56
SEVEN
Was it embarrassing that we didn’t have exfil plans when G and I were literally former special ops members who specialized in kill/capture missions?
Yes. Yes, it was. Emersyn scoffed and resumed her pacing of the room, but the more she settled into whatever thoughts ran through her mind, the more centered she became.
“So, then, is Mahoney just here to gain favor by handing me over?” she asked.
“Most likely,” I said. “But, it could also be payback. Ever since your father found out you were alive, he’s been playing Mahoney.”
“Except, we now think Mahoney may have been playing him well before they even met,” G added.
Emersyn frowned and shook her head. “What a fucking mess.”
I couldn’t help but agree. She looked deep in thought, so I turned to G.
“We should table this for a bit and get some rest. I’ll take first watch,” I said. “You should sleep.”
Despite being exhausted, I knew G needed sleep more than I did.
He was pushing himself again, and any bit of sleep I could force on him was necessary.
I could see it in the way he held himself and it was even more telling when he didn’t fight me, he just nodded, a far away look in his eyes, as he laid down on his bed.
He put a sweatshirt over his face and clasped his hands over his chest.
“Wake me in a few hours, Sev,” he said.
“Copy that, boss,” I looked over at Emersyn who stood awkwardly in the center of the room. I could tell she had no idea how to act around us now that she knew the truth.
“You can sleep in that bed if you want,” I said.
She looked at the bed then at me. “You mean your bed,” she said flatly.
“It’s just a bed,” I shrugged. “I’m going to sit my ass right here and clean the guns.”
Emersyn frowned at the bed again before she decided to come sit in the other chair across from me.
She picked up one of the guns and disassembled it.
I pushed the cleaning kit into the middle of the table so she could reach, and we cleaned firearms for a few minutes in a silence that thankfully wasn’t awkward.
“Where’d you learn all of this?” I asked.
It was obvious she’d lost herself in the methodical cleaning task because she blinked and came back. Her attention briefly jumped to me before she went back to the gun.
“Someone taught me. A long time ago.”
“They were obviously military,” I commented.
“He was.”
My eyes narrowed and a ghost of a smile flickered across her face when she saw what my look was implying.
“No. It-it wasn’t like that. Sacha—” She cut off and a pained look crossed her face. “Sacha found me when I’d lost everyone. He took me in and taught me everything. He was like a father to me.”
“What happened to him?” I asked gently.
She cleaned the gun a little harder than necessary.
“His past caught up to him.” She looked up. “Just like it always does.”
We cleaned in silence after that. I didn’t want to press her for too much when she obviously wasn’t used to being forthcoming.
“What’s he like?” She asked abruptly. “My father—”
She’d been sitting on the question for some time, because it had come out breathless, like she’d just needed to force it out into the open. I set the gun I was working on aside and sat back, fiddling with a bullet. I studied her intently.
“He’s like you,” I said. “Tenacious. Sharp. Stubborn as fuck,” I smiled and was rewarded when her lips twitched and some of the worry melted away.
“He’s a strong leader that people gravitate to.
His team trusts him—loves him—” I shrugged.
“I respect him immensely, but I don’t know him all that well, outside of operations, to be honest.” I studied her. “You have his eyes.”
I could tell my words meant a lot because she blinked quickly and looked down at the table as she tried to compose herself.
“I wasn’t sure—if he had maybe forgotten—” Her voice broke and she cleared her throat and forced the words out, her stare drilled into the table top. “It’s been a long time. I thought he would have moved on by now since–since he thought I was dead.”
I leaned forward and put my hand over hers that held the gun in a death grip. She looked up, startled, as I eased the metal out of her hands.
“I may not know him very well, but one night I saw him in our war room. He was surrounded by darkness, except for one screen that had your photo on it. The only one we had at that point. He was just staring—” I said reverently as I recalled the image like it was yesterday.
“It was like he was willing you to tell him where you were.”
I squeezed her hand and sat back again. “He loves you. I’ve never been more sure of something in my life.”
Emersyn nodded and dashed at the tear that had escaped. She looked up at me warily like she hoped I hadn’t seen.
“You really should try and sleep,” I said.
“Now that you know who we are, I hope you’ll trust us a little more, yeah?
” I leaned forward like I was about to share a secret.
“And I can tell you this now, if me or G did anything to you, North would fucking skin me alive—and probably a whole bunch of other unpleasant things before he killed me.” I shuddered. “No, thank you.”
Her lips twitched in an almost smile, and I winked. “Thanks for helping me with the guns.”
Emersyn nodded. “Yeah. Sure.”
She curled up in bed with her back against the wall and the hood of my sweatshirt pulled up over her head.
She tucked her knees into her chest and buried herself into the fabric.
The yearning for her to burrow into my chest like that hit me harder than I thought was wise, especially after what I’d just said about North.
But, I couldn’t help it. She’d dug her way into my chest and was in danger of hitting my heart if I wasn’t careful.