Page 47 of Silver Elite

“Whose father?” I feel like we’re having two different conversations now.

“Cross.” Lyddie can tell I’m not following, so she gestures toward the tall, tattooed man across the room. “That’s Cross Redden, Wren. The General’s son.”

Chapter 11

I thought Cross was his surname.

It’s not. It’s his first name.

Last nameRedden.

My throat burns with self-loathing as I replay this morning’s interaction in my mind. I let him whisper in my ear. I let my pulse race for him. I was attracted to him.

Wasbeing the crucial word here, because the moment Lyddie’s revelation absorbs into my bloodstream, all the attraction is sucked out of me like a poison.

I was aware that Merrick Redden had children, but he’s always kept them out of sight. Every broadcast I’ve seen him give, he’s been alone. He doesn’t even have his wife at his side, and I know he’s married.

“Ah. Well, now it makes sense how someone so young climbed the ranks this fast.” I try to cover my shock with a sarcastic retort.

Lyddie shakes her head in earnest. “Oh no. From what I’ve heard, he’s earned every star.”

Was I ever this naïve?

“His older brother is a colonel,” she adds.

“Right, and I’m surehe’sa Command super soldier who’s also earned every star.”

“Travis works in Intelligence.”

“Atten-tion,” Hadley shouts, and the entire room goes quiet so fast, it’s almost disorienting.

My muscles tense at the sound of Hadley’s voice. Every time I see his face or hear him speak, I think about Morlee and want to strangle him.

Cross strides to the front of the room and surveys the assembled recruits. “I’m Cross Redden, Silver Block’s captain of operations.” He nods toward the older captain standing a few feet away. “This is Deron Radek, our administrative captain.”

Radek nods in terse greeting.

“I won’t take up much of your time,” Cross says. “I want each of you to look at the person to your left, then the person to your right.”

I dutifully play along, glancing from Lyddie to Kaine.

“These are your fellows. And in here, you’re only as strong as your weakest fellow.”

I expect him to punctuate that with some saccharine horseshit about how this means we should all band together and raise one another up. The strong support the weak until the weak are strong enough to support themselves. Unity prevails!

Instead, he says, “Weakness doesn’t belong here. In Silver Block, we eat the weak. We cut them out like a cancer.”

Oh, maybeI’mthe naïve one. So much for team unity.

His eyes, that hypnotizing shade of blue, seem to bore into each recruit with a steely intensity, as if searching for any sign of weakness.

“For the next eight weeks, you’ll need to demonstrate how strong you are, because that’s the only way to make it to Silver Block.”

Despite his youth, there’s a gravity to his demeanor that belies his age, a sense of experience beyond his years that lends weight to his words. He speaks with authority that commands respect. It’s incredibly sexy.

General’s son, Wren.

I inwardly blanch. I fuel myself with the reminder. On the hierarchy of enemy, this man has now moved into the top three.

---