Page 78 of Breaking Conviction
Wes scoffed, trying to catch up with Phoenix’s logic as a pit developed in his stomach at the answer to that question. “I don’t know, but I do know that we did our best. Phoenix, we were ambushed by men we’d trained and thought were our friends. We couldn’t have known—”
“One of us should’ve known! We were the ‘best of the best,’ andnoneof us figured out we were about to get stabbed in the back by men we trained? I just find that real fuckin’ hard to believe. And you’re the smartest of us. Did youreallynot know what was gonna happen? Or did you set us up?”
“Phoenix, what the fuck? Are you listening to yourself? Of course I didn’t set us up!”
Phoenix’s eyes narrowed. “What did you hear in Yemen?”
“What?”
“What… did you hear? I don’t know about Eagle, but I know everyone else’s headsets went static. Everyone’s but mine… and yours. So tell me, Snake. What did you hear?”
“Phoenix, what the fuck, man, are we doing this now? I gotta find Naomi—”
“What did you hear?”
“Nothing! Everything was cutting in and out or static. I caught some feedback from enemy lines, but that was it. It was all in bastardized Arabic from what I could tell, and I was trying to get through to you guys to warn you of the parts I did hear.” He waited, watching Phoenix’s face as it got darker. “Why? What’d you hear?”
“Everything.” Phoenix’s fists tightened and loosened at his sides. “You’re not my enemy, but I don’t think I can ever forgive you for that.”
“Phoenix, I don’t know—”
Wes’s phone rang in his hand and he looked down to seeMy Queenon the screen. “Shit, Phoenix, I have to take this but we need to talk, okay—” He looked up from the screen, only to realize he was talking to empty space. Phoenix had already left.
He wanted to go after him, because what if Naomi was fine and he’d overreacted? What if it was all in Wes’s head and he was losing the chance to have the first real conversation with his teammate in over a year? But he needed to hear Naomi’s voice, needed to hear that she and Thea were okay.
He swiped the screen and answered. “Naomi?”
“Yes.”
At her voice, relief came in waves and he collapsed onto her bed. “Thank God you called love, I was so wor—”
“Snake, I need you to stop callin’ me.” Naomi was definitely on the phone with him, but her voice was totally different. Despondent. Dead. Devoid of the laughter and light he’d come to know over the past few weeks. “We’re done.”
The two words were like barbs from a Taser gun, embedding in his skin and electrocuting him to the point of seizing up. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t talk. He just sat there dumbly on Naomi’s bed.
“After seein’ you and… what you’re capable of… I just… I can’t trust that it won’t happen again. What if you lose your temper and it’s just me there?”
“Naomi, God, please, I would never hurt you. You don’t know my past, but I swear on my life—”
“You lied to me, Snake. You lied, and you… you let your emotions lead you to beat a man to within an inch of his life. I can’t be with you. I can’t have left my…fiancé, to be with a monster.”
His words caught in his throat. “Naomi, please.” Every one of her words was a killing charge across the line, but he had to focus on what was best for Naomi and Thea. “I-I hate this decision, but… I respect it. I’m not trying to change your mind about me, but come back to BlackStone. Please. I’ll leave, but it’s not safe for you yet. If you’re ready to move out, fine, but we didn’t come up with a plan of action to keep Dean away—”
“I’m back with him.”
The words hung in the air, threatening to collapse and suffocate him.
“What?” He growled the question, beginning in his chest and he was sure she could feel the anger coming through the phone. “Naomi, what the hell are you doing? You don’t want to be with me? Fine. But for Thea’s sake, don’t go back tohim.”
“It’ll be different this time. He’s said he’s gonna go to therapy. We can be arealfamily.”
The words twisted in his chest. Everything she was saying was something he’d always desperately wanted. Recently, he’d dreamed about it with her. But she wanted it with another man.
Of course, Dean was part of their ‘real’ family. I was just the placeholder in the abusive cycle… But what if he’s right there listening? What if he’s making her say those things?
“Please, Naomi… let’s meet somewhere and talk about this. You should at least look me in the eyes as you tear my heart out.”
There was a gasp and silence on the other end and Wes sighed.
