Page 24 of How Much For A Broken Heart?

“No questions!” She put her hands over her ears, rocking on her feet, and then, she darted away, and I exchanged a quick glance with Josh, who jogged after her.

I watched them leave, a mix of emotions swirling within me. She’d been through more than most could fathom, yet she was healthy and didn’t seem traumatized—it seemed like what was here and now was hurting her more. There was a temper in her, and confidence that no one would stop her from what she wanted to do, but she wanted Clara and Amos. Wasn’t that a good thing because it implied she hadn’t been hurt at the compound? She called Amos by name, and I got the sense there was affection for him.

For the man who’d gut-shot August and left us to die.

Would Annie remember August? He’d lived with James and Annie for six months undercover. And here she was, in the midst of strangers, searching for a familiar face in a world turned upside down, and finding nothing.

“Josh says she doesn’t know August, says she doesn’t have a daddy at all,” Ethan murmured.

I stiffened—I hadn’t heard him walk up behind me, so lost in the story of one small child and her wrecked world.

“Cap,” I acknowledged, and tried to straighten as best I could with the whole crutches thing. He wasn’t my captain anymore, not now that we were civilians, but he’d earned that honorific, and I would never call him anything else.

“How’s our patient doing?”

I glanced at the closed door. “They’re worried about infection, peritonitis. Doc’s in with him now, so I stepped out.” He’d want to know why I was hanging around August’s room, and maybe, he’d suggest I should leave the man alone, and I stiffened. He threw me a concerned glance… here it comes.

Only, he didn’t say a thing about why I was hanging around or sitting by Navy’s bed. Instead, he leaned against the opposite wall and nodded.

“Stay with him, yeah? He’ll need to see a friendly face when he wakes up.”

“Not sure he’ll see it that way, pretty sure me packing his wound and making him scream gets me on his shit list.”

Ethan huffed a laugh, then sobered. “Can we talk?”

I glanced left and right at the empty corridor, not wanting to move from the spot, but unsure why I felt so torn by the thought of leaving August when he was so close to waking.

“We can talk here,” I said.

His eyes narrowed. “You feeling responsible for him?” he asked, but he wasn’t accusing me of anything, it was an observation.

At first, I’d sat by August’s side—a sense of duty and an unspoken bond kept me rooted to that chair. We might not have known each other outside this single combat situation, but in those intense moments, in the midst of life and death decisions, we’d worked as a team, connected in a fighting sense, that meant he was more than a fellow soldier—sailor, whatever—I was his lifeline.

August and I might have been strangers before, but it didn’t feel right to walk away. Keeping him alive, hearing his desperate need for me to tell Annie that she’d been loved, had changed something in me. Now, watching him fight for his life in a sterile hospital bed, I felt a responsibility for him. He was a tough guy, a SEAL, but even the toughest need someone in their corner when they’re down. And right now, August was down.

So, did I feel responsible? Yeah I did.

“He was my team,” I said in my defense. “And teams look out for each other, in and out of combat, Cap,” I began.

He held up a hand. “I didn’t mean anything by it.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I have a proposition for you.”

“You do?”

“Sanctuary took you, put you on this mission, but I want you with me as soon as you’re healed, in the Shadow Team, as my second.”

“Of course. And Luca?”

“He already said yes,” Ethan said, and extended a fist, which I bumped.

“The team’s back again,” I said.

Ethan grinned. “Plus a few extras—couple of US Special Ops, another SEAL—and yeah, you’ll meet them all soon.” Then he cracked his knuckles. “For now, though, I have a situation in Seattle we’re working, so I’m out of here.”

I straightened. “You want me to help?—”

“Not you, not this time; torn ligaments in your knee, remember?” He must have seen me tense. “Also, I need your eyes on August. I need any intel he can give us, and you know how slippery these damn SEALs can get. He doesn’t leave this building without talking to Shadow Team first.”

“Got it, Cap.”

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