Page 36 of Breached

“John, give us a moment.” Frank flicked his wrist for him to move.

“What do you want me to do?” John asked me in Pashto.

“Stay,” I muttered quickly.

Frank glared at us. I knew he didn’t like it when we spoke Pashto. “Fine.” He leaned against the wall and looked down the hallway to make sure we were alone. Nicole, Mark, and I were the only ones staying in this wing. “You need to go back to Bruno’s compound.”

For a moment, I wondered if it was safe for us to even be in the same building, let alone five feet apart.

“Look, I know how you feel. Maybe things went sideways with Nicole,” he went on, “but you have to put aside your personal emotion and think of the country—your family—your brothers.”

I shot to my feet, and John joined me, not to hold me back but to join me in the moment.

“Don’t talk to me about that,” I warned as I fought to hold my arms at my sides. “Don’t you dare talk to me about doing what’s good for everyone else. I’ve been doing that. It’s what I’ve always done!” My voice boomed through the hallway. “And don’t you dare speak to me about personal emotion. Unlike you, I won’t ignore the people I love.” His face was stone. He didn’t even flinch, no indication that my jab about his lack of regard for his daughter even got through to him. My heart went out to Mia.

“Given the circumstances,” he bit out, “I’ll let your anger slide, but you’ll do right to remember who is in front of you and exactly who you’re speaking to, son.”

“Huh,” I let out a short chuckle, “I’m very much aware of who the man is in front of me. I’m also very much aware of how much respect I’ve lost for you since you lost your way in this world, Frank. I’m no longer taking orders from you. I’m not your puppet anymore.”

He pushed off the wall to go for me, but John got there first. His big body filled the space between us.

“Frank!” he barked. “Leave.”

“You both will be written up for this,” he spat.

“The paperwork is that way.” John turned and pointed down the hall.

He glanced at me one more time then made a sharp turn on his heel and marched off.

John let out a breath and turned to me. “You good?”

“Not even close.”

He checked the time. “Come on, man, we should grab something to eat before we leave.”

I wanted to argue, but I knew the guys needed to see I was mentally in check. The last thing I wanted was to be benched during this fight.

“Just give me a second, and I’ll join you.” I needed to calm down. If I saw Frank again, I might do something I’d regret or get in trouble for.

“Yeah.” He left me alone, and I leaned my head into the cool wall and gathered myself. I wished we were back home and I could go for a run to recenter myself in the mountains, not be here stuck in a building with the one man who wanted to force me back into that prosthetic hell.

I headed down to the mess hall where the smell of food hit my nose, and my stomach growled. I grabbed a tray and joined John in line and ordered a sandwich and fries, then glanced around the hall. Only a few people were left.

As we joined the guys, Cole was in the middle of telling a story to Mark about Easton using his wheelchair to chase after Liam and Ethan—Mark’s twin boys. Savannah had sent a video, and it felt good to hear their laughter.

“I needed that.” Mark let out another belly laugh. “And you were concerned the accident was going to slow him down? The kid’s got a set of monster wheels. Everyone better watch out.”

Cole grinned and pulled out some paperwork, but I could see how much that day at Zack’s had scarred him—it left us all with scars. Keith and Mike appeared with trays and joined us, then small talk set in.

I watched the door in hopes Nicole would show herself. I was worried about her but didn’t know how to fix things.

“Give her time,” John muttered next to me. “If I’ve learned anything from the women in my life, they need time and space to think.”

“Not too much time,” Mike cut in. “There’s a fine line between letting them have space and letting them know you aren’t going to give up.”

“True,” Keith nodded, “you need to know when to push and when not to.”

“Exactly.” Mike directed his remark to Keith. “If you push too hard or too soon, they’ll shut you out.”