Page 65 of Betrayal & New Beginnings

She wrote a few things down on her chart and then told my family they had thirty minutes and thenIneeded to rest.Ismiled because she reminded me a little ofTammy.

Wanting to lighten the mood a little between the two broody men standing in my room,Iturned to my brother to tease him a little.

“Not sure you can giveWadeany crap for getting a fiancé since you have one too apparently,”Isaid with a smirk.

“Yeah, well, if this loser is allowed to use that fake excuse to see you, then so canIin order forRuthieto stay,” he explained while glaring atWade.

“It won’t be a fake excuse for long,”Wadesaid to my brother, then walked up to my bed and grabbed my hand in his squeezing gently.

The mood in the room electrified, andIsaw the change on my brother’s face before he spoke.

“Care to explain?” he asked with purpose toWadeand began to untangle himself fromRuthie, but she latched onto his arm to try to hold him in place.

“Your sister andIhave been seeing each other,”Wadesaid, eyes straight onJack’s. “Iwas going to tell you when you got back, but it got serious beforeIeven realized.”Helooked down at me. “Ilove her.”Hesmiled at me then looked back toJack. “Iget this might be a shock, andI’msorryIdidn’t tell you sooner, but hopefully you can understand we were a little busy with the other priority of keeping her safe.”

“I was going to tell you when you got back too.Everything,”Itold my brother. “Notjust aboutWade, but everything withRandalltoo.Ijust didn’t want to worry you and add to your stress while you were on your final mission.I’msorry, big brother.”

The tension inJack’sface that had been aimed atWadenow softened as he looked to me.

“You happy?”Jackasked me softly.

“I am now,”Isaid, andIrealizedIgenuinely meant it.Ilooked up atWadeand smiled at him, and he winked back.

“You hurt her, andI’llkill you.Don’tcare if you’re my friend or not,”Jacksaid toWadewith a stoic look on his face.

“I’ll hand you the gun myself,”Waderesponded back.

I decided to change the topic to get some answers.

“I’m sorry this is our reunion, butI’mhappy to see you,”ItoldJack. “Didthe guys call you and tell you to come here?”

“I realized something was wrong when no one was answering their phones to come pick me up from the airport,” he started to say. “Igot an cab to bring me to my apartment, and whenIgot there, there were multiple squad cars.Iwalked into theRangerShieldSecurityfront office and sawRuthiehere explaining to the cops about the security cameras in our building.OnceIintroduced myself to the cops, everyone got me up to speed.ThenVincecalled me back a few minutes later and let me know they’d found you and more of the details.”

“I’m so sorry,”Isaid toJack, feeling terrible that this was what he came home to.

“Don’t apologize,” he said. “I’mhappy you’re safe, that asshole is dead, andI’mhappy you moved down here.That’sall that matters for now.”

He was right.Thatwas all that mattered.Iwas so happy he was home safe from his latest mission—even happier it was his last.Happyto be making new friends, starting school soon, and happy to haveWadein my life.

Wade squeezed my hand and leaned down to kiss my head, andIfelt so completely content for the first time in a long time.

Here’s to a new beginning,Ithought, looking over at the people who meant so much to me.

27

JACK

TWO WEEKS LATER

I was walking into the entrance toRangerShieldwhenIsaw my sister coming out of the elevator and heading in the direction of the front office—the same placeIwas going.Shewas dressed for her shift at the pub in herT-shirt and jeans.Thiswas her first shift back since getting out of the hospital.

“Hey sis.Youfeeling okay?”Iasked becauseIwasn’t sure she should be going back to work so soon.

“Yes,Dad,” she said, rolling her eyes at me. “I’mgood, andI’mready to go back to work.Plus,Wadeis working with me tonight, which meansIwon’t have any heavy lifting to do.”

That only eased my concern a little bit, but beforeIcould argue with her more about it, she walked into the front office and headed toRuthie’sdesk.

Ruthie andWadewere standing over her desk going over some papers when we walked in.Ruthiewas a mystery to me.Ihad met her whenIarrived to chaos afterElliewas taken.Shewas gorgeous but guarded.I’dtried to get to know her better sinceIcame home, but she was always professional and never deviated into anything remotely resembling interest.

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