Panting and sweating, Julian fell backward onto the couch, his hands swollen and bloody. Rage seethed through his body as bloodlust rose within him, fueling a desire for revenge and retribution. Thoughts of hunting down each of the bastards who’d attacked Mena and placing bullets between their eyes consumed him.
A soft knock rapped against the door in quick succession.
“Fuck,” Julian shouted at the empty room. The last thing he needed was some nosy neighbor coming to check to see if everything was alright.
Things weren’t alright.
They might never be alright again.
Crossing the space, Julian reached the door opening it wide.
“Found you,” Sunny said, pushing past him and stepping inside the room.
Julian squeezed his eyes shut, not in the mood to talk.
“Get out,” Julian said, as he clutched the edge of the open door.
Sunny crossed through the foyer into the kitchen, opening the pantry and then the cabinet doors.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m looking for your stash of vodka. I’m not going to let this turn out like last time,” Sunny said.
Julian pushed the door closed and leaned against it, sliding down to the floor. Sunny had been an eyewitness to the devastating guilt that had consumed Julian as Broman endured multiple surgeries. He’d swallowed a bottle of pain killers and drowned himself in a case of vodka stashed in the trunk of his sedan while sitting in the hospital parking lot. Julian had been listless when Sunny found him.
“I would have died that night, if it weren’t for you,” Julian whispered.
“I was so pissed at you. We were all at the prayer vigil for Broman and your ass was nowhere in sight. I fully planned to make you pay for missing it until I found you out there, almost dead … I can’t go through that again. I can’t be the one who continues to find you when you are broken.” Sunny grabbed a towel and turned on the faucet.
“I’m sorry.”
“You know, I didn’t know it was your SEAL team I was flying the helo to rescue. When I saw Emilio pulling Broman’s body inside, my heart stopped. Then I saw your face and it was like you didn’t recognize us at all. Like you were looking through us at something only you could see. Then you passed out.”
“I thought that was the worse day of my life,” Julian said.
“Until today? When you found out what happened to Mena.” Sunny sat next to him, took his hands and gently cleaned the blood from his knuckles. “None of this is your fault. You did everything you could to protect Mena.”
“I made too many mistakes. I took risks I shouldn’t have and she’s paying the price for it,” Julian said.
“Mena is in this situation because of Tubeec, not you. Don’t beat yourself up over something that he did. He kidnapped Mena, sending us all down this horrible path,” Sunny said.
“What if she doesn’t make it? What if her last moments on earth were being …” Julian choked on the words, unable to say them out loud.
“Trust me, she’s going to make it. Anyone who’s loved Julian Montgomery knows how hard it is to walk away from him. She’s going to fight and claw her way back to health to be with you. Mark my words,” Sunny said.
“I hope you’re right,” Julian said, looking up at Sunny.
Sunny continued, “Right now, you need to focus on praying for her and loving her and supporting her. She needs to feel that coming from you and her whole family. That’s what’s going to get her through this nightmare.”
“You’re right. I need to get to Wajir.” Julian wanted Mena to feel his presence and his love and he couldn’t do that from five hundred miles away. He was going to wait outside her operating room and remind her of all the reasons why she needed to get better. The life that they shared and the life they still had ahead of them.
“The offer from ASF still stands. Their team could fly you there in a little over an hour,” Sunny said. “Come on, I’ll drive you.”
“Thanks Sunny.”
“Anytime Montgomery.”
Chapter Forty
