Page 11 of Five Fingers of Death

“You know her, and you’ve met her kids before. You know how adorable they are. They’re desperate for family right now. And since you and I have nowhere to go, I figured we should be doing more to help out. It’s the least we can do for her.”

When he put it like that, I sounded awfully selfish. She was suffering without her husband just like me, but she pushed through because she had kids to take care of. She had no choice in the matter. There was no sleeping in or deciding to take the day off. She had people relying on her.

“You’re right.”

“So, we’re going?” he asked, his eyes twinkling as he smiled at me.

“Yes. I think we should. But not for long,” I quickly tacked on. “We don’t want to overstay our welcome.”

“Of course not.”

We finished the walk to her house, and I tried to ignore the way Bradford so easily strolled beside me without a care in the world. He was stuck here the same as me, but he wasn’t terrified to leave the house or walk around the grounds. I glanced over at him, studying his profile for a moment. He had a kind face, but there was something hiding underneath that strong exterior. He was in pain, but I had no idea why.

“You’re staring,” he chuckled.

“Sorry.” Flushing, I ducked my head.

“It’s okay. What did you want to know?”

“Nothing.”

“Come on,” he urged teasingly. “You can tell me.”

I chewed my lip, embarrassed that I was caught, but at the same time…”It’s just…you look like you’re sad. Or hurt?”

He turned his cocky smile at me, but it was there in his eyes, that pain that just couldn’t be hidden. I knew because I saw it reflecting in my eyes every morning.

“Who was she?”

“Wow,” he laughed. “Am I that obvious?”

I raised my hand slightly. “Fellow hider of emotions.”

“Kavanaugh,” he grinned, holding out his hand. “Emotionally stunted after ruining the best relationship I ever had because of my dipshit father.”

A true smile broke out over my face in what felt like forever. “Isabelle. Tortured by her deceased husband who everyone despises.”

“Love sucks,” he sighed.

“It does.”

I glanced back at him, curious as to why he wasn’t telling me I was damaged for missing my husband. Instead, he just seemed to commiserate with me. I didn’t know what to do with that.

“You’re not going to tell me I’m wrong for missing my husband?”

“That depends,” he said, shooting me a playfully wary look. “Are you going to chastise me for being the idiot who kept lying to the woman I loved in the name of protecting her?”

“I can’t say I have any right to judge anyone.”

“Me either,” he nodded.

This was an interesting turn in our friendship. I hadn’t considered Bradford anything other than a person who walked around the property with me up until now. We never talked about anything personal, but for some reason, this morning, he just looked sad.

“Did something happen?”

“You mean, other than the constant reminder that I lost the best thing that ever happened to me?” We stopped outside Eva’s house and he glanced toward the OPS building. “My life has taken a drastic turn in the past year. It’s all catching up with me. It’s like I’m on a runaway train and I can’t stop it, and I can’t jump off. I’m not a man who does well with not having control of a situation.”

“I can see that,” I nodded.

---