Page 58 of Twister

“No, she needs a rest, and we’re going to have a fun time. Okay?”

He went up the stairs and headed toward the bathroom, stopping short when he saw the two empty bottles of vodka on the coffee table and one glass. When he saw the bathroom door partially open, he pushed it until he saw Quinn, her skin ashen beneath the dark beauty of her skin. She was draped over the toilet, and he could smell the sick in the small room.

“Quinn,” he said firmly, and she slowly opened her eyes. They were glassy and dull. It took her a moment to acknowledge him, but she pushed up and glared at him.

“What are you doing here? Don’t you understand I don’t want to see you?”

“It doesn’t matter what you want now. I’m taking the boys with me. You’re obviously not in any condition to care for them. If things don’t change, Quinn, I’m filing for custody.”

She rose and flew at him, her fists flying. The impact drove him back a couple of steps, but he captured her wrists in his hands, trying with all his might to be gentle. He was so much stronger than she was.

“You’re not taking them away from me, too,” she screamed. Untangling her hands, she slapped him hard across the face. His cheek burned, and his regret increased tenfold.

He pushed her against the wall, trying to restrain her as she dug her fingernails into his cheek, leaving behind some stinging scratches. “I don’t have a choice,” he said angrily, his heart breaking for this situation, the grief from his brother’s death squeezing his throat and chest, and the guilt that he hadn’t been able to follow through on his promise to protect and look after Brian’s family, choking him.

“They’re only five years old, and they’ve lost their dad, and their mom is wallowing in her own pain. When was the last time they bathed? Ate?”

She blinked, turning her head away, the fight going out of her. A sob caught in her throat.

He let her go, his heart aching for her, but his resolve firm. Sighing heavily, he set his hands on his hips. A gripping pain started deep in his chest, and he looked away, blinded by the kind of despair that brought the resignation of reality with it. A stark, unsettling reality. Quinn was drinking heavily, trying to dull her pain. He knew he couldn’t make her do anything. It wasout of his hands. An uncontainable grief ripped through him. “You know you can lean on me,” he said brokenly, swallowing hard, working to keep his shit together. “But you fucking won’t. Not for your sake or your kids. I’m here for you, Quinn.”

She slid down the wall, covering her face with her hands, bursting into terrible, wrenching sobs. God, how he wanted to console her, but she didn’t want him anywhere near her. It was useless and painful to stay here and watch this.

He turned away, gathered up Ezra and Elijah’s belongings, and with the sound of her excruciating cries, he left.

Twister stoodoutside the house where he’d been born and raised. Sadie was at the hotel. He didn’t want to subject her to this interaction between him and his father. He promised her they would get a chance to meet, but reconnecting with his dad, something he’d begun to work through after realizing that Ngurah was right, was something he needed to do alone. Twister wouldn’t be the man he was if things had gone differently. Instead of seeing his childhood as depressing and uncomfortable, he now had to see it as the way he’d been shaped and molded.

The door opened and his mom said, “Are you going to stand out there all day, young man?”

He smiled and headed toward her. When he reached her, she simply wrapped her arms around him and held him for a while. “It is so good to see you.” Sighing softly, she asked, “Are you all right?”

“Yes, just a got wounded in action, Mom. It happens, but there’s no permanent damage, and I’m healing great.”

“That’s a relief,” she said, sounding strong, but he could see the concern in her eyes, the kind that never went away when your son was a Navy SEAL. He squeezed her shoulder.

“Dad?”

“In his study.”

He nodded, and turned away from her, then turned back. “I have someone I want you to meet. Could we go to dinner tonight?”

Her eyes flashed, and she smiled. “Of course. Would this person be of the female persuasion?”

“She would, but don’t start, Mom.”

She held up her hands and smirked. “All hope is not lost.”

He approached his dad’s study, knocked, and when he called to enter, Twister stepped inside. His dad looked up, blinked a couple of times.

“Shane.” He half rose. “What happened to you?”

“Combat, but I’m fine. Everything is healing great.”

“What brings you home?”

“It’s a strange story, but I want you to listen and then I have something I want to ask you.” He explained about the priest he’d met and the strange stuff he’d seen without giving away too many tactical details of that mission to apprehend Basuki. Then he told him why he was really home. “Pendanda Ngurah needs surgery, Dad. He wants you.”

“I’ve got too many?—”

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