brother, in two fucking weeks. You’ve just become this cold, soulless bastard who acts likes he preparing to unleash Armageddon on the world.” Rowe paced to the desk, standing over his friend. “It’s like you’ve abandoned us to hide in your tower and plot your revenge.”
Lucas jumped back to his feet, his fists twisting in the collar of the soft navy Henley Rowe was wearing, holding the man so close that their noses nearly bumped. “I have never abandoned you when you needed me. Never,” he snarled. “I have been there for you every time you’ve needed me through everything.”
