Call You Mine (The Baker’s Creek Billionaire Brothers #4) - Claudia Burgoa Page 0,74
who worked during those assignments. It wasn’t all mercenary shit,” he argues. “Why would they do that?”
“I don’t know what you can do,” I answer. There are a few options. Things that can’t be done while we’re here. Once we’re out we can help him, but it’s up to him. “As for why they were doing that, we’ve been thinking about it.”
He glares at me. “We?”
“My team and I,” I clarify.
“Your band?”
“They are part of it, but I have more people working under me,” I explain further. I’m slightly uncomfortable giving him more information. “We tried to see it from their points of view. Working as a mercenary is an easy job. You go in and out, no questions asked. It pays better than the retirement plan from the government.”
“I care,” he protests. “They should’ve told me.”
“Why weren’t you part of the decision making?” I ask, because this guy is too dominating to let others choose his destiny.
He shrugs.
“It didn’t matter to me,” he answers. “I wasn’t doing it for the money. Fuck, they were my brothers. I trusted them.”
“It’s different, Vance. You have a fucking trust. You quit West Point to join the army so you could be a Delta Force,” I remind him. “If you hadn’t done it that way, you’d be on your way to becoming a General, like your grandfather.”
“You know that?”
I grin. “Do you think we let just anyone in?”
“Why did you want me to join you?”
“Because I can see that you miss it,” I explain. “I could use my brother by my side, not that I’m working with them anymore.”
“Did you have to quit too?”
“No. I’m taking a sabbatical,” I lie, because really I have no idea what my status is with The Organization. For all I know, I’m out since this time I chose her over the job. “As you know, I’m stuck in this forsaken town, like you.”
“I miss the action. That’s why I accepted to join them when they offered,” he answers. “I thought I was doing something good, like when I rescued Blaire, or I set up a security detail for her because she traveled to places where she was in danger.”
“Why do they have the rule of once you’re out you can’t go back in?”
“I never asked,” he answers. “I know this might sound stupid, but while I was a Delta Force, I belonged somewhere. I had my people. Some of these guys were part of that unit. I thought it’d be the same. It was in some ways, but not all ways.”
“No. I understand you perfectly. I’ve been the odd person everywhere,” I say. “G’s family accepts me, and I fit in well, but they aren’t mine. I always wished we had this.” I tilt my head toward the house.
“Every time we had to go home, I wanted to take you guys with me. That’s what brothers do, you know, but I couldn’t, and I never heard from any of you until the next year.”
“William fucked us,” he concludes.
“Adults suck, and now we’re adults fucking up our own lives,” I agree with him.
“I’m so fucking upset at myself, at them. I have this anger I can’t release. Calling and leaving a message saying, ‘Fuck you, I need an explanation’ doesn’t do anything. I have no fucking idea on what to do. If I could, I’d jump on a plane and search for them and kill them one by one.”
“Not a good choice.” I grin. “I can help you once we’re out of here.”
He shrugs one shoulder. “As I said, I called Bennett, but I doubt he’ll call me back.”
“Were you two together?”
“It’s complicated,” he answers.
I arch an eyebrow. “It’s a yes or a no. I’m not asking if you had a title.”
“Listen, because of the General, I can’t be with anyone. We fucked often, but that was the extent of it.”
“Dude, you’re in your thirties,” I argue.
“I left West Point. I retired early. The General calls me a fucking loser. I’m the black sheep of the family. He reminds Mom over and over again that I’m a fucking failure. She pays for my mistakes. He hasn’t forgotten about her affair with William. If I had a male partner, he’d disown Mom, my stepfather, and my siblings.”
“That’s why you and Bennett fought?”
He nods.
We stay quiet for several minutes until he says, “For a guy who likes to control everything, I fucked up pretty bad, didn’t I?”
“You trusted them.”
“Do you trust your team?”
“Always,” I answer immediately. “Maybe the difference between