Page 86 of Maximus

There was a pregnant pause and I didn’t know until after I asked how much his answer meant to me.

“Yeah, honey, you’re teaching me how to trust.”

It wasn’t exactly the proclamation I wanted to hear, but it was a damn good start.

Chapter 24

Retreat and regroup.

It sounded better than run and hide, which was essentially what I was doing. That was part of why I was making myself absent during breakfast. I wasn’t being a complete coward, I figured she’d enjoy some time alone with Eli and Liam, not to mention, I needed to check in with Zane.

But mostly I needed to clear my head. When Eva asked me if I trusted her, I was unprepared. I knew my answer wasn’t the one she wanted but she’d still smiled and went about her business, like my lame, “I’m learning to” was enough. Maybe it was. The truth was, I didn’t distrust her. Wasn’t that the same thing as trusting her?

And holy hell, the woman was cute when she was pissed on my behalf. When had that ever happened? Add in the jealousy she didn’t admit to but was written clear as day on her pretty face and my gut had clenched with some unknown feeling. All I knew was, I didn’t want her to feel any sort of wariness about the many nameless women in my past. It was not the first time I’d seen jealousy aimed my way, but it was the first time I cared. The first time I felt something akin to shame that I’d made good use of what was being offered.

Frog Hogs were a dime a dozen. They were unavoidable if you went to a bar in San Diego or Virginia Beach. They could sniff out a SEAL a mile away. And when those women caught the scent—they pounced.

They only wanted you because you have a trident pinned to your chest. And those bitches were crafty, they know who they’re looking for. They know the difference between a color and a number and have no issue asking straight out if you’re part of the regular teams or DEVGRU. But not Eva. She couldn’t care less about my trident, or that I’d been part of Team Six. When she looked at me, she saw only one thing—me. Eva didn’t even know that the teams were designated by a number, or what the Development Group known as SEAL Team Six was. She had no clue those teams are separated into colors.

DEVGRU was where I’d met Zane Lewis, my boss. He was a team leader for the Red Team, the best of the best of Team Six—the tip of the spear. The squad every SEAL wanted to be a part of, so it was only apt that Zane coded his teams as colors when he started Z Corps: Red, Gold, and Blue. With talks of adding a forth team if demand continued to be high. And unfortunately in the world we lived in—full of scumbags and criminals—business was always good, when your business was dispatching the fuckers to hell.

I sat on my bed debating how I was going to approach my boss about taking over the lease agreement on the safehouse when my phone rang.

The devil himself—like just thinking about him could summon him.

“Yo,” I greeted. “I was getting ready to call you.”

“Bet you were.” Zane chuckled. “Let me guess, you were calling to tell me you’re in love.”

What the fuck?

“Have you bumped your fuckin’ head? Who do you think I am, Brooks?”

“Yeah, he turned into a surly bastard when Tatiana caught him in her web.”

In her web?

“Now you’re talking crazy. Please tell me you’re not growing soft in your old age.”

“If you’re not calling to tell me you’re in love,” he said, ignoring my jab, “then you won’t mind I was talking to Tex last night. And even though he disagrees, I think Eva Dawson should reach out to the prosecutor’s office.”

“Hell to the fucking no,” I growled.

“Christ. It’s true.”

“What’s true?”

“When Dec told me you were in love, I didn’t believe it. No fuckin’ way, that’s what I told him when he called to tell me to batten down the hatches. I was just bustin’ your balls earlier about—”

“Wait. Declan did what?”

“Don’t act shocked, brother. You were there when Brooks brought Tatiana home—hell, you tried to shoot the woman.” Why in the actual fuck was everyone still bringing that up?

“Tatiana and I are fine,” I reminded him.

“Yeah, now you are. But you weren’t back then.”

“What does this have to do with Dec callin’ you and gossiping like a fuckin’ old woman?”