Page 18 of Scars of Fate

“You actually came.”

I didn’t remember crossing the room.

One second, she was standing twenty feet away.

The next, my hands were gripping her shoulders.

I searched every inch of her face.

The bruise.

The split lip.

The exhaustion.

The hollows beneath her cheekbones.

Someone had hurt her.

The fear hit me so hard it nearly knocked the air from my lungs.

Not anger.

Not yet.

Fear.

Pure.

Violent.

The kind that settled deep in a man’s soul and never let go.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

My voice was low.

Dangerously controlled.

“I was reporting.”

“In a war zone?”

“Yes.”

“Without telling anyone?”

“I didn’t think I needed your permission.”

My jaw clenched.

“You could’ve been killed.”

“So could you.”

“I’m trained for this.”

“So am I.”