Page 30 of Defenseless
Ethan grumbled something that conveyed nothing coherent other than that he’d seen his cousin’s lie for what it was. “We’ll see you at HICC,” he said before hanging up.
Chad reset the alarm then stepped into the garage, closing the door behind him. Climbing into the driver’s seat of his SUV, he handed Sabina the ice pack.
“Thanks,” she mumbled, lifting it to her face.
They were ten minutes away from HICC when she spoke again. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
His eyebrows shot up and he jerked his head around in surprise. She was studying him, the ice pack resting over her right eye.
“You’re kidding, right?” he shot back, returning his attention to the road.
“No, I’m not. There’s something wrong that has nothing to do with the shooting,” she said.
Anger flooded his system, replacing the adrenaline. He gripped the steering wheel and clenched his jaw. It wasn’t a productive emotion, but it was hard to quell. He’d wager his new house on the possibility that if she’d talked to someone about her past, the events of the last hour—and the fact that someone had tried tokill her—wouldn’t have happened.
Communication was vital in the field they worked in, and he was furious that her pride, or whatever it was, kept her from seeing that. Fortunately, he was smart enough to recognize that a fair bit of his anger came from fear, and that alone kept him from responding. Things would go better for them if he kept his mouth shut.
“You’re not going to talk to me?” she pushed when he remained silent.
He cocked his head and opted for honesty. “I think it’s best if I hold my own counsel. We’ll be at HICC in five minutes, and Ethan and Colton are meeting us there. There will be plenty of talk then.” He wouldn’t be a part of it, he’d already decided that, but she didn’t need to know that right now.
He felt her eyes on him for a long moment, then she shifted in her seat and looked out the window. And remained silent, thank god.
On schedule, they pulled up to HICC five minutes later. Chad keyed in his code and submitted to the retina scan before the wide iron gates swung open. The guard posted in the nearby cabin must have been alerted to the goings-on, because he stood at the edge of the woods and raised a hand to them as they passed.
Parking close to the main building, Chad was glad to see not just Ethan’s and Colton’s cars, but also Tucker’s and Teague’s. The two operatives—brothers—that Colton had brought on a month before were good men. Both were former marines, and both had enough history with Colton to slide into the HICC culture.
In the glare of the parking lot security lights, Sabina’s soon-to-be black eye was bright red with hints of purple. He winced at the sight. “Keep the ice on it,” he directed as they entered the office. It would help, but there was no way she was going to escape a shiner.
Opting to take the stairs to the situation room, he opened the door and let Sabina precede him. Ethan and Colton were waiting when they walked out of the stairwell on the third floor. Ethan’s eyes flashed in surprise at the sight of Sabina with the ice bag, then his gaze jerked to Chad in question. Chad gave a little shake of his head and walked straight to his office. Colton seemed to understand that Chad needed a moment, and he stepped forward, ushering Sabina to one of the conference rooms.
“What the fuck happened to her?” Ethan demanded, following him.
The anger in his voice had Chad spinning to face his cousin. Ethan’s gaze narrowed as he studied him. The sudden certainty that his cousin thought that he could have done that to Sabinaon purposehit him like a sledgehammer to the gut, and Chad stumbled back.
But there was no emotion quite so strong as anger driven by betrayal. Forcing himself to stand his ground, Chad straightened and met his cousin’s gaze. “You think I did that to her? That I’m capable ofthat?”
His cousin drew back, but Chad was too mired in his own head to notice Ethan’s look of confusion. “I’m out of here,” Chad said, swiping up the keys he’d just set down on his desk. “Whatever is going on with her, you figure it out.”
He moved toward the door, but Ethan stepped in front of him. Chad had a few more years of experience than his cousin. He could probably take him. But the truth was, he was exhausted. Body and soul. And he just wanted to go home and tend to his wounds. All of them.
“What?” he asked on an exhale.
“What’s going on, C?”
Chad raised a brow at the use of his nickname but answered all the same. Only because he was too tired to not answer. “What’s going on is that my cousin thinks I have it in me to hit Sabina, and Sabina doesn’t want me around because I make her uncomfortable. She’s in danger, though—tonight proved that—and she needs help. But since no one trusts me, it can’t be me. And if it can’t be me, it needs to be you. Or Colton.”
Ethan blinked. “What the fuck? She said that to you? She said that you make her uncomfortable?”
“No, I made it up. Now if you don’t mind. I’d like to head home, tend to my two bullet wounds, and pack for a camping trip. You know, get far away from Sabina so I’m not tempted to hit her.”
“That’s not what I meant, C, and you know it.”
Chad stared at him.
Ethan’s eyes traveled over his body, lingering on the tear in the fabric at his biceps and again at the injury to his leg. His cargo pants were light brown, and the blood was obvious. The black fabric of his shirt was different, though, and it hid most of the staining.
Ethan huffed. “You would never hit her, or anyone who didn’t deserve it. If anyone knows that, it’s me. I apologize if that’s how my question came across, I was just caught off guard. You didn’t tell me either of you were injured when we spoke on the phone. For the record, it’s not awesome to see your cousin, and the woman he cares about, walk into a room looking like they’d been on the losing end of a fight.”
