Page 96 of Savage Reckoning

Jack and Aaron exchange a bemused look.

“Is there tension?” Jack wants to know.

“Fuck, yes. You’re an arsehole,” Aaron replies.

“Right. I could say the same for you. But what does that have to do with him?” He jerks his thumb in Gabe’s direction.

“Fucked if I know. We can butt heads without any help from anyone else. And look at him. He’s not a commander. Barely even a soldier with that limp, and now the knee. He’s just a bloke who turns up out of the blue and makes himself useful here and there.”

“And fucks the doc. Don’t forget that.”

Aaron winks at me. “Well, someone has to.”

My face is hot enough to fry eggs by the time they’ve finished their banter. For once, I’m speechless. “I… We just…”

“Don’t you go booking a plane ticket,” Aaron says, ignoring my stammering. “Ethan’ll see sense. He always does, in the end.”

Jack is more circumspect. “It’s the boss’s call, but we’ll talk to him.”

Gabriel

“Megan tells me you’re wanting a word.”

Ethan’s waiting for me when I return from yet another visit to the x-ray department. He’s lounging in the plastic-covered armchair beside my bed, thumbing through a copy of Time magazine.

“That’s right. But you didn’t need to make a trip over especially. You could have just phoned.”

The nurse accompanying me shoves my wheelchair to the edge of my bed, and I begin the laborious task of shuffling from the chair onto the mattress.

Ethan watches me but doesn’t offer to help, which I’m glad of. I get enough of that from the nurses, who mean well, and I suppose it’s their job, but I need to get used to shifting for myself. It’s been ten days since my rescue, and this is the first time I’ve actually been out of bed. It was a heady experience, but now I’m exhausted. I flop back against the pile of pillows and wince when pain arcs through my ribs.

“So, how’s it all going?” Ethan helps himself to a chocolate biscuit from the stash I normally keep hidden. The men from Caraksay are like a plague of locusts when they descend, and I’ve learned the wisdom of hiding my cookies when they’re around.

“Not bad. There’s talk of physiotherapy, probably starting next week. I need to build muscle tone ready for the surgery.”

He shoves half a biscuit into his mouth. “I wouldn’t have thought that would be an issue. You’re built like a tank.”

“I’ve been lying around for a week. Megan thinks I’m getting flabby.”

“Ah, well, she’d know, being a doctor and all.”

I settle myself in the bed. “Thanks for coming. I wanted to talk to you about Sokolov.”

“There’s a fucker who won’t be missed.”

“True. While he was… questioning me, he said quite a lot about why he was so keen to attack you.”

His eyebrow lifts. “Oh?”

“Apparently, he had a thing for your wife.”

His mouth quirks in a grin. “I can understand that. I have a thing for her myself. What did he say, exactly?”

“There was some sort of an arrangement, years back. Or so he seemed to think. A betrothal, him and Cristina.”

“First I’ve heard of it.”

“Me, too.” Cristina appears in the doorway. “He really believed that?”

---