Page 19 of Erik's Redemption
“Did I do something?”
She turned back to Leo, shaking her head. “No. She just…she dated James for a long time.”
“Oh. I see. So we probably won’t be fast friends.”
“It’s been a tough time for her.”
Leo nodded. “I can understand that. Erik’s not here?”
“Not yet.”
An almost disapproving look came over Leo’s features, but it was gone as quickly as it came.
Hannah was just taking another sip of the pisco sour when Henry called to her, indicating they were heading to the dance floor.
She smiled up at Leo. “I’m going to go dance.”
“Can I join you?”
She opened her mouth, wanting to say no just to protect Brigid, but her manners refused to allow her to be rude. “Sure.”
Erik had barely pulledup at Andi’s house when a tap sounded on the driver’s-side window. He frowned, surprised to see his brother standing on the other side of the door. Andi hadn’t even told him their brother was flying in for the party.
He opened the door and climbed out with a smile. “What, were you out here waiting for me?”
Nate lifted a brow. “I went for a walk. Saw your Corvette and thought, that’s strange, I haven’t seen my absentee brother at the party.”
He shot a look at his watch. “I’m only twenty minutes late.”
“Twenty minutes that Andi will kick your ass for.”
Nate wasn’t wrong. “I didn’t know you were coming home for this.” As a Navy SEAL, getting time off wasn’t easy for his brother.
“We’re between missions, so I took a couple days of leave to be here for my baby sister.”
Erik shoved his hands into his pockets as they moved toward the party.
“So…” Erik’s muscles tensed at the single word from Nate. “You gonna tell me why Hannah came with her friends and not you?”
“I told her I might be late.”
“Doing what?”
“Working.”
His brother looked at him too damn closely. “Is something going on between you two?”
He clenched his teeth. “We’re going through something right now.”
When his brother was silent, Erik turned to find Nate studying him.
“You wanna talk about it?” Nate asked.
He thought his brother knew him better than that. “No. Tell me howyou’redoing. How are your missions going?”
A muscle in Nate’s jaw flexed. “Honestly, I don’t know. My head hasn’t been in it since we lost Jasper, and in my line of work, that’s not good.”
Erik understood that. He’d lost members of his own team, and it had fucking killed him. Still to this day, darkness tried to weave through his vision at the memory. “I’m sorry, Nate. Maybe it’s time to get out.”
