Page 5 of The Soldier

I shake my head and his shoulders relax.

Josh slaps him on the back. “Let Marshall do his job. Take your wife around the room to network.”

“Go,” I say gruffly. I might joke around a lot when off duty but on the job, I take what I do very seriously. It’s how we stayed alive out on the field and how we keep our clients safe and protected.

I know I wouldn’t be working for the company if I didn’t. They hire only the best of the best. And make no secret of it.

“Come on, baby.” Savannah takes his arm. “I’m fine. Marshall is doing a great job.”

“How do you know?” he grunts.

“I’m still breathing aren’t I?” She kisses his cheek.

“Do not joke.” Ryder shoots us a strained look.

He’s extremely protective of her. All the guys are of their girls, but Ryder had the poor luck of falling in love with one of the most famous women in the world.

Savannah was shot while under his protection and I don’t think he’ll ever completely relax when it comes to keeping her safe.

Which is why I’m here tonight shadowing them. He trusts me and while I might ride his ass about being in Delta, I don’t take that trust lightly.

Savannah, like Cassy, Briar, and even Alice, Trina, and Scarlet are part of us now. Under all our protection.

I think they know it too.

Trina is the only one who seems agitated by it... and then only by me.

This is my last protective assignment for the foreseeable future. I’ve been asked to pick up some of the black ops work now Aidan and Josh have stepped back from the tasks.

I agreed, but the truth is I left the army and declined the Delta Force position for a reason. I was trying to save the last pieces of my soul. The pieces I protect fiercely with my cheeky humor, banter, and flirtatious nature.

I’m well aware it’s a survival mechanism.

That’s the fucking goal.

Most don’t understand what we go through in the field. Not really. They try...or they don’t.

The things we see. The things we have to do. What it does to our psyche and how we struggle to function back in normal society afterward.

All this talk about privilege—it’s a fucking privilege to be alive. The fury that kind of shit triggers inside me—goddamn it, I want to scream some days.

It takes one bullet to end a life.

One second.

I know. I’ve done it. I’ve taken lives and almost had mine ripped from me.

One fucking second.

People need to get off the internet and hug a damn tree, gaze into a lake or up at the clouds, and appreciate what we have.

Before it’s gone.

In one single second.

So yeah, it’s not all rainbows and puppies inside my head. There’s a darkness that I work to keep at bay and hidden from those I love. My family and friends.

I don’t want to put this shit on them.

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