Page 18 of Trapped
“Let me guess, craft and booze night?” She’d laughed until she had tears streaming from her eyes when she’d told me about it.
“Yup.” He popped the ‘p’. “And there’s no way the girls didn’t tell their guys as soon as they got home.”
“So, who all knows?” I was clueless about who attended craft and booze night. I just remembered Ashley joking about how it started as a book club, but they drank more than they read, so they tried crafts instead.
Remembering the hint of pink in her cheeks as she laughed while telling me they drank more than they crafted made me respond in ways I didn’t want Jay to see.
“Hate to be the one to tell you, bro, but everyone. I remember her cursing a guy named Scott.” He raised an eyebrow at me.
Everyone. I closed my eyes and recited the SEAL slogan, the only easy day was yesterday, reminding myself I could get through this. “It’s my middle name.”
He nodded before continuing, “She was so pissed.”
“Fuck.” I sighed the word as I ran my hand down my face, the jagged scar under my fingers reminding me why I’d stood her up.
Jay noticed my hand lingering. “A wise man once told me that the only emotion that drives that kind of anger is pain.”
Feeling a bond despite the newness of our friendship, I opened up a little more. “It wasn’t intentional. I was undercover, and shit went south.” As a Raider, he’d understand what I meant.
“How far south?”
“Think Cape Horn.” An island off the southern tip of South America.
“Damn.” The upbeat country song on the radio filled the silence. “That when you fucked up your face?” His tone lightened the mood but not the subject.
“Yeah.”
“Does she know?”
No, because I didn’t have her contact information. Even if I had, my head was too fucked up to reach out. Why would she talk to me after everything that had happened? After I’d stood her up and hurt her. Add in my physical and emotional scars, and she wouldn’t recognize me as the man she met in Vegas.
“No.” The situation had too many ugly layers, and Ashley didn’t want to hear my side. “She thinks I intentionally ghosted her.”
This time, a lopsided grin accompanied his raised eyebrow. “If the only lie you told her was your name, and I assume your profession, you should be okay.”
I didn’t share his confidence, but circumstances had provided me with a second chance, and I wouldn’t waste it.
Seeing her again brought up a lot of shit for me, but it also reminded me of the dreams I had, of the life I wanted. It didn’t matter that I’d spent less than forty-eight hours with her; she haunted my dreams. Dreams of marriage and starting a family. Dreams of our three kids who’d have her expressive honey-brown eyes and my sandy blond hair.
Something about Ashley had me wanting to tell her the truth from the moment I met her, but I couldn’t risk it. It wasn’t just the op; telling her could put her life in danger. But my mission was near completion, so I’d only needed to lie for a few more weeks. Then I could’ve come clean.
Instead, my cover was blown, and they’d tortured me for information.And for fun. The Perpura Brothers were two sick individuals.
Those bastards changed everything.
They ended my career. They ruined my face. They destroyed my chances with Ashley.
I tapped out my countdown, bringing my attention back to the present and Jay.
I had a new career.
I could afford the surgery needed to minimize the scar, something I might do in the future.
Rebuilding my confidence was easier said than done. I’d have to excel at my job and avoid making costly mistakes.
That was what haunted me the most. I’d let my guard down when I needed it the most. I’d missed the signs that something was amiss within the organization, and it almost cost me my life.
If things had been different, my mistakes could’ve cost Ashley hers.
