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“Your past.”
“Same goddamn difference.” He was so angry, livid.
I backed away, the anxiety forcing tears to form. What the hell? This was ridiculous. I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry. We were just fucking. “I cared about my boss, okay? I thought I could have the perfect job and the white knight, living happily ever after. I was just a fucking fool and the man used me. He got what he wanted, including my eighty-plus-hour work weeks. He got rich, accepted a Barbie doll wannabe as his flavor of the year then tossed me out the door. That’s why I had to get out of there. I was ashamed I’d been so stupid.”
Exhaling, he shook his head. “The man should be castrated. You’re the most incredible freaking woman in the world.”
His words shocked me, providing a flurry of butterflies. “Thank you.”
He grunted his answer then disappeared into himself again. God, this was infuriating.
“Anyway, I’m sorry.”
When he still said nothing, I turned around. My welcome had just been removed.
“It was friendly fire,” he said so quietly I had to strain to hear him.
Swallowing, I slowly turned around but remained quiet, fearful of interrupting him.
“I was in command of an operation. We were given intel that an enemy we’d been trying to track down for months was in a warehouse. We thought it would be cut and dry, but something happened. Either we got our signals crossed or we were purposely given bad information, but there were no enemies, at least at first, just innocent people trying to make ends meet. It was dark in the building we went in, and I became sidetracked, killing one of my men after he crawled out from the shadows.”
Exhaling, I walked closer, still trying to keep my distance with all I wanted to do was comfort him.
“He died in my arms. We were ambushed after that. Yeah, I saved a lot of lives that day, but I killed a young man who’d looked up to me and I’d sworn to protect him. I failed, at least that’s what I was told less than a week later, tossed out like yesterday’s trash.”
“That’s horrible. Your superiors knew it was an accident. Right?” How could they not? Yes, I’d heard several horror stories from my father, the hammer coming down on soldiers even when they’d believed they’d followed orders. It was one of the things that always drove me crazy about my dad’s stories. I’d argue with him, condemning the system and all the while he tried to explain the reasons why. Savage’s story brought the ugliness of how I used to feel to the surface.
“The decision was fair. I reacted instead of thinking the mission through. They said I went to the wrong place, but I knew better. I just can’t figure out what the fuck happened.”
I took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to say or if I should just keep quiet.
“Anyway, yeah, you were wrong for what you did, but I shouldn’t have reacted that way.”
“You’re not a killer, Hunt. You’re an amazing man.”
He laughed, the bitter sound creating a knot in my stomach. “Nope. I also killed a man in cold blood only hours before I left to come here.” He turned around to face me. “Now, at least you know the truth. You’ve been sleeping with a monster.”
There were no words to comfort him, no quippy retorts that would lighten the mood. Saying I was sorry again would only anger him further.
As he shook his head, walking past me, I grimaced and fisted both hands. I was supposedly so good with words, yet I couldn’t provide any level of comfort. What the hell was wrong with me?
After chastising myself for another few seconds, I headed after him, hearing the baby monitor even before I moved inside. Oh, God. “What’s wrong?” Lily was screaming, Princess barking.
“That’s what I’m going to find out.” Savage raced from the room and I followed. The second he flew into her room, she lifted her arms, her tiny sobs breaking my heart. Princess was right by her side, licking tears from her face.
“Uncle Savage,” she cried then threw her arms around his neck the second he scooped her in his arms.
“What’s wrong, sweet girl? What happened?” His voice cracked as she crawled into his lap.
“Where’s Daddy? Why can’t I see him?” she cried.
I forced myself to turn away, unable to keep the tears from falling. I shifted against the wall, doubling over as her little voice ingrained a permanent place inside my mind.
“He’s right here. He’ll never leave you,” Savage insisted.
“But I can’t see him. Did the bad men get him? That’s what he said would happen.”
I jerked up as soon as I processed her muffled words. Bad men?
