Chapter Two

Damian

The plane touched down on the tarmac, and I slowly unclenched the muscles of my jaw and unwrapped my fingers from around the leather armrests. Permanent indentions from my grip marred the once gorgeous, pristine Italian leather. I rubbed at the marks.

Fuck, I was a walking disaster. Sweat had soaked through my collar, and the rest of my custom suit was equally damp and wrinkled.

Rumpled, nauseated, and working on a killer headache...all because I’d been locked inside the tiny tin can for an hour and a half. But my therapist had assured me I was making progress. What a joke.

The pilot came over the intercom system. “Welcome to Aspenridge, Colorado, Mr. Thorne. The outside temperature is currently fifty-eight degrees with clear skies. It’s supposed to reach a balmy sixty-three degrees today. Not too bad for the end of June, but it’s what we expect up here when the town is at 9,750 feet. We hope you enjoy your visit. Thank you for flying with Crescent Corporate. The airport personnel will be opening the exterior door momentarily.”

The flight attendant unbuckled her seatbelt and avoided my gaze as she stood. I’d given explicit instructions when I’d booked the flight that I didn’t want to interact with anyone. If I didn’t talk to them, they didn’t have to be subjected to my hideous scars. I’d spent too many conversations with people who either couldn’t stand to look at me or were so fascinated by the puckered skin that they couldn’t look away. No one ever looked at me anymore.

The plane came to a stop, and I unbuckled and stood, taking a moment to make sure my shaky legs would hold me.

The fun wasn’t over yet, though. I had to get into a car...something that up until three years ago I’d taken for granted. Being the only survivor when an IED had blown up my MRAP military vehicle, the inside of a car was the stuff of nightmares. At least I didn’t have panic attacks anymore. Walsh had trained me how to mentally get myself out of those.

Walsh, with his upcoming wedding in Aspenridge, Colorado, was the only person who could convince me to subject myself to this kind of torture. He’d been there for me every step of the way over the last three years. I owed it to him to be here for him now...even if it killed me. And it just might.

My breathing sped up, and my heart raced. Why weren’t they opening the doors?

The flight attendant must have heard the change in my breathing because she glanced at me worriedly. I scowled at her. She quickly diverted her gaze.

She was gorgeous, tall, and leggy with long blonde hair pulled up into a high ponytail. She had high, perky tits and toned legs that went on for days. I catalogued all of this clinically.

Once upon a time, I would have had her number by then. Hell, a few years ago we would have made sure our status in the mile-high club was still in good standing. Those days were a distant memory now...back when I used my good looks and charm and nine times out of ten found a way into their panties. Yeah, that wasn’t my life anymore.

At the thought of the change in my life the last three years, the tight skin on the right side of my body throbbed and itched. I needed to stretch, get that damaged skin loosened again. Sitting for prolonged periods of time was never a good thing.

Finally, the sound of metal grating cued the flight attendant to step forward and twist the handle from our side. The door opened, and blessed fresh, cool air blew in.

Thank fuck.

As soon as she stepped away, I rushed down the airstairs that had been pushed up against the side of the plane. My luggage had already been placed on the concrete below, and I grabbed it without even slowing my stride. I wanted as far away from that plane as possible.

I entered the terminal and immediately spotted Walsh. He grinned at the sight of me and rushed over. One of the perks with flying private...no airport security to worry about in the private terminal, at least in a small airport like this one, and most importantly, no crowds to point and stare.

He took my hand and shook it as he wrapped his other arm around me to pat me on the back. Walsh was the only person who got to get close like this anymore. “Man, it’s good to see you.” He pulled back and examined me more closely. “How bad was the flight?”

I shrugged, trying to make it appear like it didn’t bother me. Complete lie. “Not that bad, but I’m ready to get to the house and into a shower.” And if I could skip the car ride to get there, that would be fabulous. Unfortunately, nobody had managed to create transporters yet, so I just had to grin and bear it.

He took my bag from me. “That can definitely be arranged. We have about five hours for you to decompress before the dinner tonight.”

My muscles tightened. A dinner where there would be other people, curious people. That ranked up there with my worst nightmares.

I shook out my shoulders. I could do this. I had to do this for Walsh. It wasn’t about me. “Will I get to meet Lake before then?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Walsh grinned like the lovesick fool he was as we stepped out the doors into the bright sunshine. “The girls are all busy getting pretty today, but she’s anxious to meet you.”

We walked across a small parking lot. Walsh stopped beside a golden yellow, old rusty truck. He threw my luggage over the steel cage built around the bed—what the fuck did a truck need that for?—and then opened the driver’s side door as I stood there, staring at the truck, stupefied.

When Walsh tilted his head at me from inside the cab, I finally opened the passenger side door, but I didn’t get in. Not yet. I knew he’d gotten a new vehicle, but... I backed away from the door and looked at the derelict truck again. No, it didn’t look any better than it had before. “Seriously, you traded Desiree for this?”

Desiree had been a special order, a golden yellow, 2016 Corvette Stingray Z07. She’d been a gorgeous mix of power and man-made precision. This...wasn’t.

“Hey,” Walsh protested. “Don’t badmouth Eugene.”

I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing. “Eugene? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“It suits him. He’s dependable, reliable, and doesn’t put me in a ditch. Eugene is like a reliable flannel shirt, always a good choice in the mountains.”

I nodded as if Walsh’s twisted logic about cars made sense, but since Desiree had put him in a ditch the first time he’d driven her in snow, he probably had a point. “You realize,” I mused, “without Desiree, I’m not sure this weekend would even be a thing.” I climbed into the truck, ignoring the tightness in my chest when faced with the enclosed space. I immediately rolled down my window.

Walsh did the same as he twisted his head in thought. “You know, you’re right. I never even considered that. It was only because I got stuck here while she was getting fixed that I got to know Lake as more than a pain in my ass.”

We pulled out of the parking lot, and I gripped my hands into fists. Despite my discomfort about being inside a moving vehicle, I grinned. “And look at you now...getting married.”

To say Lake and Walsh hadn’t gotten along at their first meeting was putting it lightly. I’d actually been on his Bluetooth with him when he’d wrecked. He’d been ranting about the sexy, infuriating brewer, who had more than gotten him hot under the collar, when he’d spun out on the icy roads.

Luckily, we didn’t have to deal with slick roads today. I took a deep breath and tried to take in the town. I looked down at my fists and concentrated on pressing the pressure points inside my wrists and centering internally rather than externally to stay focused. That was the only way to keep a panic attack from coming on.

“You doing okay?” Walsh asked, his voice low. He knew how bad I could get. One time, I had become so panicked I’d literally tried to throw myself out of the moving car.

I nodded and swallowed. “Yeah, just peachy. So, tell me more about the plans for the next two days. What does the—” I took a couple of steadying breaths and consciously willed my racing heartbeat to slow. “What does the schedule look like?”

“Only a couple more minutes,” Walsh murmured, and then he kept talking like I wasn’t having a complete meltdown on the other side of the truck. He’d learned how to handle me years ago. “The rehearsal dinner will be tonight at seven. Don’t worry, there’s going to be less than a dozen people there, and they’re all our best friends and family. It should be very relaxed and laid-back.”

Said the guy with the normal face. He wouldn’t have to deal with the curious looks and questions. The automatic “hero” label often came up when all I wanted was my four friends back, not to be lauded for simply surviving something horrific. I shuddered but concentrated on Walsh’s words again. My stomach rolled, and I blew out a slow breath.

“You know the details about the wedding. I get shackled tomorrow, and after, there will be a reception.” He quieted for a moment. “I know that none of this is going to be easy for you. It means so fucking much that you’ve come, that you’ve made the effort just to be here. If it ever gets to be too much, though, I get it and won’t blame you for bowing out.”

The truck came to a halt, and he turned it off.

I opened eyes that I hadn’t even realized I’d shut as I had concentrated on his voice. Then, I looked over to him. He studied me. I knew what he was looking for—signs of a panic attack, a mental breakdown. The signs that I was going to turn coward and run.

“I’m doing better. I can do this. I want to do this.” I lowered my voice. “I owe you everything, Walsh.”

If Walsh hadn’t been there for me on those nights when the nightmares had gotten to be too much, the pain too unbearable, I wouldn’t be alive today. We both knew it. But we didn’t talk about that, and it was time to lighten things up.

I forced a grin. “Besides, you need me here just in case you get cold feet and need someone to drive the getaway car.” I could drive. It just felt slightly less torturous than a million fire ants taking up residence on my balls.

Walsh laughed. “That’s totally not going to happen, asshole. I happen to love Lake and cannot wait to make her my wife.”

“Of course you do,” I said in my most patronizingly tone. “But I’m just saying...just in case...” I pointed at my chest. “I’m your guy.”

“Yeah, you are. Come on. Let me show you where you’re going to be living.”

I jumped out of the truck and took my first look at the timber and rock cabin he’d rented for me. Nice. Although nestled among the aspens and pines like it had always been there, it looked new. A set of stairs led up to the large timber-frame porch where a wood swing swayed slightly in the breeze.

It was two stories and looked perfect. There were just enough details like hand-forged, outdoor lights and carriage-styled doors on the double garage to make it really interesting. I raised my eyebrows at Walsh. “And how long is this rented for? You may have to evict me to get me to leave.”

Walsh rubbed across the back of his neck uncomfortably as we walked up the stairs.

I got a sudden bad feeling low in my belly.

“Well, actually I kind of wanted to talk to you about that.”

“O—kay. What?”

“I... We need to ask you for a huge favor. And know right now...I realize how much this is asking, but you’re the only one who we can trust to do this, because Lake and I don’t have any more ideas.”

“Does this have anything to do with the fire?” A few months back, there had been an explosion in the brewery. It had later been classified as arson, but they’d never discovered who’d done it.

“Yeah, but it’s bigger than that. Piecing it all together, it looks like someone has been trying to sabotage the brewery for a while now. With the opening of Ice’s Brew Pub in a couple of weeks, we’re afraid something else is going to happen. We need outside eyes and ears to watch over things. The only thing we can conclude is that Lake and I are too close to see who’s doing this. It has to be someone who works at Naked Brews because too much has happened that no one besides an employee could sabotage. I’m hoping you’ll work at the brewery while we’re on our honeymoon and watch over everything. See what you can find out. We need help, Double R.”

Double R. He just had to use my nickname from our military days, as if to remind me of the guy that I used to be. The guy who would face any challenge for one of my friends no matter the risk. Not the guy who had panic attacks from walking out the front door and having someone look at him. Such a fucking coward.

But I had made it here, already faced down that excruciating flight and sequence of car rides. And the fact of the matter remained, I owed Walsh, so turning him down wasn’t really an option I could even consider.

“Okay, I’ll do it,” I said.

Walsh stopped dead still. “What?”

“I said I’d do it.”

His eyes were wide. “Seriously? I thought I’d have to promise you my firstborn to get you to agree to this.”

I shoved at his shoulder even as my stomach lurched. I tried not to let Walsh see how the very idea of doing this terrified me. “No way. Can you imagine me with kids?” They’d cry in fright every time they looked at me. I knew that from experience. No, thanks. “If you still had Desiree, I’d probably demand her, but maybe I’ll let you fill up the beer fridges at the Denver house when you get back.”

“You have a deal.”

“Cool. Now I’m going to go find the master bedroom. I need a shower.” I plucked my damp shirt off my chest and bounded up the stairs, hoping I’d covered my need for escape okay as the panic at what I’d just agreed to rolled over me.

Luckily, I found the bathroom before I managed to puke up everything I’d eaten today.