Bound By Thorns (Squad Six #2)

TWENTY-EIGHT

Logan

An abrupt buzzing sound forced me awake, and I untangled myself from Kaylan’s arms. She mumbled something sleepily and shifted but didn’t fully wake. Checking my phone, I noticed it was still early, but Zarek’s name flashed on the screen—enough to make me sit up alert.

“What’s going on?” I asked as soon as I answered, a sense of foreboding settling in.

“There’s been a development. It’s not good. Get Kaylan and come to the command center,” Zarek’s voice was terse, carrying an edge of frustration.

Kaylan was already stirring, wiping sleep from her eyes. “Hey baby, Zarek needs us at the command center,” I murmured to her. After planting a quick kiss on her temple, we quickly got dressed.

The command center was alive with activity by the time we arrived. Kabir handed us cups of coffee as we made our way into the conference room. The usual crowd was there, looking grave as Zane brought up a list on the screen. The new President of the United States, George Aiden, had won the majority electoral votes and was selecting his cabinet. The screen displayed a list of names for roles like Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, and Defense, among others. The name of the new Secretary of Defense, Robert Romano, was prominently highlighted.

A ripple of confusion spread through Squad Six; only Zarek’s face showed outright anger.

“What’s happening?” I demanded, looking around the room.

Sebastian responded with a heavy tone, “Robert Romano—the newly appointed Secretary of Defense. The man’s a ghost. No digital footprint at all.”

Zarek exhaled sharply, clearly annoyed.

Zane added, “We finally found his official headshot in the Oval Office’s system.” The screen switched to an image of a man in his sixties, with graying hair and a beard thick enough to cover his double chin—Robert Callahan, our boss, head of the Alpha Program. Bridgewood’s second in command.

The room went silent, the shock palpable in the air.

“What—Callahan?” Kaylan managed to say, her voice quivering.

“His real name is Robert Sanchez Romano. He’s the first maternal cousin to Garret Tyson. Now, he’s in charge of all military operations,” Sebastian continued, his voice steady and serious, “including you, Alpha Squad Six.”

What the fuck?

We all sat there, taking in the gravity of the situation, trying to understand the full implications of our boss, a man we knew as Robert Callahan, now being the Secretary of Defense under a new identity. Or his real one?

“As of this morning,” Zarek’s voice was a low growl, “I have resigned as the Squad Leader of Alpha Squad Six.”

“What?” My response came out sharp, fueled by shock.

“Robert Callahan was an alias,” Zarek continued. “Our mission to end Garret or Gao Ling was a facade. We were just pawns, designed to push them to surpass the US global defense. Robert Callahan has never existed. And as of this morning, Bridgewood is unreachable.”

I dropped my head into my hands, overwhelmed by the revelation. The entire Alpha Program was a sham? A corrupt strategy?

We were merely pieces on a chessboard, manipulated by the real players, Garret Tyson, Robert Romano, and Gao Ling, weren’t we?

“So…” Kabir broke the heavy silence. “Do we all resign? Then what? Will they even let us resign?”

“They anticipated this,” Zarek said through clenched teeth. “That’s why I’ve been summoned to a hearing for my ‘actions’ in DC. They want us completely out of the military. We can’t even go back to the CIA or the army as they so eloquently told us before.”

Leora’s hand on Zarek’s back offered a small measure of solace, and his frame relaxed slightly under her touch.

Compelled by a sudden resolve, I pulled out my phone and resigned via the official Bridgewood email we had all been provided. “There,” I declared, my voice resolute, “I’ve resigned too.”

One by one, the rest of Squad Six followed suit, each resignation sending a ripple through the air. We all watched the screen that displayed Robert Romano’s image, the face of yet another adversary.

The room fell into a deep silence, only broken by Zarek’s low muttering. We had dedicated more than six years of our lives to this squad, to Bridgewood. And it all ended like this.

“Umm,” Sebastian finally spoke, a hint of a smirk in his voice, “I happen to have exactly seven vacancies at Blackthorn Security?”

A burst of reluctant laughter broke out among us.

“This makes sense,” I suddenly realized, the puzzle pieces clicking into place. “At Ravenrock, Garret kept probing about our base of operations. If Garret is tied up with Callahan— Romano—then he must have known all along, except for the fact that Blackthorn Security was involved. They didn’t have that piece.”

Sebastian nodded in agreement. “Then we still have an advantage.” His smile was a mix of determination and reassurance, a small bridge mending between us.

I wasn’t ready to consider him my brother again just yet, but there was no denying that Sebastian and I had come a long way in sorting out our past issues over the recent weeks.

“Good thing I never mentioned to Callahan where we were in New York,” Zarek said with relief.

We spent the next few hours diligently wrapping up the remnants of our involvement with Bridgewood. The RLM technology and other equipment, sponsored independently by Blackthorn, remained with us; we saw no need to dispose of those assets. However, we methodically eliminated anything that might contain trackers or could be traced back to us—this included a range of traceable items and weaponry.

“No wonder they kept finding us. They knew about all our safe houses.” Zarek mumbled, throwing his guns in a box.

Amelia looked visibly upset, handing over her two baby drones, Hawk and Eagle which were assigned to her by Bridgewood. “I’ll miss you guys,” she whispered, dropping a kiss to each of them.

“I hope you know they’re inanimate objects,” Kabir ventured which earned him a dramatic glare from Amelia.

After ensuring everything was in order, I pulled Sebastian aside for a private conversation. “Can I have a few minutes?” I asked, and we made our way to his office.

“Do you have another empty apartment in the other building?” I queried once we were alone.

Sebastian chuckled, a light moment in the midst of tension. “Moving too quickly, are we?”

“It’s not about speed,” I explained, feeling a flush of urgency. “I just need to be with her, somewhere comfortable, not some hotel room.”

Understanding flickered in Sebastian’s eyes, and he smiled. “I’ll get one ready for you both to move into by tomorrow. Sound good?”

I nodded, grateful for his support. “Thanks, Bastian.”

We parted ways then, and I headed straight to Kaylan’s room. Slipping quietly into bed beside her, I kissed her temple gently and allowed the comfort of her presence to lull me into a much-needed rest.

???

We woke up an hour later, refreshed from our brief nap. After showering and dressing for the day, Kaylan and I made our way to the lounge. Our entrance together no longer turned heads; it had become the norm, and I was quietly pleased about that.

At lunch, the usual buzz of conversation was notably subdued; the air was tense, and it was clear that Squad 6 was still reeling from the recent upheavals.

“Cheer up, Squad Six, we’ve got new job offers,” I quipped, trying to lighten the mood. “I expect an employment agreement in my email within two hours, Bastian.”

“Wouldn’t forget it, Logan,” he replied with a grin, raising his wine glass in my direction as a nod of affirmation.

“When did you guys become friends?” Zarek interjected, looking between Sebastian and me with genuine curiosity.

“We were brothers first,” I shrugged.

The reaction to my joke was muted, but the mention of our past relationship as brothers caught everyone’s attention.

“What the fuck?” Kabir muttered, his eyes wide.

“Logan and I were foster brothers,” Bastian elaborated, picking up where I left off. “We had some… differences, but we resolved them recently.”

Dylan chimed in with a laugh. “I thought I was your oldest friend, Seb.”

Sebastian laughed and clinked his glass against Dylan’s.

Zane cleared his throat, drawing the room’s focus. “As the only person who didn’t go to sleep after Alpha Squad’s dissolution, I have some news.”

“What is it?” Bastian leaned forward, his interest piqued.

“Eh… nothing big,” Zane said with a coy stifled laugh. “Garret’s in Chicago, that’s all.”

He dropped the news casually, but it landed like a bomb. We all erupted with laughter, then bombarded him with follow-up questions. It turned out Garret wasn’t fully committed to mansion life after all. He had rented out top four floors in a newly constructed skyscraper in Chicago and was operating from there.

Energized by the news, we began planning our next steps to take down Garret fucking Tyson. And I knew he was mine to end.