Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 90315 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90315 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
I remember that.
I remember Gideon being gone for longer than he ever had been before. He never took vacations, but there was a time, not long before that horrible night, when he took leave. I never knew why.
I didn’t ask.
“I was struggling with Aiden at the time. He was going through a rough patch. I’d just lost Ray. And it was awesome to have my guys home. To heal together and help each other. Romantic feelings started to develop between Ry and me. I never saw Gid that way. He’s my brother. Always has been. He had to cut his vacation short and go back to work—”
“Because of me.” I nod, remembering.
Chelsea talked me into going to the tattoo parlor that night. We snuck out, and some tattoo artist she knew opened his shop late for us. I didn’t want ink, but I agreed to piercings.
My nipples still hurt when I think about it.
“Yeah. Then, a few weeks later, Ry officially retired from hockey, and we were in Seattle for the press conference and celebration. Gid came for it, but he was too late to be at the announcement. He barely made it to the party, but he was there. Then, the next morning at breakfast, he got a call back to DC.”
I swallow hard as I watch the sky turn peach and blue. I don’t remember what I did that time to pull him back. It could have been anything, but it was likely Chelsea and me evading my detail so we could party.
So she could party and have me with her.
“Then, the next thing we knew, he was calling to tell us he’d been shot, he wouldn’t let Ry come help him, and then his career was over. A career that he loved.”
I blink rapidly, but I can’t keep the tears back because God, how I missed him after that night. I was terrified, and no one would tell me if he was okay. I didn’t know for more than a week how bad his injuries were, or where he was. I knew that I was just a job for him, but Gideon was the one person that I felt the safest with, and he was suddenly ripped away, and I didn’t even know if he was okay.
Finally, I begged my mom to fill me in, and she reluctantly did.
But I was never allowed to see him. To thank him.
“I can’t tell you what happened,” I whisper and wipe the tears away. “I would if I could. I’d tell you everything, but—”
“You can’t.” Those two words hold so much hostility, I wish she’d just slap me. “Yeah, Gideon says that all the damn time. It’s really annoying. The point is, we’re his family. We’re the ones who have his back, no matter what. Even when he’s doing his job at the order of a president, and that job blows up in his face, we’re the ones who pick up the pieces.”
She shakes her head and brushes her own tears away.
“I’m sure you’re not a bad person, Lena. But whatever decisions you made when you were a young, silly teenager shaped who that man is today. And it almost destroyed him there for a while. Maybe I was out of line yesterday. Maybe I do owe you that apology, but I love him so much, and love isn’t always something that the three of us had until we found each other, and Ray and Debbie.”
“Don’t apologize. I don’t need it.” I shake my head and stand, brush off the seat of my jeans. “I’ll stay out of your way, Willow. I’m not a kid now, and the shit that’s going on is scary. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here. I’ll ask to call my mother—I’m not allowed to have electronics—to have me reassigned and get me off your property as soon as possible.”
“Bullshit.”
Neither of us noticed Gideon approach. He didn’t come from inside. He’d been running, or working out, based on his black running shorts and long-sleeved T-shirt and the sweat coating his skin. He’s clenching his jaw in that way he does when he’s pissed off.
Which, if I’m being honest, is a lot.
“It’s for the best,” I reply, lifting my chin, but he won’t look at me. He’s staring daggers at Willow.
“Go inside, Lena.”
“Gideon, I’m not going to stay on private property when the owner of said property is angry and uncomfortable with me being here.”
That gets his attention, and his eyes narrow at me.
“What the hell does that mean?”
Shaking my head, I sigh. “Just make the call. Have me reassigned. Drop me off on an island somewhere. Or take me home. I’d rather deal with potentially being kidnapped and killed.”
Willow gasps, and I turn to walk inside, but then turn around.
“You have a lovely family. I like that you defend it. That you’d burn the world down for it. That’s not something everyone has. Good for you, Willow.”