Page 52 of The Only Reason (The Trident Trilogy 2)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Mason

In-Flight

Virginia Beach to Islamabad

2020

I’m already on the plane when Millie walks in. She’s with Alex. He says something that makes her smile. She pushes him playfully on the shoulder. He laughs. They head over to the bench on the far side of the plane—away from us. I’m not exactly sure how I’m feeling, but none of it’s good. I watch them buckle in. It takes me back to carrying Millie onto the plane after she fainted coming back from our last mission together. She was in shock from having just survived her first firefight. I remember strapping her limp body in and holding her while the plane took off.

“You going to be able to stay objective about this mission?” JJ’s voice snaps me out of my trance.

I turn away from Millie and walk back over to our side of the plane. “It’s not going to be a problem.”

“You sure about that?” JJ says as he sits down beside me. “I don’t know what it is about her, but you lose focus when she’s around.”

I turn and scowl at him. “I’m fine.”

“Seriously, though. What is it about her? I’ve seen you cycle through your share of women. None of them have made you like this. She’s hot, no denying that, but there are a lot of hot women out there who are a lot less high maintenance.”

“She’s not high maintenance.”

“Bruhhhhh,” he says. “C’mon now.”

I laugh. “Yeah. Okay. She’s a little high maintenance. But she’s also smart and funny. Sassy. And God, she’s so sweet.”

“Sweet?” he says, laughing. “Since when do you like sweet?”

“Since I met her.”

“So all it takes is some girl being nice to you for you to throw away your career. Man, your childhood must have been more fucked up than I know.”

“It’s not like that.”

“So what’s it like? You love your new job? You like giving up your team to teach a bunch of dumb ass recruits?”

“No, man. I don’t,” I say, sighing. “I miss this every day.”

“I’m glad you’re back. This is your team. This is where you belong.” He pauses and then adds, “When Stevie is healed up, he can take another team. You need to stay here. You want that, right?”

“Do I want to lead this team again? Yeah. But it’s more complicated than that now.”

“Because of her?” he says, shaking his head. “I don’t get it. Look at her over there. She’s flirting with her old boyfriend—a guy that she almost married. That’s okay with you?”

“She didn’t almost marry him.”

“You know that? She told you that?”

“She actually didn’t tell me anything. This is the first I’m hearing about him.”

“Oh, so she’s keeping stuff from you again? Like all that shit about her family. The last time we worked with her, she kind of forgot to mention the man we were going after was her uncle. Uncle Sayid—one of the most-wanted terrorists in the world. Might have been nice if we knew that.”

“Man, what’s your problem?” I say, turning to look at him. “You’ve never liked her—personally or professionally.”

“My problem isn’t with her professionally. She’s fine. Spooks are always giving us half the story. That’s more of the same. My problem is that she changes you. You lose perspective and focus. You become somebody else. You’re in too deep to see it.”

I stare at him for a good minute. I’m pissed at Millie right now, but that doesn’t give anyone else the right to come at her. “Look, man. You’re my best friend. That’s never going to change. But you’re wrong about this. Let’s just focus on the mission.”

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