The hours of darkness were the bane of Steele’s life. Unable to sleep, time slowed to a crawl and stretched out to infinity. Forced to lie awake, he examined everything in his life. Every mistake, every time he’d f****d up. The moment he’d been forced to listen to his men die over and over again.
If he was unlucky enough to sleep, that nightmare scenario followed him into his dreams. Forced him to listen to his men blaming him for not saving them. Begging him to kill them. Threatening to kill him. He wished they could. Wished they could reach through from the veil of death and carry out their threats. Death would be a blessing.
So when he jerked awake just before sunrise, Max still cuddled up against his side, he sat for a moment in stunned silence working out where he was. The confusion
