Chapter 38
Mallory had voted no. Multiple times.
She’d even swung at me and given me a look like I’d betrayed her when I’d tried getting her to understand.
All the women had agreed with her. The men had been for it because it seemed like the best move for us going forward.
We’d taken care of the Davis issue, sure, but that still left the new, blended mafia family and their club.
It still left the Wreckers, who were undoubtedly behind everything, especially if this had been happening since Briggs had the firewall reinforced not long after they’d originally hacked into it. It still left Tessa.
We all agreed she’d been trying to warn me about the Davises, but we also all agreed her warning wouldn’t have come if I hadn’t been mixed up in it.
Besides, she was a mafia princess who most likely knew about the trafficking, and she hadn’t tried to stop any of that, so we weren’t banking on her being on our side.
Briggs was also sure the Wreckers would be waiting for us to get the girls away from the Dallas area, like we’d done last fall.
But going on the defensive wasn’t in our nature, it was just what we’d done to keep the women and Kaia safe.
Now that we knew the Wreckers had gotten to us in Aruba and could get to us anywhere, there wasn’t a point in attempting anything like that again.
That didn’t mean leaving the girls vulnerable was something we were willing to do.
So, we’d stay here and return to our lives as usual as we waited for Wrecker retaliation, but the girls were getting shadows in the form of a few ex-Navy SEAL buddies.
Mallory had flat-out refused.
Not that we’d ever intended on having a shadow for her, but she hadn’t let us get that far in the explanation.
As soon as Briggs had gotten that part of the plan out, she’d thrown that look of betrayal my way and stubbornly claimed she wasn’t the kind of person who needed to be kept safe or babysat.
“No offense,” she’d said to the other girls.
Wren was the only one who had scoffed. Chloe and Lainey had been in positions where they’d needed to be kept safe, so they hadn’t so much as flinched.
However, Lainey had said the thought of some random guy shadowing her every move at home made her uncomfortable, and she’d doubted the school would be okay with it either.
Chloe had added that she couldn’t understand why she needed a shadow when she’d be surrounded by shadows all day anyway, while pointing at the rest of us meaningfully.
Their refusals had turned adamant and slightly enraged when Briggs had muttered, “I’m still not sure if it’s best if y’all go back to work until we have a better understanding of what the Wreckers and this new family will do.”
Wren had then asked if her shadow could at least be cute, which had led to Evans biting out a curse and informing us, “There’s no point. She’ll just slip away from him the first chance she gets.”
Needless to say, it hadn’t gone over well, especially when Briggs had ended the conversation with, “I’ll do what I need to for y’alls safety.”
“How long are you gonna be mad?” I asked late that afternoon as I crawled onto the bed Mallory and I had been sharing ever since we’d all started crashing at Briggs’ place.
Without taking her stare off the drawing tablet I’d bought her while she was still in the hospital, she shot back, “Depends on how long you plan on going through with this.”
I curled my hand around the top of the tablet but gave her a few seconds to realize my intention before pulling it away from her drawn up legs.
I only glanced at the art for a couple seconds before putting the tablet to sleep and placing it on the nightstand beside me, but a couple seconds was more than enough to take in what she was creating—to understand the meaning behind it.
A princess trying to escape the darkened tower she was trapped in, desperate stare looking at the land far below, where a cluster of knights sat.
Resting and unaware of the danger coming up behind them.
“Peach—”
“You promised,” she said over me as she started pushing herself up higher, her sharp intake of breath stealing the rest of her words and the only tell that she was hurting.
I swallowed back every instinct to rush to help her and ask where she was hurting, because I knew she’d resent me for it, and instead held out my hands for her to use to position herself.
As soon as she was settled and those eyes of ice and fire were locked on me, I asked, “You okay?”
“No, because you’re doing exactly what you said you wouldn’t,” Mallory claimed, ignoring what I’d truly been asking.
“I heard you earlier. I know what you said about me being careful, and I understand it. But you’re trying to stop me from working—you’re trying to protect me—when you just promised you wouldn’t. ”
“I said I would keep you from certain parts of it,” I countered gently. “You can’t work for another couple weeks, at least. And even then, it’s desk and easy details only—not Donuts and conflicts with mafia families.”
“So, then, better to keep me at home with a SEAL shadow?”
“Never said that.”
A disbelieving huff left her. “That’s exactly what you said. That’s the entire plan, Gray.”
One side of my face scrunched up. “Was it?”
“I was there,” she seethed.
My lips parted only to press firmly together as I tried and failed to fight a smile that was a mixture of amusement and frustration. A combination I often wore when talking to her.
Leaning closer, I lowered my voice to a rumble. “My beautiful, stubborn wife, whose hormones might be clouding her—”
“Choose your next words carefully,” Mallory threatened, prompting the corner of my mouth to tick up even higher.
“If it means fighting with you? Never.” I stole a swift kiss, then straightened before she could do something, like shove me away and hurt herself.
“You cut in and wouldn’t let Briggs or me explain the entire plan,” I continued. “Neither of us ever planned on getting a shadow for you because we know you better than that. However,” I added when her full lips parted to argue, “like I’ve said, I will keep you from certain parts of things.”
“Keep me at home,” she assumed. “Again, when you said it was easier to let me be in the thick of it from the beginning.”
My head bobbed a few times as I tried figuring out how to explain this next part without making her feel weak, when she was the furthest thing from that.
She just needed to let herself heal.
But there was no way other than to just lay it out there, because saying the words you need to heal would only prompt a stubborn I’m fine response from her.
“You hurt yourself when you swung at me earlier.” I clenched my jaw and felt everything in me reach out to her when Mallory’s entire demeanor shuttered, but forced myself to continue.
“You hurt yourself just trying to sit up straighter. If something happens, I can’t have you near the fight this early in the healing process, because I know you’ll still go running into it. ”
“And then I’ll be a liability,” she assumed with a stiff nod.
I didn’t respond to that in any way, even though Briggs had said those exact words. He’d also pointed out that I’d run to save her, risking both of us.
“On top of that,” I finally began, only to clear my throat, “something you need to consider is you. Right now, you’re so mad at being asked to sit something out that you aren’t thinking about how you’d actually respond if you found yourself in a fight.”
At that, her brow furrowed as anger and challenge flared in her eyes. “One failed mission isn’t going to make me freeze up the next time,” she ground out.
“Never said that, and I wasn’t implying that,” I assured her, then slowly reached for her stomach. “I’m talking about this. I’m talking about the way you panic every few minutes, even though nothing is going on around you.”
All emotion drained from Mallory’s face as her hand twitched toward her stomach before she went still. “You think I’ll be too worried about something happening to the baby to actually fight.”
“I think you’ll be distracted,” I corrected, “and I think it’ll cost you.” When her head dipped in the smallest nod, I reluctantly added, “But I think that will go away with time, and soon. Regardless, I know you’d fight with everything you have in you.”
Which was a problem because, again, she’d hurt herself just swinging at me.
Sliding my hand onto Mallory’s thigh, I took it as a small win that she didn’t draw her leg away or push my hand off. “But I would never dream of giving you a shadow,” I assured her, only to amend, “Well, unless it’s me.”
An irritated breath left her, even as a reluctant smile tugged at her mouth.
“And I did say I wouldn’t keep you from working,” I acknowledged, going back to her earlier words. “As soon as you’re cleared for work, I’ll keep that promise.”
She gave another slow, nearly imperceptible nod before her stare shifted to mine. “Just keep me from certain parts,” she muttered in resigned acceptance.
“Only as long as I have to,” I told her, and watched as her stare fell to my mouth when it lifted into a slow smile. “I’ve always wanted you with me. We work best together. We’re a team. Remember?”
Her full lips twitched in amusement, but she still asked, “You really weren’t going to assign a shadow to me?” as if needing one last confirmation.
“Peach,” I murmured, “even if Briggs didn’t know you better than that, I do.”
Worry flared in her eyes before she could look away. “I’m sorry,” she muttered, those two words still sounding so foreign coming from her, but sounding no less genuine. “I should’ve let you—one of you—explain before.”
From the worry she was trying to hide to the insecurity creeping from her, I knew she was in her head again. Knew she was worrying about things she shouldn’t because I’d always wanted her exactly the way she was.