Page 33 of With You

No, Roe would never break my heart and discard me in the same way as my mom had been. Deep in my soul I was certain that he’d never hurt me that way.

Yet as I lay alone in his bed that night, listening to the distant clicks of the keyboard, I couldn’t help but wonder. What if our roles were reversed? What if I’m more like my father and Roe is the hopeless romantic that’s doomed to heartbreak? Neither of us got much sleep that night.

17

ROE

Lily was gone.

Last night we’d gone to Gray’s place to celebrate Daisy coming home and Lily officially moving in with them. Everyone was happy and having a great time, even with everything going on. Then, the entire team met in Gray’s office to discuss the identity of the man who was stalking Lily.

While we’d been distracted, Lily, Benji and Daisy had made a trip down to the bakery and Lily was abducted right under our noses. Gray was distraught, terrified about what might be happening to her. The rest of us felt like shit, we’d promised to protect her and now the very man who’d tried to buy her like she was a thing to own had her.

My head ached as I pulled up any camera I could find in the neighborhood. We’d set up in an abandoned house across the street from where Lily was being held. In a stroke of pure luck, Special Agent Greggs had an undercover agent in the same house as her. We’d been working with Greggs and the FBI as consultants on a human trafficking case for the better part of a year and turns out, Ashwood, the man who took Lily, was heavily involved with them.

It was good to know that she had someone on our side in there with her if shit hit the fan but even undercover agents had to walk a line. At times, Falls Security operated in what I liked to call the “Morally Gray” area. As in our leader, Gray, didn’t give a fuck what was and wasn’t legal. This was one of those times.

The sounds of the others talking in the room were background noise while I stared at my monitor in horror. Ashwood, the man responsible for Lily’s abduction, had left with his lackey half an hour earlier. Now that same SUV was making its way up the back alley to the house.

“Uh, boss man, we got a problem,” I said to Gray, dropping my laptop right in the middle of the table where he and Greggs had been looking at old blueprints. I shrugged my shoulders when the head agent gave me a disapproving look. I was here for Gray and Lily and didn’t give a shit what the FBI had to say about it. Not that they’d ever find any concrete evidence to charge me, I was a mother fucking ghost.

“Fuck, is that Ashwood? I thought he wasn’t returning for a few more hours,” Sam stood next to my shoulder. Even though she didn’t show it, I could feel the stress rolling off her body and it matched my own. She was dressed in her tactical gear like the rest of us, guns holstered on her belt and knives strapped to both legs. I’d never seen this side of her outside of training, the Marine ready for battle.

“We should go in.” I glanced at Gage. He’d been silent up until now, leaned up against the wall and watching the room. I nodded my head, silently agreeing with him. Shit was already fucked, why risk Lily’s life by waiting around?

“Gear up,” Gray said calmly but sure. While Greggs attempted to regain control of the situation, the rest of us moved, heading to where our equipment was.

I pulled out the box of earpieces and passed them out. When I handed Gage his, he gave me a small nod of thanks, the gesture telling me we were good. Gage would always protect my back just like I’d do for him. We were brothers and sometimes brothers needed to fight it out.

“You ready?” I asked Sam, watching as she placed the bud into her ear and connected it to the radio on her vest. She raised one blonde brow and gave me a smirk. Right, she’d done this countless times. It didn’t change the fact that I was worried about her.

“Are you?” Her smirk disappeared and her eyes roamed over my body. There was none of the usual heat I felt when she looked at me but a warm contentment when she checked the straps on my vest, making small adjustments.

This was something we’d need to discuss later, how the two of us would handle the fact that our jobs were dangerous at times. We weren’t in active combat zones anymore but private security wasn’t exactly riding a desk in a high-rise. I opened my mouth to reassure her, maybe make a joke to ease her concerns, but Gray’s barking orders stopped me.

“Gage and Sam, you’re on the front of the house. Roe, we’ll need cover fire for the remaining guards in the back while Kane and I breech the door.”

His placements made sense, each of us in a location where we were strongest. Yet, I hated the idea of not being able to keep Sam in my line of sight. I shared one more look with her before I turned away and went to give out the rest of the earpieces. Everything would be fine, I tried to reassure myself, ignoring the growing dread.

18

SAM

Searing fire. That’s what it felt like as the bullet entered my arm. I managed to return fire, taking out the fucker who shot me just as another bullet hit my vest, causing me to lose my breath and hit the ground.

“Sam’s down!” I heard Gage shout through the comms while gunfire continued to erupt around us. Hands grabbed my vest at the shoulders and dragged me behind an old shed as I tried to breathe.

“I’m good, I’m good,” I rasped as Gage efficiently took in my injury. He relaxed slightly when he realized it was just my arm and the vest caught what would have been an early death.

“The hell you are, this is going to hurt.” He pulled off his belt, wrapping it around my upper arm, directly above the wound.

“God damnit, mother fucker, shit ass balls,” I gritted out when he tightened the makeshift tourniquet without warning.

“Sorry, it’s better if you don’t know it’s coming.” He was right but it didn’t change the fact that I’d find a way to repay him later, maybe with a swift kick to the nuts.

My fingers tingled and a warm stickiness spread down my limb and seeped into my side, underneath my vest. That would be my blood. I blocked the thought; we were still in a dangerous situation and I couldn’t afford to lose my shit.

“Sam! Sam!” Roe shouted frantically as I tuned back into the chatter.

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