Page 12 of A Damaged Soul
"You were working. It's no big deal."
"It is a big deal. I should've texted you before I left to let you know there could be a chance I would have to cancel.”
It was hard to be mad at the man when he was busy chiding himself for his own actions.
"A heads-up would've been nice, but I get it." The anger I felt from earlier in the day slipped away. "So are you allowed to tell me what kind of assignment you were on?"
"A rescue mission in Turkey. Unfortunately it didn't go as planned." The pain in his voice put me on high alert, and before I could think better of it, I hit the video button.
Seconds later, Rhett in all his shirtless glory filled the screen, but it was the bandage on his shoulder that caught my attention.
"What happened to your shoulder?"
I knew as soon as he grimaced that I wasn't going to like his answer. "I got shot." I felt the blood drain from my face, and I got lightheaded just thinking about how that felt.
"You got shot?" The question was nothing more than a croak.
"Yes, but it was a through and through. It didn't hit anything major, so I'm fine."
Rhett's words played on a loop in my head.
The man had been shot.
"A through and through?"
Yes, I realized I was repeating his words, but what else was there to say when a person got shot? I never knew anyone who took a bullet before. The only real knowledge I had was from the shows or movies I watched, and they weren't helpful because usually the person being shot wasn't fine.
"Yes, it went clean through. Barely more than a scratch."
I highly doubted that was the case, but besides asking him to remove the bandage––something I doubted was a good idea––I had no way of calling him out on it.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
Should he be in the hospital? Resting? All these questions started to pop into my head at once, but I couldn't get my mouth to cooperate.
"I promise I'm fine. This isn't the first time and probably won't be the last."
Rhett more than likely realized his mistake when my eyes practically popped out of my head at his declaration.
"You've been... shot... before?" I choked out the words.
"I was in the military, darling. Special Forces to be exact. Getting shot and getting shot at came with the territory."
I wasn't sure which part of his statement hit me harder. The fact that he was former Special Forces or that he called me darling.
"I thought you were a bodyguard now though?"
Wasn't that supposed to be safer in real life? Not at all like the movies or books made it out to be.
Rhett threw his head back and laughed and holy damn was he so much hotter when he did that. I thought the man was good looking as a broody SOB, but this was next level.
"I guess that's a watered-down version of my job," he finally said once he was done giggling.
"I'm not sure I can handle the full version," I grumbled but immediately regretted my words when all signs of laughter and playfulness left Rhett like someone had smacked him with a wave.
"Not many people can," he answered somberly, and I knew in that moment that I had screwed up.
CHAPTER SEVEN
