Page 43 of After The Storm

Roman narrowed his eyes and squinted as he looked away toward the water. “After that, you get used to it. You have a job to do, so you do it. People are depending on you, so there’s no time to be afraid.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “No way I could do that. I’d be paralyzed with fear the first time and every time after that. I’d never be able to get used to it. I’m a coward.”

His expression turned serious, and he frowned. “No, you’re not, Kate. You’re definitely not a coward. You’re braver than even you realize.”

The intensity in his tone surprised her, but his words sounded like he was proud of her. She had no idea what she’d done to deserve that, though. If she wasn’t arguing with him, she was questioning his choices. Neither showed any bravery, in her opinion.

“I don’t know about that. I just know I couldn’t handle people shooting at me all the time, even if the US government paid me enough to afford a house out here. No thanks.”

Chuckling, he looked back at Butcher’s house. “He didn’t make that kind of money as a captain in the Army. Trust me. I know.”

“So who is this Butcher guy? Does he work at Project Artemis like you?”

Roman leaned back on his palms and smiled. “No. He’s in security now since he left the military.”

“So why does he trust you so much to just let you crash at his house with me? I’m assuming you didn’t mention that I’m on the run from the cops. Is it because you guys served together? Because I’m not sure many of my friends would let me take over their house if they were away. Then again, maybe I just have bad friends.”

“There aren’t many people in this world who would do this for me. Butcher and I more than served together. We watched out for one another over there. We were brothers in arms and that’s carried over to our civilian lives.”

Kate had a feeling Roman wasn’t telling her the whole story, but as usual, he didn’t seem to want to give her more details than he’d already offered. So she took a wild guess.

“Did something happen between you two? Does he owe you some debt or something?”

He looked into her eyes and nodded. “You could say that, I guess. I didn’t do anything that any other of his men wouldn’t have done. He was that kind of leader.”

Now she understood. Butcher and Roman were more than friends. They were blood brothers.

“You saved his life, didn’t you? That’s why he trusts you with this house. Is that it?”

She searched his eyes for the truth and found it. That’s why. Roman wasn’t just another of his men.

“I didn’t do anything special. We all would have given our lives for one another. That’s what being a Ranger means.”

“What did you do?” Kate asked, hanging on every word he spoke now.

Roman’s eyes grew distant, and he looked out toward the lake in front of them. “We were conducting an assault on a compound and everything was going exactly as it was supposed to, but then in a flash, suddenly gunfire started coming from every side. We knew we had to get the hell out of there and regroup, but we were under attack. Butcher took one in the leg and went down. Three other guys got hit, so four of us knew what we had to do. I picked Butcher up and carried him out of that hellhole and they got the other three.”

She gently touched him on the arm, and he turned to look at her like she’d interrupted a memory. “You say that like it was something ordinary. You saved someone’s life, Roman. I bet it wasn’t the last time you did that either. You’ve got hero written all over you.”

Waving away the compliment, he shook his head. “I did what I was supposed to do. Now with this favor he’s doing for us, Butcher and I are even.”

“I don’t even think you and I are even. You saved the man’s life. Trust me. As someone who’s been on the receiving end of your help, I’m willing to bet he doesn’t think you’re anywhere close to being even.”

He didn’t respond, and Kate knew full well he wasn’t just pretending some fake humility. This was who Roman Gregory was. But she wanted to know more.

“Why are you doing this for me? You stuck around when I know you thought the cops had every reason to suspect me of being part of Jonas and Samuel’s murders. Then when we found out what my boss was onto, you risked yourself and stole a car. You aren’t a law breaking kind of guy, so why are you doing this?”

“It’s my job, Kate. I told you. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you. That’s my mission, and I’ve never not successfully completed a mission.”

“How did you get involved in this Project Artemis?”

He smiled, and this time it went all the way up to his eyes. “It’s a far less interesting story than you’re probably imagining.”

“Try me. Something tells me it’s way more interesting than anything in my life.”

“Says the woman who’s currently on the run and in the middle of some government conspiracy.”

“No fair using my current circumstances against me. Stick to telling your story. How did you get started with Project Artemis?”

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