Page 10 of Provoking Bryan

Sara didn’t reply, but the answer was obvious.

“Let me give you the run down,” Miley continued. “He’s a brilliant physician but after an incident in the ER…”

“Incident?”

“Yeah, he was forced to shoot some gangbanger who followed the ambulance to finish off a GSW victim. Bryan was pretty cool under fire. He was fed up, didn’t feel like he was making a difference. So Damon recruited him for Doctors Without Borders. You were at the gala, and JJ and Damon both wanted him protected. You were elected.”

“Is he in the lifestyle?” Sara asked.

“God, no. He thinks we’re all a bunch of freaks, and yet he has a membership. He says Club Southside’s lounge has the best food and booze in Chicago. He isn’t wrong, but I think he misses some of the guys he served with. Bryan is a nice guy, but he’s more than that. He’s strong, and he knows it. If he’s pushing, it’s because he sees something in you. Something worth challenging. Damon thinks he has latent Dom tendencies.”

Sara laughed. “Damon thinks every guy with a set of testicles has latent Dom tendencies.”

“Correct. So take that with a grain of salt. And Sara?” Miley added, her voice gentler now. “Sometimes, taking a chance on and letting someone in doesn’t make you weaker. It makes you stronger.”

The call ended, but Sara couldn’t shake the lingering sense that the balance between her and Bryan had shifted—and that her carefully controlled world would never be the same.

Sara stood at the edge of the camp, the night air cool against her skin. The rhythmic hum of the generator mixed with the faint rustle of the savanna offered a momentary reprieve from the day’s chaos. She needed the space, the solitude, to clear her head.

It wasn’t just the ambush that lingered in her mind. It was him. Bryan.

She turned at the sound of footsteps, her hand instinctively brushing her thigh where her knife was sheathed. But it was Bryan, his broad frame silhouetted against the lantern light of the camp.

“You have a habit of sneaking up on people,” she said.

“And you have a habit of walking off when there’s a conversation that needs to be had,” he replied evenly, his voice a quiet rumble.

Sara wasn’t in the mood for this, not now. “I’ve nothing to say.”

“Too bad,” he said, stepping closer. “Because I do.”

Sara crossed her arms, her gaze narrowing as he closed the distance between them. He was close enough now that she could feel the heat of him, his steady presence pressing against her walls.

“What do you want, Bryan?” she asked, her voice low, defensive.

“I want to make sure you’re okay,” he said.

“I’m fine; not a scratch on me… at least not one from today.”

“What we went through today can make you feel things you may not want to feel…”

“God help me,” she snorted, “and save me from people who want to help me process my feelings. Me and my feelings will do just fine without you or anyone else’s interference.”

His eyes narrowed, sharp and unyielding. “You pretend like you’ve got it all under control, but we both know that’s a lie.”

Sara bristled, the accusation cutting deeper than she expected. “Do we? Does it ever occur to you I might actually have everything under control because that’s my job?”

“Sara…”

“Drop it, Bryan. You don’t know me.”

“I know enough,” Bryan countered, his voice dropping lower. “I know that you carry yourself like someone who always has to be in charge, but there’s more to it than that…”

She felt the walls she’d spent years constructing start to tremble under the weight of his words. “You’re out of line,” she snapped, her voice sharp, desperate to regain control.

“Am I?” he challenged, stepping even closer. His eyes bored into hers, and she hated how much he saw. “What are you so afraid of, Sara?”

“I’m not afraid,” she said finally, though her voice lacked conviction.

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