Page 41 of The Handler
“You’re not wrong, but will the people we love recognize that sacrifice or just see it as abandonment?”
“It’s not abandonment. It’s prioritizing their needs over our wants. That’s what we do for people who matter.”
“I love him,” Reed says, the words like a prayer.
I’ve never heard them say it, not in public at least. But all four of them are closer than any couple I know. “When is this contract up?”
He blows out a breath. “I just agreed to stay until the end of the year.”
“So a little over ninety days. We’ll get you out here to see him before that. But there’s no point in you flying out to sit in the waiting room.”
“Don’t let him die before I see him again.”
Reed isn’t talking to me, but the words land like a weight on my chest. I finish the call and set my phone on the table. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I pray I never have to call Reed with worse news.
TWENTY
Amy
I restmy head against the passenger window and watch the sunrise. Stone’s quiet presence fills the car. He found a park, and we’ve just been sitting here. The tension inside hasn’t eased at all.
“You have to make a choice.”
I lift my head and meet his gaze. “About what?”
“You’ve got Tyler tied up in knots. He’s all in one moment and pulling back the next, unsure where he stands. That’s on you. If you can’t fully commit, you need to cut ties now before he really gets hurt.”
“But I—”
“Listen.”
I close my mouth in response to the stern command. This is not the friendly, stoic man who’s been staying at the Sunflower for the past weeks. I try to shrink into the seat without success.
“I’ve watched Tyler spend the past few years doing everything he can to keep you safe. He hasn’t talked about you at all, but that alone told me how critical it was to keep you hidden and secure. Every vacation day he’s been able to take has been to go to Colorado. He doesn’t ski.” Somehow, his steely gaze gets more intense.
I wish I were as small as I feel right now. “I had no idea.”
“He did everything he could, and you blew it. He asked all of us out here to help him. One phone call and we all stopped our lives and jumped on a plane.”
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—”
“Wasn’t about you. It was about him. Who he is to us.”
The unsaid accusation is that Tyler doesn’t mean as much to me as he does to them. And he’s not wrong. I’ve been pushing Tyler away until last night. Was it really only hours ago that we…made love? Fucked? I don’t even know what to call it. Giving in?
“You’re making everyone nuts. We came here to help you because Tyler asked. And you don’t have the common courtesy to sit your ass in a chair and stay there when we’re getting terrible news about Blake. He’s family.”
The implication is that I’m not. It doesn’t need to be said because it’s true.
“Then I go round you up so Tyler doesn’t lose his fucking mind, and you hide in the bathroom?” He somehow gets bigger in his anger with me. “The team has enough on their plate without you disappearing every other minute. Their missions doubled overnight. They still need to find the bastard who did this to Blake and put him down in whatever form that takes. That works out well for you. Right?”
I nod.
“But more importantly, they have to support Blake. Anything he needs, all the support, one hundred percent. Because no matter what the docs think or tell us, that man is going to live.”
“How can you know that?” I regret blurting that out the second it leaves my lips.
Stone’s eyes narrow. “It’s not his time to go. If he was ready, he wouldn’t have survived the wreck. Wouldn’t have miraculously been able to reach his phone and call his team back. The energy of his family surrounds him right now. Carrying the load for him in their souls. As his family, we’re going to anchor him here and be with him every second as he goes through whatever hell his recovery is going to require. You know why?”
