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“Is that what motivated you to do—to want—all of this?”
He nodded. “But I’m fine,” he added.
“Really?” she said loudly. “Because you don’t look fine. You look like you’re injured and you’re trying to go out anyway.”
“I know my limits,” he growled.
“Clearly,” she said sarcastically. He was a hero. He had to go, had to be out there, no matter the risk. And she knew better than to fall for a man like that. He’d always put himself in danger—which made him someone she could never be with.
Flashes of what could have been, might have been, flickered through her brain, and she fought the urge to retch. He could have died, and she would have never known until he was already gone.
“I love you so much,” she said again. Anger heated every word, because reasonable or not, she was pissed he’d shown her how much she loved him. How much she’d always loved him. “And that’s your fault. You made me love you. And now you’re offering nothing in return.”
“I’m offering you everything I’m able to give.”
“Which is what? You leaving? Coming in and out of my life with no guarantee you’ll ever come back?”
“I’ll come back to you. I’ll always come back, you just have to wait for me.”
And there it was. She had to sit back and wait while he took her heart and soul with him every time he left.
She had to get away from him. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe.
“Chloe, I have to get back out there now. That little girl needs me to find her parents.” He yanked on his boots. “Just wait for me. Please. We’ll talk about this later.”
No. She was done waiting. She should have been done with this long ago. Maybe then she could have saved herself the heartache she’d always been afraid of.
“I can’t wait for you,” she whispered. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. It’s not your fault—this is who you are. Go find those parents.”
Gage called her name as she turned and ran out of the hospital, but she didn’t look back.
Chapter Eleven
Gage wanted to chase after her, but Chloe knew him better than he knew himself. The girl’s parents were missing, and he had to go out there to make sure the family was reunited.
His chest was sore, as if Chloe had snatched his heart from between his ribs and run off with it. But he had to focus. Had to get back out there. It was his single objective.
Footsteps and the loud ruckus of conversation drifted into the room. Gage recognized some of the voices from his rescue team just before East stepped into the room.
“Hey.”
“Not now,” Gage growled.
“Whoa, easy tiger. I was coming to tell you the good news. The parents were found. Thankfully they stuck together and seem to be in good shape.”
Gage blinked. The parents were found? The family was okay? And they’d finished the job without him? “What?” His mind and body slowed for the first time in hours. “Who found them?”
East smiled. “The new recruits you trained. They were like carbon copies of you. They moved and examined the area exactly like you taught them. I swear, it was like watching you out there.”
Gage was half stunned and happy. The guys stuck to their training and acted on his behalf the way he’d taught them. He had done this.
“It’s a good fuckin’ day, man,” East said. “Everyone survived with nothing more than a few scratches.”
The adrenaline that’d kept Gage functioning drained from his limbs like an emptying whirlpool. They were okay.
Relief settled in his bones as clarity hit him like a punch to the stomach. Chloe had left him. She’d told him she’d loved him, and then she’d walked away.
He clutched his throbbing knee but nothing compared to the fear, the relief, the instant flood of countering emotions. Was this how she’d felt when she’d come to the hospital and seen him?
