Page 80 of Fire for Effect

But now… he had to see.

“He broke my rib, right here,” I said, pointing at where the bone hadn’t healed right. The small bump beneath my skin that sometimes hurt if I breathed too hard.

Then I pointed to a small scar on the back of my forearm.

“He broke my arm, here,” I said, touching the hardened skin where I had once seen bone. “Dislocated my elbow, too.”

I looked up to look at his perfect features. His sun kissed, tanned face and the beard that always grew out just a little more auburn than the dark hair on his head.

“He stabbed me here,” I said, pointing to a place covered by the black lines of the dandelion tattoo split apart, its white seeds blowing in the wind. “The first time I said I’d leave.”

Kai’s eyes hardened and I had to look away.

“If I wasn’t with him, then I wasn’t allowed to exist,” I said, paraphrasing Heath’s words.

I lowered my head, resigning to the fate of forever being alone. Even if Kai Griffith, son of the Director of the CIA, and heiress Kamilla Griffith, had ever thought that there was a future with me, he’d know that it was bullshit now.

“The sad part was that my chain of command - the one before I was in Lucky 13 - told me what I was going through was just a domestic dispute. That reporting it to the authorities was petty, and cruel…” I almost laughed at the memory. “They said I could ruin a good man’s career.”

“He fucking stabbed you!”

I didn’t bother to hear him. I just barreled on, because I couldn’t stop once the words spilled out.

“He went to work with a bruise on his face. He was choking me and I struck him with a coffee cup. He told everyone we had been in a fight. That I was violent.” I lowered my head in shame. “They called it mutual abuse.”

I remembered the accusations, and the lectures. That we were both to blame, equally.

“You see, I was in the X-Ray Program,” I said, referring to the fast track to Special Forces. “Heath was… well, he was fighting for a slot, you know? But he didn’t make it past Ranger School. He said that his instructors were unfair but…”

“Bullshit!”

I looked up again, to glance at Griff’s expression. His eyes were stuck on the Dandelions.

“Well, whatever the reason, he hated that I made it through the Q-course and hated it when I was sent to you guys as a replacement.” I lowered my head. “Then I got my CIB.”

“Which you fucking earned!”

I almost smiled. Griff had been there. It was an ambush. And when the dust settled, and we came out unscathed, Griff had been the first to clap me on the back and congratulated me on getting my cherry popped. I had never felt more alive than that exact moment.

Being with Lucky 13 gave me strength, until I was able to rebuild myself into someone who could finally leave Heath.

“He didn’t see it that way,” I admitted with a shrug. “I filed for divorce while we were deployed, but the waiting period…” I had to wait months.

He had fought me tooth and nail, contesting the divorce again and again. It wasn’t because he loved me. It was to punish me.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were married?” Griff’s hand reached out, and he grabbed my, circling my wrist, until his thumb rubbed over the pulse on the delicate underside.

“Because I was on my way out of it. You didn’t need to know.”

“But Veder knew?” He looked hurt.

Was his jealousy always centered on Veder?

“Top knew, too.” I said, slowly. I knew it would bother him to be the last to know. “He had to be told, because my husband called in a Red Cross Message to get me back home. He said his mom was dying, and I needed to come back right away.”

“You never left the deployment,” Griff said, his brows furrowing together.

“Because he had faked it, and I knew it.” I forced out a laugh.

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