Page 28 of Waging War
I wish she would stop bringing that prick into our space. He’s not welcome here.
The tears in her shaking voice churn my stomach. “I needed a hero, dammit, and instead of stepping up, you brought me back on a silver platter.”
“If I would have let you go, the trust I’ve worked so hard to build between these men and Diablo would have been destroyed. I haven’t spent all this time doing his bidding just to throw it all away.”
She flinches. “How silly for me to think you would sacrifice your stupid plan for me.”
My body is so numb that she could stab me the way she desperately wants to, and I’d hardly feel it. “I hate to break it to you, baby, but I’m not your fucking savior.” I close the last few inches between us. “You’re anassignment. One I intend to see through till the bitter end.”
The words have a foul aftertaste, but I won’t listen to her tell me she needs me or that she’s hoping for a better man.
Standing in the middle of a field, both of us frozen to the bone, she frantically beats her little fists against my chest and abdomen.
Great, big sobs break past her lips as she closes her eyes, continuing her assault, and I’m so fucked in the head that I let her. I take every single deserving blow, just like I did a few nights ago at the compound.
I want to cry with her.
Every wrong I’ve been unable to right unravels me with each hit. Jack’s little face peeking out from our closet, our mother strung out on the couch, and all the shit I’ve gotten us all into.
Hazel pries my chest wide open as her grief shreds me apart, piece by piece.
“My father is dead. He’s dead, and it’syourfault!” Her voice turns hoarse.
She doesn’t realize the weight of her words. The ugly truth is, if I hadn’t acted so selfishly and just stayed away from The Pound, then Kenneth would’ve never been there, and Jackie wouldn’t have shot him.
“Hazel,” I say, wrapping my hands around her wrists.
Shaking her head, she sobs to the point she can hardly breathe.
I can’t do this.
Jackie wanted me to keep Kenneth a secret to ensure this exact situation wouldn’t happen. He wanted her to remain compliant until the rally, and if I admit the truth to her now, who knows how she’ll react.
Will she hate me more than she already does?
Even if it means losing what little time with her I’ve got left, she deserves to know.
“Hazel!” I raise my voice above her sobbing, and slowly, those broken eyes find mine. “He’s alive.”
The rain finally comes to a stop as she blinks at me.
“Your father is alive,” I say again.
“What do you mean?” Wet strands of her dark hair sway as her body trembles feverishly. “It can’t be true… I saw him. I heard the shot and saw… the blood.”
“Come back with me, please, and I’ll tell you.” I extend a hand to her, offering a truce of sorts. “I promise.”
She eyes my palm for a moment before flicking her gaze behind me. We both know it’s the last place she wants to go, but there’s no other choice.
I think she may still be weighing her options of escape, but when she places her palm in the center of mine, the fit is so right that it warms my weary heart.
I draw her toward me before scooping her body up against mine. Her breaths are unsteady, but she doesn’t resist as I feared she might. Instead, she tucks her face into my shoulder, shaking in my hold as I carry her back.
CHAPTERNINE
Hazel
Imust have passed out at some point during our trek back to the apartment. My head aches with a dull sensation wrapping around both sides, but my limbs are blessedly warm. When I try to lift my arms, I notice I’m cocooned in three blankets, and the space heater is right beside me.
