Hero - The Ambush: Special Forces Romance (6 page)

Ian lifted a shoulder. “Yeah, well, we don't talk like that.”

While I wanted to keep him safe, I had to know something. “Are you actually comfortable leaving Leighton in the loving arms of that asshole while you re-enlist in the army?”

“No.” Ian shook his head, and then he grinned. “I never said that. I hate the guy. I feel comfortable about leaving because she's got you.”

“Believe whatever you want.” I tried to keep my tone casual. “But tell me who else I should keep an eye on besides her so-called boyfriend.”

“Good luck keeping tabs on everyone Leighton knows.” He chuckled. “She may not have a lot of real friends, but she has a ton of acquaintances.”

“Anyone stand out as more than simply being jealous or wanting to pick at Leighton? Anyone you might call an enemy?”

Ian shot me a sharp look. “Why do you want to know about Leighton having enemies? Is there something you're not saying?”

Shit. The kid was even smarter than I thought.

“I'm saying I'll watch over her while you're gone. I don't want her to get hurt, and she's already upset about the idea of you leaving.”

“The idea?” Ian asked. “You did it again, sounded like my grandfather. I've made my decision. I'm re-enlisting.” His voice was firm. “I know it'll hurt Leighton, and I know it'll upset my grandfather. I know if I get killed in action they'll be broken up. But I still know it was what I was meant to do.”

I studied him for a moment, sizing him up, sizing up the truth of his words. Finally, I nodded.

“Then you have to do what you think is right, Ian,” I said. “Just make sure you tell your family what you've told me.”

Chapter 6

Leighton

I
laid on the deck chair and told myself that drinking too much last night had been completely justified. It didn't, however, help my pulsing headache or how pissed I was at myself for going there again.

The ocean waves surged below, the sun was already hot, and the breeze was cool. An absolutely perfect day. I had hoped to wake up at Ricky's beach house refreshed and ready to find some project to take my mind off Ian. Instead, I was almost immobile with no one but myself to blame.

Except Haze, I thought petulantly.

It was Haze's fault Ian had convinced the army doctors to assess him again. Haze had given Ian the idea to work on his feet. One part physical therapy, the other building proof that his injury didn't prevent him from doing the sort of physical things that Grandfather had used as excuses to push through the honorable discharge. Haze's idea had worked, and I knew I should have been happy for my little brother. Instead, I was angry, miserable, and afraid.

Ian was going to re-enlist in the army and leave me, maybe never to return, and it was all Haze's fault. How could the very man who'd saved my younger brother in the first place encourage him to go back?

“Leighton, get up. Get in the house.” Haze strode out onto the deck and grabbed my arm.

“Excuse me?” I snapped as I tried to pull my arm back. “You work for me, remember?”

“Someone jumped the front gates and is sneaking around the back. You need to get inside and lock yourself in the bathroom. Now.”

He hauled me up from the chair and wrapped my sarong over my string bikini, not even bothering to tie it so I could move. I was tangled up and held too close to his chest, the feel of him making my stomach clench. I tried to push back, but he didn't react as he opened the sliding glass door. His expression was grim, the muscles in his jaw tight.

Shit. He wasn't just worried about some asshole photographer getting a shot of me in a bikini.

“You're serious?” My pulse skyrocketed. “You think someone's here to hurt me? Why would you think that? It's probably just a fan...”

“Why doesn't matter,” Haze said. He turned me as we entered the beach house, shielding me from whatever or whomever might have already been inside. “The guest bathroom. Get inside and lock the door.”

“Haze, you're scaring me.” I tried to pull away again and, this time, he let me go even though he continued herding me where he wanted me to go. “It's probably just some idiot friend of Ricky's, or paparazzi. Worst case, it's someone who thinks they can steal a few bucks. There's no reason to go to DefCon 1.” Despite what I said, I let Haze maneuver me toward the bathroom.

“He wasn't dressed right.” Haze didn't look at me as he spoke. He was clearly in full Special Forces mode. “Neutral hat pulled low, fatigues, not someone you normally see around Malibu. He was dressed to be invisible in a landscape, not in a crowd.”

“And for some reason you think that means I'm in danger? You honestly believe someone is after me?” Anger started to burn away my fear as I clutched the doorframe. “What aren't you telling me?”

“Let me do my job, Leighton.”

The click of the front door latch froze us both. I could feel the blood draining from my face even as adrenaline flooded through me.

I spoke in a low whisper, “What's going on, Haze?”

He didn't answer. He unhooked my hands from the doorframe, gave them a reassuring squeeze, and then pushed me back. The door shut a second later and I quickly locked it. I stood pressed against it, trying to hear what was happening in the open area of the main room.

Silence opened up like a sinkhole, and I clung to the door. Worry for Haze as much as myself crept through me. Was I really in danger? What if Haze was killed trying to protect me?

There was a sharp yell followed by a heavy thud. I scrabbled to unlock the door, my only thought that I couldn't let anything happen to Haze.

Then I heard it. A rumble of laughter. Haze's deep booming laugh joined by another familiar voice.

“Ian?” I called, already starting to open the door.

“All clear, Leighton,” Haze said.

As I reached the end of the hall, I saw Ian standing in the sunken living room rubbing the back of his head. “Grandfather hired the right man to protect you. I can now say from personal experience that your bodyguard is very good at his job.”

“What on earth are you doing here?” Everything I'd been feeling merged into anger.

“Man, what a welcome,” Ian said with a grin. “First, I get tackled by this guy, and then my own sister is less than happy to see me.”

Haze extended a hand to me and I took it, still shaky as I walked down the stairs to join Ian in the sunken living room. “You've never been here before. And Haze said you jumped the front gate.”

“You didn't answer your phone. I thought something was wrong.” Ian looked from me to Haze and back, a strange expression coming over his face. “Wait, did I interrupt something? I can leave.”

I pulled my hand out of his, ignoring the pang I felt when he didn't try to stop me. Not surprising. He was good at letting things go. “You're not interrupting anything.” I sighed. “I need a drink.”

Ian jumped up the steps to the sleek, open kitchen and rolled up his sleeves. “I do make a mean Bloody Mary. Want one, Haze?”

“I'm working,” Haze said.

My brother turned to the refrigerator for tomato juice, and I felt Haze's eyes on me. The warmth of his look on my bare skin made my bikini feel even smaller. I rewrapped my sarong into a makeshift sundress and tied the ends behind my neck. The fabric was light, and for a moment, the nearly transparent barrier only intensified his gaze. I walked into the kitchen to put the counter between us before my body responded and I did something stupid. Again.

“First, you're going to tell me why you decided to make a surprise visit when you've never been here before,” I said, giving him a stern look.

“And then what?” Ian poured a healthy shot of vodka into two Bloody Marys.

I turned my eyes to Haze. “And then my bodyguard is going to tell me why he thinks my life is in danger.”

Ian stopped stirring and Haze scowled as my brother pointed a swizzle stick at him. “Is there something you aren't telling us?”

“Yes,” Haze said. “You're lucky I didn't knock you unconscious.”

Ian laughed. “Might need to brush up on my hand-to-hand combat skills, huh?”

A chill went down my spine. “Why would you need to do that? Just stop skulking around other people's properties without an invitation.”

Ian sipped his Bloody Mary. “I gotta tell you something, Leighton, and you can't be mad.”

I took my glass and held it with both hands, as if expecting the alcohol to somehow warm me. “I'm not promising anything.”

“I re-enlisted this morning.”

I'd already known what he was going to say, but the words still sent a pain through my heart. I concentrated on a few more long sips and said nothing, not trusting myself to speak.

“Come on, Sis, I know you're mad, but this is the best thing for me. I didn't want to leave the army in the first place. You know that. Grandfather made it happen. This is what I really want to do,” Ian said.

“You really want to run off and try to get killed?” I asked, my voice quiet. I didn't understand how he could do this to me. To himself.

The front door clicked again as Haze let himself out, but I barely noticed him going. My attention was focused on my little brother. Ian leaned heavily on the counter and looked at his feet. The silence stretched between us as we stood there in the kitchen together, miserable.

“I need this,” Ian finally spoke. “You know how it is here, and it's not a good place for me. The army gives me a chance to get out, have a purpose, help people.”

I slammed my drink down on the granite counter, surprised that I didn't at least crack the glass. “Tell yourself whatever you want, Ian. I can't stop you, but I'm not going to help you either. You get to tell Grandfather all on your own.”

Ian stirred his drink and it hit me.

“You already told him,” I said flatly. “What did he say?”

“He wasn't happy. At first. But he came around, finally agreed that the army could offer me my own career.”

Ian's shamrock green eyes were pleading and, in that moment, he looked so much like our father that it made my chest hurt.

“I found something I really want to do, Leighton. Something I'm good at, a place I can be my own man.”

I should have been happy for him, but it felt as if chains were tightening around my heart. Ian had a purpose, a direction, and now he had our grandfather's support. Three things I'd never had. Would never have.

“There are millions of jobs here that you can get on your own. And if you want to get away that badly, you can move to another state, another country. You don't need to join the army to move out on your own. Grandfather would give you part of your inheritance even though you're not twenty-one yet.”

“The army pays for my training, for my room and board,” he said. “I won't need my inheritance.”

“And all you have to do is pay with your life,” I snapped.

He sighed. “Leighton, I'm sorry. I know you feel like I'm leaving you all on your own.”

I looked away. “Why does that matter? I'm fine on my own. I'm not helpless. I don't need you. Go ahead, go out and get yourself shot up and blown to bits again.”

“The least you could do is try to be happy for me.” I could hear the hurt in his voice.

“Happy that you're throwing your life away?” My eyes burned and I forced the tears back. “I'm not going to tell you it's okay. I'm not going to make it easy for you to run off and be an idiot.” I couldn’t stop and I felt my breath coming in and out too fast.

Why was I the only one who could see Ian was throwing himself in the line of fire because he didn't want to be here? He never liked being linked with our parents or grandfather's fortunes, had never figured out how to deflect people who wanted something from him. The army was his escape, plain and simple.

He wanted my support, but I couldn't give it to him. “And people call me selfish. At least I can admit when I'm only thinking of myself. But, sure, go ahead and think you're a hero.”

“I knew you wouldn't understand.” There was an anger in Ian's voice that had never been there before when he'd talked to me. “Haze supports me, and he knows better than anyone what the dangers are. He understands this is the best course for me. This is my purpose.” His tone hardened. “I don't need your permission. I just wanted to tell you face to face.”

I couldn't look at him, couldn't give him words of support. He waited for several long seconds, and then spun around. He slammed out the front door and I took a shuddering breath.

I drained the last of my drink as I tried to process what just happened. Ian had re-enlisted. He was going to leave me again. Grandfather hadn't tried to stop him. But even as I thought about it, the surprise I'd originally felt went away. Of course, Grandfather supported Ian. He was all about honor and integrity and making something of yourself. If Ian had played all those cards, Grandfather would've seen things Ian's way. But it wasn't as if Grandfather truly understood what Ian was subjecting himself to.

Haze did.

And he'd been there from moment one, telling Ian what to do to get back into the army, standing by him...

I wiped at my cheeks as my anger focused. Ian wasn't here for me to vent on, but someone else was. I flew from the kitchen and out the front door. I marched across the beach house's narrow driveway, not letting myself consider anything other than finally telling someone off.