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What Valentino proposes is risky and could leave me facing a bleak future. My combat skills are nonexistent. For years I’ve trained for self-defense, but what they face is beyond anything my trainers have prepared me for. Yet I can’t stand aside while they walk into danger together.
Unable to stand back any longer while Sloane unconsciously rubs at her side, I grab at her hand. “What are you doing?”
She shrugs my hold away. “It’s nothing.”
“No…Tácito is onto something. Are you hurt? I know it isn’t from sparring with Ethan because that will never happen.”
“I’m not hurt.”
“Prove it,” I say.
In typical Valentino fashion, he uses actions when words are too slow. He pulls at her top, exposing her skin.
She raises her arm to block our view, but two against one isn’t fair odds. “This is ridiculous. Will the two of you leave off? There’s nothing wrong with me.”
I pin her arms to the floor. With an unobstructed view, Valentino and I stare at her side. Other than the burn scar that has been there for years, there’s no new injury. Over her head, Valentino and I share a curious glance.
Sloane pulls at her hands and I free her. “Satisfied? I told you I wasn’t hurt.”
“You did…but ever since I mentioned Ghost Six you’ve been nursing your side. If you aren’t in pain, why—”
“Fucking hell. They did that to you didn’t they?” Valentino interrupts me to demand. “All this time you made me think your scars were from your service days. Did you know about this?” He turns accusing eyes to me.
“No. Had I known, I would have—”
“Become a target.” Sloane sits up, folding her arms over her belly. “And anyone else who found out would have been in danger, so I did the only thing I could think of. I escaped into the Air Force. There if I got hurt, it was on my terms.”
“They’re all fucking dead.” Valentino’s vow strums through my blood, eliciting an equally angry and fervent response.
“Yes, but by my hand.” One glance from Sloane to the glowering thunderstorm gathering on Valentino’s face has her amending her statement. “Our hands.”
“How can I help,” I offer.
“No, you have to stay away.” Sloane leaves Valentino’s side to enclose me in her arms. “If something were to happen to you…”
“I agree with Sloane. You can’t be anywhere near this.” Valentino stands behind our wife and signs so only I see. “She needs someone to come home to if I don’t survive.”
Even in a bloodthirsty rage, he is collected enough to acknowledge the true risks of a war with the Ghost Six. The knowledge does nothing to soothe my anxiety.
I don’t want to contemplate the life Valentino paints. “I don’t care. If you try to stop me, I’ll figure out your plans on my own and show up.”
“But Tácito, what if—”
“The only what if I can’t live with is saying goodbye to you and Valentino one day and neither of you returning. If the two of you are determined to do something this dangerous, I will play a part in protecting you.”
They share a glance that doesn’t bode well for me.
“However small a role I have doesn’t matter. Don’t shut me out. Please…” I implore them, unable to hide the shake in my voice.
“Dammit, Tácito, don’t be like—”
“How about surveillance?” Sloane interrupts Valentino.
We turn to her in question.
“Hear me out. If he’s on the surveillance team, he’ll be close enough to keep an eye on us but far enough to be safe.”
“I’ll take it,” I eagerly chime in.
