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There’s no mistaking who he is. The look on his face is filled with accusation and fury, mixed with a whole lot of get your fucking hands off my wife!
I’m not sure if this man knew a single thing about me before today. But as I observe him watching me with his wife in my arms, I’m fucking positive that I’m on his radar now.
I should have known he would be here. I had an inkling, but somehow, I let myself hope he wouldn’t. Scottie’s still oblivious, holding on tight. Abruptly, I break away and try to wrestle my heart out of the moment—not for me, but for her. Hackles rising, I feel his presence in the pit of my stomach and curse my luck that I had to fly with my uniform on today. Sick with what’s coming, I do my best to hide it.
Scottie follows the direction of my gaze. Her breath hitches as panic starts to mar her features.
“It’s okay, Katy,” I whisper. Apologetic eyes find mine. Plastering a smile on my face, I nudge her in his direction.
“Let’s get this over with,” I say it low enough for only her to hear, and her eyes mist with fresh guilt while what’s left of her elated tears slide down her cheeks.
Terrified of what my getting lost in the moment has just cost her, I follow her over to where he stands. His posture is relaxed, but his jaw is ticking, and his eyes are still trained on me. He’s ripping me apart in his mind, limb by limb. Anger and jealousy, possession, gnaw at me as I match his stare with the same intensity. But protection overrules all these emotions as I feel Scottie start to unravel with the tension. I know she didn’t want this, didn’t mean for this to happen, but it’s a fucking train wreck, and none of us has any choice but to watch it unfold. Scottie’s words pass through my thoughts.
It only feels this way when it’s real.
I only spent a minute on the other side of love before being tossed back into hell. With one look in Scottie’s direction, I know it was worth it, and I’d do it all over again.
I fucked up with my foolish heart. In my mind, this situation has always been screwed, but to feel the gravity of it in the flesh is another thing entirely.
“Gavin, this is Sergeant Christopher Briggs,” Katy announces timidly.
Scottie, what have you done to me?
Gavin remains wordless, his lips twitching as I approach him and snap my boots together, keeping eye contact.
As soon as Katy realizes what’s about to happen, her eyes volley between us.
I told her I would be here for her in any capacity, that I would do anything for her, and I’m about to prove it.
Swallowing the whole of my fucking pride, I keep my eyes trained on his. Straightening my spine, I raise my lined fingers over my brow, and salute my superior.
Chapter Forty-Two
Katy
Mortified, I watch as Briggs salutes my husband, and Gavin takes a pull of his cigarette and slowly exhales it into his face.
Briggs lowers his hand as his eyes flash with murder.
“Gavin!” I snap, his eyes flitting to mine, and in them, I see the look that I’ve been expecting for months—betrayal.
I didn’t think this through.
This was never supposed to happen.
I open my mouth to speak as they face off, both rattling with a rage I’ve never felt from either of them—Gavin with jealousy, Briggs at his reaction.
You did this, Katy.
“Oh, good, you’re all here.” A woman’s voice sounds behind us as Gavin and Briggs stare each other down, the weight of it crippling me.
Turning in the direction of the voice, I see a tall woman in a power suit, designer heels, perfect makeup, and dark hair tied back in a sleek knot walking toward us. She seems oblivious of the situation and dives right in. “Kathryn?” she questions, damn well knowing the answer as she extends a hand toward me. “I’m Liv with the Today Show.”
I shake her hand, my eyes still locked on the two men in front of me. “Nice to meet you, Liv.”
She squeezes my hand subtly, tugging it toward her, and with that small gesture manages to steal my attention while her eyes implore mine in a follow my lead, I’ve got this way.
There’s no mistaking that she saw it—our connection—and if she saw enough from her side to be worried, I can only imagine the conclusion my husband has drawn on his.
“Christopher Briggs,” she says in a sharp, bright tone that tells me she knows exactly what she’s doing. “I have to say I’ve been excited about meeting you two all week.”
Briggs takes a step back, his eyes lingering on Gavin, who looks at him so darkly I feel the cold sweeping over us and seeping into my bones.
What the fuck have I done?
When I decided to do the show, the sole idea was to spread some truth among the speculation of what happened to us in the media. And the more I thought about it, I knew I couldn’t do it without Briggs. I’d spent a lot of the last month trying to be honest with myself, instead of medicating my harsh reality away. I was ready to take hold of my life and try to start living it again, not just for Noah and Gavin, but for myself. This meant coming clean with Gavin—admitting to the strength of what I feel for Briggs, of my need for him, and my hesitance to let him go.
Seeing that he was okay with my own eyes was a recommendation from my therapist. She didn’t necessarily believe it would bring closure but would help to ease some of my anxiety. I jumped on her reasoning because seeing him was all I wanted, had wanted, since returning home. At the same time, I wanted desperately to be Gavin’s wife and Noah’s mother. To be her. I am two different women, living in two separate worlds, in love with two different soldiers. In the haze that’s now my life, clarity is all I prayed for.
All of this I set in motion to try and stop the spiral, but it seems I’ve just thrown all three of us into a tailspin. I asked Gavin to come with me without a second thought, knowing what seeing Chris would do to me, but never thinking for one second my reaction would be so fucking obvious or that I wouldn’t be able to control it, or that their meeting would turn out like this. When Briggs stepped out of the limo, he was all I could see. All I could feel. And I let myself revel in the few seconds I was in his arms because in them I felt safe. I counted on Gavin to understand. I expected far too much.
Rattling with panic, I follow Liv’s lead as she attempts to separate the two of them.
“Gavin,” she says softly, “I’m so honored to meet you.”
She extends her hand, and he shakes it gently, finally ripping his eyes away from Briggs. After a few brief words of forced pleasantries, I realize Gavin won’t even look at me, and it’s all Briggs seems to be doing.
Liv’s voice interrupts my scrambling brain. “So, we’re upstairs in conference room four. My assistant is checking you in as we speak.”
“Thank you,” Gavin says with a morbid tone.
I feel the implications in his voice as I step back helplessly, feeling my life slip away from me.
“It should only take an hour or so,” Liv assures Gavin, and he nods in reply.
“You two ready?” she asks Chris and me. Without waiting for an answer, she enters the hotel, and we both follow. I don’t look back at Gavin to give him the reassurance he needs as we part, even though I know I should, because I’m too afraid of what I’ll see.
Briggs and I step into the conference room, and he brushes the back of my hand with his. Instantly my eyes find his, golden embers of anger and hurt still burning inside them as I stumble in my heels. Chris is there immediately to stabilize me before pulling out a rolling chair from the table. I take the offered seat as Liv looks curiously between us.
“I’m going to go grab us some coffee.”
Scanning the room, I see it’s already set up with every sort of refreshment imaginable and meet her gaze with a silent thank you.
“I’ll be right back.” She shuts the door behind her as Briggs walks over to the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring out at the bustling city below us. The room is small in size but seems much larger due to the distance he’s putting between us.
Self-loathing is a feeling I’m all too familiar with, but in this moment, I’ve never hated what lies beneath my skin more. I’ve hurt him in the worst way, stripped his pride, and forced him into a situation he doesn’t deserve.
