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1718 Words
The slap had taken him by surprise. Russell had only been joking with her, but, like every other time he apparently stepped out of line, she retaliated violently. He didn’t mean anything by it, yet the words triggered her.
Had someone at some point in her past used those words on her as well? He didn’t know. He didn’t even know if he wanted to know the truth, but it was damaging their relationship. They were going to sink if they couldn’t find a way to move past her unpredictable rage.
Did the bosses know what she was like behind closed doors with him? Just how well did she hide her fear and pain? How much longer was he going to be able to hold out before he himself snapped and...
Russell stopped his pacing. His eyes were wide as he grabbed the empty bottle off the table and threw it against the door frame. The thought that almost crossed his mind vanished as he sobbed heavily.
No. There was no way in heaven or hell that he would ever think about laying his hands on a woman, let alone one he loved. Regardless of how many times he had to put up with her outbursts, he would never stoop to his father’s level of cruelty. It didn’t matter how many times Skylar hit him; he would walk away before he gave into the primal instinct that told him to retaliate.
“God, I’m such a mess. How the hell does Declan make it look so easy when walking away feels like tearing out my own heart? I don’t get it,” he muttered as he sat on the floor in the corner of the kitchen, the cool tiles pressing against his back.
That was where Robert found him three hours later. Curled up in a corner of the kitchen in a fetal position, Russell was muttering in his sleep, begging someone to stop hurting him. His cheeks were wet with tears as he pleaded brokenly for the pain to stop.
Reaching down, Robert frowned in worry. “Russ? You good, man?”
“No… please… I promise, Grandpa… please… not the belt…”
Belt? Grandpa?
Robert gasped as he realized what was going on. Despite years of therapy, his friend was still suffering in a hell created by subconscious memories that surfaced in his dreams. In all honesty, they were nightmares, forcing Russell to relive his childhood every night.
“Dude, that’s harsh. Hey, Russell, can you wake up?” Robert asked, shaking the other man gently.
Curling tighter into his body, Russell whimpered. Then, still half asleep, he sat up and pulled his gun. Robert’s eyes went wide at the sight, fearing that everything they had been through was about to come to an end. Paling, he watched in shock as Russell turned the weapon on himself. He never had the chance to pull the trigger before Robert wrestled it from his hands.
“I am not going to let you do that,” Robert said firmly. He raked a hand through his hair, trying to figure out what the hell he was going to do now that he knew there was a whole lot more to the man he called friend.
Of all the other soldiers working under Callum and Ambrosia, Robert was the only one who understood what others didn’t. He knew more than he spoke, and that granted him something no one else had. More than anyone else, he knew Russell on a deeper level and treated him like a brother.
Taking a deep breath, Robert pulled Russell’s body over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. Bringing him to the bedroom, he gently laid Russell on the bed and covered him up before sitting in the chair nearest to the window. “Try that motherfucking s**t again. I dare you.”
“Just let me go, Robbie. I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to be the family disappointment anymore. I just want peace,” Russell argued half-heartedly. Covering his face with one arm, he sobbed before curling into a ball once again.
Hurt flashed in Robert’s brown eyes. “No, man. Eight years we’ve been friends. You’re my work partner, my brother, and I won’t let you just off yourself because life got a little too hard to handle. I got you, Russ. I got your back, so don’t do this. Don’t give up when you’re so close to getting over the past for once.”
“You don’t—”
“I know more than you think, and, unless you want your secrets spilled to the twins and their families, you’re going to fight this,” Robert snarled.
Russell stilled. He didn’t think anyone knew his secrets, but he should have known that his only friend would have figured it out. Robert had inherited his father’s uncanny observational abilities. Like his uncle, he could pick apart conversations with an ease others of their rank were jealous of.
Losing his will to fight, Russell went limp in the bed. “What do you think you know?”
“I know that your grandfather would beat you with whatever was closest to him. That no one ever helped you because they conned everyone around into thinking you were the liar. You know, it’s hard to sleep over sometimes. Especially when I can hear you talking in your sleep,” Robert said quietly.
He moved to the window to look out over the dark, yet busy, artificially-lit streets below. They were seven stories up, so if Russell was serious about ending it, he would have to stay. He would fight for his friend; the only person who looked past the fact that he was the big boss’s little cousin to really get to know him.
“Look, I’m going to stay the night to keep you company, but I gotta call this in, Russ. The boss has to know why we’re playing hooky from our guard posts,” he said.
Swallowing tightly, Russell nodded. “I know.”
“Your sister’s going to want to see you. Heck, your brother might just burn the tires off his Honda getting here to deal with it, but I got you,” Robert told him as calmly as he could.
In reality, he’d already placed the call and was still holding it on mute so that the others back at the office wouldn’t alert Russ to his actions.
Russell moved to lie on his back, one arm slung over his dark blue eyes. “I… I think I’m going to go for a shower.”
“You do that, and I’ll try to hold them off, okay?” Watching him nod, Robert breathed a sigh of relief.
Putting the phone to his ear as soon as the door was shut, Robert said, “I got this under control.”
“Take all the razors from the bathroom,” Amber ordered.
Robert shook his head. “I already did that. I also took his gun from him. I’m staying with Russ, Donna Amber. I won’t give up on him, but he’s been through hell and back. I’m kind of shocked that he didn’t go off the deep end and turn on us, but he really values family. He didn’t want you to know because he doesn’t want to be the family disappointment anymore.”
Someone grunted in the background before Declan spoke up. “He’s not a disappointment, Rob. I’m on my way.”
“We gotta leave for a mission!” David cried in the distance.
“Pick a different partner tonight. My little brother needs me,” Declan snarled.
There was a scuffle followed by a yell before Robert could hear the Boss Lady’s voice. “You really want to leave your kids orphans, don’t you? f*****g around with my temper is a great way to die, David.”
“Fine,” the man finally said. “f**k my life. I didn’t know you still packed that big of a punch. Geesh, Amber, that hurt almost as much as the one you clocked me with nine years ago.”
Nearly laughing at the intel, Robert fought to keep a straight face. He didn’t know that Nix was telling the truth when the kid said that his mother knocked out David the day she met him. He knew why, too. It was because she blamed the brunet for not guarding her man well enough.
“Remind me to never screw with your wife, Cuz. That is one scary white woman you’re sleeping with,” he said, making Callum laugh.
Clearing his throat, Callum called for the room to be silent. “Robert, you and Russell take a week off. I want you to make sure he attends his therapy appointments, then report back any new information. Stay with him, and keep him alive like your life depends on it.”
“Sure, Boss, but I’ll only voice the intel to you and the Donna. No one else needs to know his dirty little secrets. He’s been through enough,” the younger man replied sadly.
“Agreeable terms,” Amber spoke up. “Declan’s on his way.”
“Thank you, Ma’am.” Hanging up, he made his way to the bathroom. Picking the lock, he let himself in and pulled back the curtain to check on Russell.
Seeing that his friend was just sitting under the spray with a hopeless look on his face, he crouched down. “I already took all the s**t you could use to hurt yourself out of here, but I’m sure you noticed that. Your brother is coming, and we have a week off.”
“You got orders, don’t you?” Russell asked, his voice dull and emotionless.
Robert nodded, “Yeah, I do. I gotta make sure you go to therapy, but it ain’t like I mind. If it keeps my best friend around a little longer, then I’m game. Use me as your sounding board, man, but don’t try to unalive yourself ever again.”
Sniffling, Russell lifted his head enough to look at his friend. “Thank… thank you for saving me.”
“i***t,” Robert laughed. “That’s what friends are for.”
- Writer
