“So, you were in the military for eleven years?”

Gage looked over his shoulder at the dark-haired bundle that was sitting at his kitchen table. She held a piece of toast to her mouth, ready to take a huge bite. He couldn’t help but grin and turn back to the eggs cooking on the stove. Even as exhausted as he was from last night, he was man enough to know a beautiful woman when he saw one.

Gage had only slept for a few minutes last night before waking up in a night terror. Scared of hurting her in his sleep, he’d decided to just lay awake and hold her, then get some shut eye in the afternoon. At the buttcrack of dawn, he’d gotten showered, dressed in some basketball shorts, then went on a run. By the time he’d gotten back, she was awake and waiting for him in the kitchen.

As lovely as a sight it was to see her cracking eggs in a bowl and smiling over her shoulder at him, he could imagine a lot of her days had been spent like that—and today wasn’t going to be the same routine. Not for her, anyway.

“Marines. This past term was my last tour,” he said, reaching into the cupboard for plates. At least Britt had left everything the same—that saved him the embarrassment of having to search for shit in his own house.

“Oh,” she said. “That’s good, right?”

He nodded, taking the handle of the pan and sliding half the eggs onto it.

“It’s good. Gives me time to focus on my business again,” he said, sliding the rest onto another plate. There was already a plate of toast on the table, so all he had left to grab was the OJ.

“You have a business? Like, a legitimate business?” He caught the skeptical look in her eye when he set the plates on the table, giving her hers first.

He raised a brow. “What else kind of business would I have? Soldiers have to have a fall back as well, you know.”

A flush rose in her cheeks. Sitting there in his oversized T-shirt, cheeks pink and one leg tucked under her on the chair, she was a vision—one he never would have thought to crave. She was soft in all the ways Britt was hard. She was inviting in all the ways Britt was stoic.

Not only that but there was a calm, happy vibe to her that he couldn’t help but pick up on. How could Justin have ever thought of harming her, of nearly turning her into a shell? It took a lot to make Gage smile—and yet, at every turn since they’d woken up, he hadn’t been able to hold it back.

The woman sitting in front of him was not the same woman he’d tended to the other day. Her eyes were bright rather than vacant, and her shoulders…there was something different about the way she held herself. No tension, no stress.

At least, not as much.

He could still see her watching him from the corner of his eye. In a speculative or weary way, he couldn’t tell the difference. Either way, something was different—and so far, she didn’t seem to regret their time together last night.

“Tell me about what you do,” she said, giving him a warm smile when he sat across from her.

He shrugged. “It’s not anything important. My partner runs the brunt of it for now, until I can contact with him. It’s mainly coding and solutions for corporate companies that—“ The look on her face had him stopping, shaking his head.

“I’m sorry,” she said, a laugh bubbling out of her.

“No, no, it’s fine. I know it’s a lot of mumbo jumbo talk if you don’t know the logistics of it,” he said, chuckling. “Britt never wanted to talk about it, either, so really, I understand.”

She touched his wrist, laughing. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it! I just think it’s…cute. You know?”

“No,” he said, raising his brow at her. “I don’t. How exactly is that cute?”

She shrugged, grabbing her fork and taking a bite of the eggs. When her shoulders went lax, he couldn’t help but smile. It had probably been a while since she’d eaten a meal that she hadn’t cooked. Even though it was a simple eggs and toast, it still had his back straightening with pride.

“I’m not sure exactly,” she said, covering another laugh with her hand. The laugh died down a little, replaced by a throat-clearing cough. “So, uh… Who is Britt?”

“Getting possessive already?” he asked, raising a glass of OJ to his lips. He took a swig, watching her face go beat red. It was his fault for slipping up and mentioning her and he should have been more careful, but the conversation was going to come up eventually. He was pretty sure there were a few things his ex had left behind that Kate would find if she ended up staying here with him.

“No! No, I just—“

“You’re fine,” he said, waving a hand while setting the OJ down. “I was giving you shit. Britt, uh… she’s my ex.”

“Oh,” she said, giving him a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry. It sounds like it didn’t end well by the tone of your voice.”

“Nah, it actually ended pretty quick. I came home from the airport the other night and found her upstairs with a Joey.” His jaw ticked at the thought, and to distract himself from it, he took another swig of OJ.

“That’s—that’s horrible, Gage. I’m so sorry,” she said, reaching out to touch his hand. “Is she why you came to stay at our house the other night?”

He nodded. “Pretty much. Couldn’t stand being in the same house as her while she gathered her shit to go. Yesterday morning I came home just long enough to get the rest of her crap thrown on the front yard, then realized I left my bag at your place, and…”

“I understand,” she said sympathetically. There was a moment of silence where he didn’t say anything—couldn’t say anything—and a few seconds into it he watched her face grow pale.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, noticing how sick she looked.

“Your ex cheated on you. You probably think I’m just like—“

He slashed a hand through the air and nipped that shit in the butt real quick. “You are nothing like Britt, you hear me? Your situation is completely different than hers. She could have easily cut it off with me and left to live with her new guy. You had nowhere to run and a point to prove last night—and that’s okay. After everything you’ve been through, you deserve that small amount of justice for yourself.”

“But that’s—that’s so low of me, I—“ She slowly set down the fork, and that’s when he noticed how badly her hand was shaking.

There it was. The self-loathing. It had taken a while, but it had finally settled in, just like he knew it would.

Gage got out of his chair and went to her side, kneeling beside her. When she just stared at her lap, her hands trembling limply on his shirt, he took her by the jaw and forced her to look at him.

“I’m going to ask you some questions and I want you to answer honestly, alright?” When she didn’t reply, her throat working to create words but nothing coming out, he tapped her cheek with his finger. “Alright?”

She inhaled sharply, but nodded.

“Good. Now, do you intend to leave Justin?”

Kate nodded, her jaw still resting in his hand.

“Use your words, beautiful. Do you intend to leave Justin, regardless of our type of relationship?”

“Yes,” she said, the words coming out of her like she was being strangled.

“Were you happy last night?”

It took a bit, but she finally nodded and whispered, “Yes.”

“Do you really think I would have slept with you if I didn’t know why you needed it?”

She gazed at him for a moment, some of the heaviness lifting from her gaze. “No.”

“If you hadn’t found out about how my ex and I split, would you have gotten upset over last night?”

“You’re right,” she said, looking between his eyes as if searching for an answer. “I—I made it about myself. I’m sorry—“

“No,” he snapped, wishing he had the strength to let go of her jaw. He would, but he needed that connection to her, needed her to know why she wasn’t allowed to be guilty. “That’s Justin talking through you, you know that? When you apologize and take the blame? That’s him. Not you. That’s him turning you into a victim, living inside of you. That is not you, Kate.”

She opened her mouth, a look of realization dawning in her eyes, but a sound from the other room had her pausing.

Both of their attentions turned to the kitchen entrance. Past that was the living room, then the foyer.

They both heard the muffled shout from outside, then the pounding on the door.

“You can stay in here if you want,” Gage said, giving her a tight-lipped, pointed look to her outfit. She gave him a little smile and waved him on, thinking nothing of whoever was outside—until she heard the door open and the pissed voice on the other side of it.

“My wife is missing.”

Those words had a cocktail of emotions roiling through her. On one hand, he sounded like he cared. Like he was genuinely missing. On the other, she heard that off tone to his voice, she could hear that he was close to exploding—and drunk.

He was drunk this early in the morning?

Kate looked down at her hands, and realized, for once, they weren’t shaking.

Gage was silent from the foyer, and when she peaked her head around the corner, she saw just a sliver of Justin standing in the doorway, in front of Gage, who had his arms crossed in front of his bare chest. He was definitely a sigh to look at, bare chested with basketball shorts hanging off his hips. The whole of him was…beautiful.

But the monster standing in the doorway? Not so much.

Something about Gage told her that he wasn’t going to lie, but he wasn’t going to admit to where she was, either. And when Justin was drunk, he was like a dog with a bone. Getting him to back off was useless.

Which was the only reason why she stepped out from behind the door, crossed her arms over her chest, and came up beside Gage.

Probably not the smartest thing to do, standing next to the man you spent the night with, while wearing his shirt, in front of your soon-to-be ex-husband…but what other choice was there? He would have saw her sneak upstairs for some clothes on, or barged his way into the house and spotted her in the kitchen.

She felt the surprise of both the men. When Gage didn’t move from his spot, she was grateful, because the rage that came over Justin’s face nearly had her rearing back.

“What the fuck is all this?” he asked, looking between the two of them frantically with his bloodshot eyes. “Why are you in—in his shirt? Where are your pants? Where is— You didn’t.”

His eyes were locked on her, paying no mind to Gage, who had taken an even greater step between them.

“Justin,” she said in greeting, tightening her arms over her chest. Just seeing him there, staring at her with so much complete hate, made that sick feeling tighten her gut. “I think by now it’s safe to say that this…this marriage. It’s done. Over. I won’t be with someone who abuses me, puts me down, and just…makes me hate myself for not having the strength to stand up to you. I can’t do it anymore.”

Even in his drunken state, some part of those words got to him.

“Abuse you? Me?” He laughed, throwing out an arm as if he were going to toss Gage away. It flopped into him, and he didn’t even budge. Justin, on the other hand, was jostled from the impact. His cheeks went red. “That’s stupid and you know it. Get your shit and lets go, Kate. We can talk about this when we get home.”

He held his hand out for her, and it wavered in the air, same as he did on his feet.

She shook her head.

“No, Justin. I’m not going back with you. I already told you, this marriage is done.”

“Oh, yeah? What are you going to do, find a lawyer? With what money? Because until those papers are served, you’re stuck with me baby,” he said cruelly, laughing when she bit her lip.

“Justin, old pall,” Gage said his voice terrifyingly emotionless. He stepped toward Justin, who stared at him with his lip curled. “I think you seem to forget who you’re talking to her in front of.”

“The fuck are you going to do? That’s my wife.”

The words were on the tip of her tongue. I stopped loving you the second you hit me, and finding out you were cheating only solidified that.

But she didn’t say it. She wasn’t going to fuel the fire. He was violent when he drank, and the last thing she wanted was for him to attack her. She didn’t expect Gage to do anything to help her, but knowing him, he would—and getting him hurt was the last thing she wanted to do when this wasn’t his fight to battle.

“You need to leave,” she said softly, quietly. Emotionlessly.

Talking gently didn’t have the effect she hoped it would.

“Not until you come with me,” he said, right before lunging for her. His finger just barely brushed her upper arm before Gage reacted, his fist flying out. Before she had time to blink, there was a loud crack, Justin was stumbling back with his hands covering his face, and blood began dripping through his hands.

“Gage—“ she said, turning to him. He shook his head at her, a warning on his face, and then stepped out of the house. In the morning sun, she could see his body—and every scar that graced it. His back, his arms, his ribs… His skin was tan that in the artificial lighting of his house, this was all unnoticeable. But in the light, with the rays illuminating his skin like a bronze beacon? She saw it all—and understood why Justin didn’t try to fight him back.

Justin cowered, staring up at him, and she waited.

Waited for Gage to explode on him, waited for a bigger blood bath.

But it never came.

Instead, he raised his hand, pointed over Justin’s shoulder at the car, and spoke only one low, warning-packed word.

“Leave.”

And Justin did.