sitting in their dining room. He’d acted in stark contrast to the behavior I’d seen from the wealthy elite of Valmont. He didn’t demand or condescend. He walked in, gave his name to the maître d’ and the rest took care of itself. I rather appreciated the casual style with which he handled it, but I didn’t quite want to think about why I got my meal for free.
“He’s not going to drop this,” Jack mutters to me as we leave the warm restaurant to stumble into the chilly darkness.
“At least, he’s not making us get Santa on our ass,” I say, nodding to the holiday decorations that were strung over every street lamp, shop front and home as far as we could see. Over dinner, we’d even been served a pizza shaped like a reindeer. Apparently, the British took the holidays very seriously.
I shoved my hands in my jacket against the biting wind. Given that we were headed to Afghanistan for the final phase of our training to run real-world drills, I hadn’t brought along a lot of civilian clothes. I’d be in uniform most of the time. I hadn’t counted on spending time outside the hotel before our early flight out.
“Not much for Christmas, huh?” Jack asks, hanging back with me while the others continue to fight.
“It’s complicated.” Last year this time I was with Adair, making love to her in a tiny, squeaky dorm room bed before spending the holidays with her in New York. It isn’t that I miss her. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’d just been another shiny new object that lost its luster for the rich bitch. I will, however, miss Francie, who I still haven’t seen since I enlisted. We’d spoken on Thanksgiving and she’d been sending care packages to North Carolina, but I have no idea if I’ll get a chance to talk to her on Christmas. There are a lot of Marines with real families back home to call, guys like Jack.
“Isn’t it always?” Jack drops it. He’s good like that, always knowing when I don’t want to talk anymore.
A troop of carolers pass us, beginning a chorus of Gloria in Excelsis-Deo as they do. They smile cheerfully, and I have to resist the urge to heckle them. Maybe the holidays are a peaceful time of year for some people, but I can count on one hand how many happy Christmases I’ve had. A memory of the holiday party at Windfall taps at my brain, but I slam the door on it.
But the song must have given Jack an idea, because he calls up to Luca. “Hey, what about Latin?”
“Latin what?” he asks.
“For the tattoo. Instead of Hell’s Bastards, we do the Latin translation.”
It’s Luca’s idea that we need to permanently cement our brotherhood with inked forearms.
“Great,” Luca agrees. “Who knows Latin?”
“I do.”
We all turn to Jack in surprise.
“What?” he asks with a wide grin. “I’m not just a pretty face.”
“Still blasphemous,” Noah says.
“Why don’t you sit this one out? Or get something else?” Jack suggests, not unkindly.
Noah turns to me obviously looking for support, and that’s when I spot the fear behind his eyes. “You really going to do this?”
I’m about to ask him if he’s afraid of needles when a Bentley pulls by, parking just across the street. I can’t help admiring its classic, elegant lines. There’s something so British about it. A driver pops out, opens an umbrella against the falling snow, and hurries around to open the door for the back passenger. A long black cane appears first and catches my attention, and I stop. I have no idea why until the man emerges, standing with bitter resolve. He pushes away the umbrella like it’s offensive to him, and as he does, I catch a glimpse of his face under the streetlamp. I’m a thousand miles away from Valmont, but somehow it’s caught up with me.
I don’t notice that the others have continued until Luca’s voice slices through the night. “Ford!”
It happens in an instant. Angus MacLaine’s dark head turns toward the sound, his gaze sweeping across the street and landing on me. He pauses as our eyes lock.
I take one step off the sidewalk, my hand curling into a fist, before my brain has caught up with me. Before I take another, a strong hand closes over my shoulder.
“You coming?” Noah asks in a low voice.
We’ve been training for moments like this. I’ve spent the last few months studying how to react