Chapter 14

Gunner

I remained standing where I was. Frozen to the spot when I heard the man’s voice. He had just spoken to Brooklyn. I dared him to catch me standing there in the shadows. I was however too well hidden in the dark, or he was just drunk. Either way, he didn’t see me there.

Brooklyn had turned to him and then she threw me a look, but I couldn’t step towards her. As much as I would have liked to take her into my arms and run, my limbs were stuck. I’d heard him say her name. Her full name.

“Be right there,” I heard her call out to him in a chirpy voice and then, without giving me another look; she was gone. I would have liked to call out to her, but my brain wasn’t working. It was too numb with the thoughts whirling around in my head.

Once she was back inside, I turned without a second thought and went over to where my bike was parked. I couldn’t even bring myself to look into the bar again. I didn’t want to look at Brooklyn.

On my bike, I rode furiously…not entirely sure of where I was going.

Brooklyn Jenson. I’d heard her name loud and clear. I wasn’t just imagining it.

I could see Jenson clearly in my mind now. With his cocky smile and the same brown hair. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that they had similar features. Brown hair, and green eyes.

I was their leader, so we didn’t exactly spend too much time with my men lounging about. Neither did they share too many personal things with me. But I remembered one conversation clearly and now as I rode my bike to nowhere, it kept repeating in my mind over and over again.

Jenson and I were behind a rock, sweat dripping into our eyes. We were waiting for a target in the sun. A passing truck that we’d got intel on was supposed to be carrying weapons. Our orders were to shoot the driver, and we could have been waiting there, lying on our stomachs in the sand for hours. Only the buzzing of mosquitoes as company, and each other.

“You know what I miss most about home?” Jenson had said, and I kept my eyes on the target, so as not to be distracted.

“Enlighten me,” I’d replied and I sensed him moving slightly.

“I miss the fact that when I wake up in the morning, there’s the smell of fresh pancake batter in the house. Now, all I wake up to is the sound of fires being shot, and it’s the middle of the night. Smell of gunpowder in the air,” he had said and I smiled, despite myself.

“I’m not surprised that you’re treated like a Princess at home. Maybe that should be your nickname,” I’d said and he laughed.

“The very reason why no woman is good enough. My sister’s set some very high standards,” he said. I’d gripped the gun tighter, growing conscious of the sweat pooling on my back as we lay there.

“You have a sister?” I asked.

“Yeah, a baby sister…B. She used to be the cutest little thing, and now I can’t keep the guys off her!” Jenson had laughed.

“I’m glad I don’t have a sister. It would drive me nuts,” I said and we broke protocol to look at each other and smile.

“Yeah well, I’m glad I have her. But she’s set unrealistic standards, you know, every chick I’m remotely interested in, I look for signs of whether she’s as amazing as B is,” he said and I didn’t respond. I wasn’t really interested in Jenson’s family life or habits, I liked to keep our military life separate. Besides, I didn’t want him asking about Bryce. That was a subject still very raw in my mind and I didn’t want to talk about the death of my brother yet.

I wished I’d asked him more about “B”. Any clue that would have alerted me to who Brooklyn really was before we slept together.

How could I ever face her again? Knowing what I knew now. She still didn’t know. She still had no idea that I knew her brother. The brother who she had referred to as being in the army. This was what I’d seen in her eyes. I knew she was grieving. The moment I saw her, I knew she was struggling with the loss of something and that was the connection I’d felt towards her. What I didn’t know was that our lives were intricately connected.

And now, I was failing at keeping Jenson’s baby sister safe. The man who I owed everything to. The man who I wasn’t able to protect, who I was in charge of.

The other thing that had shocked me was the new knowledge that Jenson was involved with the Dragon Knights. None of this was making sense. Everything was a blur and I needed to clear my head before I could make any other decisions.

That image of Jenson lying beside me in the sun kept replaying in my head. The way he had spoken about his sister had told me that he cared deeply for her. I should have promised him that whatever happened to him in Afghanistan, I would have looked after his baby sister. I should have taken a step into his personal life and made that promise.

But now it didn’t matter. She was too deep into it for me to save her, and I didn’t have the courage or the strength to face her again.

“Fuck!” I growled, as I rode my bike faster. I was mad at myself, I was mad at Jenson, and I was mad at Brooklyn. This was all my fault. I shouldn’t have pursued her. Then I wouldn’t have found out who she was.

Now there was going to be another burden to carry. Now I knew that I was responsible for Brooklyn’s brother’s death and there was no way I could forgive myself.