Page 173 of Exposé

Athunkhit the door.

"I thought if I could dig up something to blow your theory out of the water, it might give me the edge to do what needed to be done. Turns out that was another damn pipe dream."

Grabbing the thrown-in towel from below the sink, I patted my face dry and sunk to the ground, my back against the closed door.

Don't engage.

Don't fall for it.

It's a trick to suck me in.

My stomach cramped, and my heart leapt in my chest. "What happened in Afghanistan?"

"We were sent in to acquire HVT's and conduct a raid—"

"Nate, I'm not military, so cut the jargon, what's HVT?"

"High Value Target." Shuffling sounded on the other side of the door. "The mission was supposed to be simple and, atthe time, we were under the impression there was minimal resistance in the area."

"And that turned out not to be true?"

"No. Apparently there was intel given to Colonel Keith Brentwood at the time that let him know about twenty insurgents had moved into the area and set up shop a few days prior."

"He didn't tell you..." I rolled my lips between my teeth and covered my mouth with my hand, my head resting on the door.

"He omitted that information and sent us in without it." Nate cleared his throat. "I lost six good men that day."

Tears burned my eyes, my heart cracking. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I want you to see that I used to be against you, but now we're on the same side."

Standing, I jerked the door open and glanced down at his sitting figure, his left leg straight, his other bent with his arm resting against it.

"You expect me to believe that?"

I stomped past him and picked up my notepad as he jumped to a standing position. "It's true."

"You've lied to me before. How am I supposed to believe this?"

Nate jerked his shirt up and pointed to the scar running across his rib cage. "This happened when Sergeant James Baker triggered an IED, setting off a series of explosions that killed my men and threw me into the building beside it."

I shook my head, a tear dribbled down my cheek. "I don't believe you."

He shrugged off his leather jacket and pointed to the tattoo on his forearm. "First deployment." Bold, black letters spelled outDeath Before Dishonor. “First tattoo. Figured it fit.”

Then he yanked off his shirt and showed me his back.

The tattoo on his back was massive, impossible to miss. The American flag waved proudly in the background, its colors vivid and alive. Beneath it, six shadowed soldiers stood at attention, saluting. Their shadowed bodies stood in sharp contrast against the backdrop of white headstones that stretched endlessly into the horizon, growing smaller and smaller until they disappeared completely.

He didn’t say anything else.

He didn’t have to.

That tattoo told the whole story.

My fingers brushed against the vivid red, white, and blue as I hung my head. "I'm sorry."

Nate turned abruptly, his grip firm but gentle as he took my hand in his. He pressed my palm to his face, his skin warm against mine. “I didn’t tell you the story so you’d pity me,” he said, his voice low, raw, almost a growl.

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