Page 6 of Protecting Gina

Her eyes cut to his, and she looked annoyed. “I am.”

Words swam through his brain, but he didn’t say them. The bruises told a different story, but he didn’t want to rub that in her face. She needed compassion, not blame.

“He’ll probably come after you again.”

“Listen, I’ve been careful. He caught me off guard. It won’t happen again.”

“Maybe you should stay with a friend.”

She shook her head. “I can’t put my friends in danger. Plus, I haven’t been here long enough to have good friends to crash with.”

He shook his head, thinking about her options. “I don’t like this.”

She huffed out a snort. “Yeah, I don’t like it either, but I don’t have many options.”

“Let’s see what we can come up with.”

A crease between her eyebrows made her forehead wrinkle. “What do you think you can come up with?”

“I don’t know. Maybe there is a solution.”

He had no idea what had happened to make those men attack her. Maybe she’d done something that angered them. Still, attacking her wasn’t cool. They could go the legal route if she’d actually done something wrong.

She had his information, and now all she had to do was send him the name of the guy behind the attacks. He hoped she would send it soon.

He headed back into the room with his mother, sitting quietly beside her bed. His thoughts drifted to work. During their missions, there were things that happened that others would look down upon. There were people in other nations who probably wanted to use them as punching bags or target practice. There were times he wished it would all stop.

The John Lennon song, “Imagine,” was a nice sentiment, but it would never happen. Not that he didn’t want it to, but he dealt in realities that showed the depravity of humanity. Somehow, the people in charge seemed to lean toward evil. He guessed good people just wanted to live their lives and not get involved. He had no solution. He would just keep doing his job and hope that it would help.

Sitting in the hospital, watching his mother slip from this world, was bittersweet. Emotions rose that he thought he’d worked through. It had been rough before he left for the Navy. Money had been very tight. It was one reason he’d set up the bank account for Cassandra and dripped money into it. He hadn’t wanted his sister to starve or have to quit school and work.

When he’d been in high school, he’d lied about his age to get a job at fourteen just so he would have money for food. His mother just didn’t think buying groceries for him or Cassandra was important.

In a way, he was surprised Cassandra had turned out so well. Maybe it was because he’d helped with money that she hadn’t gone to bed starving or woken up in the mornings, unsure how she would get her next meal.

Cassandra yawned and stretched. “I need to eat.”

He checked his watch. “Sure. I didn’t get to eat lunch. How about we both go get something to eat?”

Cassandra shook her head. “I don’t want her to be alone in the last minutes.”

He didn’t want to upset his sister, so he nodded instead of arguing with her. He could pick something up from a machine or the cafeteria downstairs. “Don’t take the bus home. Take a taxi.”

Her lips pressed together. “It’s so expensive.”

“I know. But it’s dark out.”

He checked the time, seeing it was almost midnight. The day had flown by. He’d pushed away the hunger pangs earlier, but now they were hitting with a vengeance. He guessed he should have gone back for his sandwich instead of following Gina. But Gina needed his help.

“I should call you a shared ride. You don’t need to be standing out there hailing a cab.”

She rolled her eyes, something he’d seen her do multiple times today. She was a teenager. He’d been a little shit at her age when he’d traipsed off to training.

“I’ve been doing this on my own for weeks.”

He nodded, wishing he’d come earlier, but he couldn’t wish time would turn back. “I know. But that doesn’t mean I like it.”

She huffed out a breath. “Just come downstairs with me so you can get the right position in the application.”