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Trees tuned out their intimate conversation, giving his boss what privacy he could, but the tones of their devotion still seeped into his ears…then stabbed his wounded heart. He’d never have that since he’d been dumb enough to fall for Laila. Yeah, she’d done something shitty, but even knowing that, he couldn’t seem to wrest the organ in his chest back from her cold grip.
God, he was a stupid bastard.
He was getting hardcore on his mental flagellation when Logan braked in front of what looked like an abandoned barn in the middle of nowhere.
“I gotta go. I’ll call when I can. I love you and the girls, Cherry.” Logan clenched his jaw, then hung up.
The doors in front of them opened, then his boss drove in and parked beside a pair of other vehicles. Trees hopped out, fighting off the queasiness again. Wordlessly, he and Logan began to gear up.
The colonel took over. “We’re going in with two teams. I’ll lead Joaquin, Walker, Trevor, Matt, and you, Ghost.”
Trees wasn’t surprised when Ghost merely nodded, then looked toward the doors with burning eyes, like he was itching to get into the fight.
“Hunter will lead Deke, Logan, Zy, and Trees.” The elder Edgington singled him out. “If you’re sure you’re up for this.”
He wasn’t a pussy, and there was no fucking way he would sit around while the others, with so much more to lose, risked their lives so he could mope like one. “Locked and loaded, sir.”
The colonel didn’t look convinced but carried on, which told Trees how desperate they were. Caleb communicated their plan of attack, places of interest, timeframes, and the extraction point. “Anyone who doesn’t reach that helipad by oh-five-hundred…”
Would be left behind. They all understood the risk. They had no permission nor coordination with the government. They hadn’t talked to the right people, and they hadn’t greased the right palms. If Montilla called for help, Trees had no illusions about what would happen. Every operative caught would be arrested, and Mexican prison wouldn’t be kind—if they even lived long enough to see it.
After a thumbs-up all around, they split into teams, then left the barn, trekking through the desert on foot in different directions so they could approach the massive estate from different sides.
Zy fell in beside him as they hiked toward the hacienda. He looked concerned. “You okay?”
“My head doesn’t hurt much anymore.” Trees did his best to smile.
“Glad to hear it, but that wasn’t what I was asking. Talk to me about Laila.”
“What is there to say? She fucked me over.”
“Trees—”
“Here. You look at this video and tell me what you see.” He handed his best friend his phone.
Zy watched it grimly. “I know what it looks like, but—”
“You in Logan’s camp? You think she sent me this to protect me? Even if she did, news flash: she fucked him. Last night. Willingly. I took apart that video in the car. I don’t have all my software on my phone, but I’ve got enough to tell when it was filmed.” Sure, it was spliced at the beginning and the end, but she’d probably sent him the best parts and discarded the rest.
When the clip was finished, Zy sighed. “I’m not buying it.”
“What part? Where she’s spreading her legs for Victor Ramos? Despite the sheet over them, I think it’s pretty obvious what they’re doing.”
“I know what it looks like, but you’re…tangled up in her, man. I’m not denying that she filmed him on top of her. But I doubt she did it for her pleasure. Or even for his. My impression of Laila was that she would do or say whatever she needs to keep her loved ones safe. If she didn’t care about you, why would she bother to warn you away? If you didn’t matter to her, why wouldn’t she just let Victor take you out?”
Trees scowled. “Because she doesn’t want me to kill Victor.”
“I doubt that’s what she was thinking after she’d watched the son of a bitch shoot you hours earlier.”
Zy had a point. Trees mentally weighed it, but he just couldn’t get past the fact she’d intentionally gone for his emotional jugular. “It doesn’t matter now. We’re here for Kimber.”
“But you’re going to go after Laila as soon as this is over. I know you.”
Damn straight. “It’s my mission. The bosses want her back. They want to know what she knows. I’m sure her sister wants her safe, too.”
“Don’t bullshit me. You want her back for you. For revenge.” Zy dropped his voice. “I know somewhere deep down you think you’re not good enough for love or some crap like that.”
Trees sent his best friend a sharp glare. “I never said that.”
“Not in so many words, but I know you think it when you talk about your family. I’m telling you, that’s not reality, buddy.”
Zy didn’t understand his childhood. “That has nothing to do with Laila.”
“I think it does. Before you go all V is for Vendetta on her ass, make her explain.”
“The way you did when you had Tessa in my bunker?” Zy had been fucking furious at her seeming betrayal when he’d gotten her alone and naked…and there hadn’t been much talking.
“Different circumstances.”
“You’re right. Tessa loves you. Laila doesn’t give a shit about me. But I won’t let her lie. I fell for that shit once. You know the old saying. If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck…”
Zy shook his head. “She’s not a duck; she’s a wounded sparrow. But I’m obviously not going to change your mind. Just…think about it.”
Trees sighed. “I haven’t been able to focus on much else.”
“You better get your head on right for this mission. It’s going to be dangerous as hell. I hear we’re outnumbered five-to-one—at least.”
Fuck. Zy was right. If Trees didn’t want to end up dead, he’d better fucking focus. “Yeah.”
“How did Tessa take you leaving suddenly?”
“She’s all right. Nervous. Hallie cried, and that didn’t make anything easier. But my girls are tough.”
They were. Tessa had been through a lot while protecting her infant daughter. They would be okay. And Trees would do his best to make sure Zy stayed okay.
It occurred to him that nearly everyone present had a reason to stay frosty and come home alive—a wife, kids, siblings, parents—people who loved them.
Trees would go home alone.
