Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Griffin stood inside the private hangar and watched as Jesse wrapped Savanna in a bear hug, followed by Shep muscling her from Jesse’s grasp for his own embrace. And when Shep lifted her off the ground and tightened his hold, Griffin had to back up a step and look away to keep from unleashing his anger on an innocent man.
After the day he’d had, he didn’t trust himself. And it wasn’t even five o’clock yet.
He was pissed for a multitude of reasons, but stinging jealousy over Shep touching Savanna shouldn’t have been on that damn list.
And yet, when he chanced a look back at them, Shep’s arms lingering on Savanna’s hips as he held her close, jealousy now sat at the top in bold red letters.
Shep had slept with Savanna, and Griffin didn’t blame A.J. for punching his brother for that lapse of judgment. Hell, Griffin wanted to connect his fist to the man’s jaw as well. How could Shep have even considered sleeping with his friend’s wife?
Wife. Would he ever be able to think of her as single and not married? Probably not. Then again, he’d allowed that detail to slip from his mind earlier when he’d shoved his tongue in her mouth, slipped his fingers in her tight, wet heat, and made her come.
And he was worried that the next time they were alone, and she looked at him with those hazel eyes and begged him to touch her, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from plunging his cock deep inside of her.
He was beginning to think the woman was as crazy as him. Back in the truck, when she was swapping her dirty tee for one of his shirts, she’d wanted him. The way she’d looked at him left no doubt in his mind. And he’d been seconds away from saying screw the pain in his battered body, and the fact the police were at his dad’s cabin, and all the other reasons. He would have crushed his mouth to hers, ripped off that bra and buried his face in those fucking luscious tits, then unzipped his jeans to show her how damn hard she made him.
But a sudden boom of thunder and crack of lightning had materialized close enough to slightly shake the truck. Another warning from Marcus that she was off-limits?
But that was insane.
Marcus died years ago, and surely he wouldn’t want her to stay single forever. She was only thirty-four, five years younger than Griffin.
“How are you holding up?” Gray asked on approach while putting on a black ball cap. “Looks like they did a number on you.”
Griffin forced his gaze to stay on Gray instead of wandering where he wanted to look. “I’ll be fine,” he answered, smoothing a hand over his aching jaw.
The storm had let up a few minutes ago, but they were waiting on Oliver, Carter, and Jack to arrive before they could go wheels up. A.J. would most likely lose his shit when he found out they were taking Savanna to Greece, but they were out of options. In addition to a private security team funded by a multibillion-dollar company, there were an unknown number of other threats out there.
And unfortunately, the last Griffin heard, Oliver was coming up empty, and they were losing hope that Nick had hidden anything in the Mustang. A potential dead end when they could really use a break.
“I know you feel like shit for laying down your rifle, but I would have done the same if I was face-to-face with a man I’d taken a bullet for in Iraq. Don’t beat yourself up,” Gray said, his gruff tone hinting at darker thoughts and memories.
Memories of Gray’s own time in war most likely. The helo crash. The partial amputation of his leg. The long road to recovery. The physical and psychological battle the man must have waged with himself, worried he’d never operate again.
And here you are now. A fighter. He had mad respect for him.
“Yeah, I suppose I already took enough of a beating tonight,” Griffin half-joked. “But uh, Carter told you how I know Joe?”
Gray nodded. “You think you crossed paths with Marcus in Iraq, then? If Joe and Marcus were part of the same SEAL Team, wouldn’t you have met him?”
Griffin squeezed the bridge of his nose, closed his eyes, and tried to draw up those particular memories from so long ago. Tried to remember the other men in Joe’s squadron when he himself had only been a young Ranger at the time.
“Joe and his men were pinned down by enemy fire, and my team was in the area, so we were dispatched for an assist,” he recalled. “The only reason Joe and I became friends was because he visited me in the hospital after I was shot. After I took a bullet for him. We stayed in touch until he became a civilian.”
But Marcus had to have been there that day too.
The possibility they’d served side-by-side in Iraq during that gunfight was a little too much for Griffin to handle right about now.
“There’s a chance Marcus helped get me on a chopper and out of the Red Zone to safety. I can’t be sure because I was lights out at the time.” Griffin opened his eyes and wondered how Savanna would feel about that fact. The connection he had with her husband, one he hadn’t considered or even remembered until coming face-to-face with Joe earlier today. “You think you could find out for sure? You have connections. Maybe you can get your eyes on the after-action report.”
Gray laid a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks.” For some reason, he needed to know for sure. He had to know if he and Marcus had truly crossed paths and now . . . well, now this. “Joe told me he requested to be assigned to the op tonight, assuming he could use our past to his advantage, but it backfired on him.”
“Lucky for us,” Gray said, removing his hand from Griffin’s shoulder.
Lucky? Or was it Marcus again?
Griffin lifted his achy arm and dragged a palm over the light growth on his face. “You learn anything new?” He needed to realign his focus to where it belonged.
“I can’t get my hands on anything too specific about the Archer Group. Given their military contracts, almost all information that’s public is useless to us, and everything else is classified. Too bad my sister isn’t available. We need an insider at the Agency.”
Griffin nodded. “Carter was with the CIA, and yeah, he burned his bridges with them, but I assume he has some contacts he can still reach out to that won’t try and arrest him for?—”
“Going MIA on them?” Gray finished for him. “I’m sure he’ll do what he can, and during the flight, I’ll try and dig deeper into whatever Elysium is, make sure we’re on the right track.”
“You tell Jesse about what we learned tonight?” Griffin looked back over at him, relieved Shep was no longer touching Savanna.
“Not yet. Not sure how much to tell him since he’s not technically on the team. I’ll leave that up to Carter, I suppose.”
“He’s going to want to come with us to Greece. I don’t see him letting that plane take off without him on it,” Griffin commented while setting his focus on Shep, who was now rubbing small circles on Savanna’s back, just above her ass, with the heel of his hand.
Yeah, he was going to implode. His body grew hot, and as if he hadn’t done enough fighting today, his hands became fists by his sides, and he clamped down on his back teeth.
“You good?” Gray moved to stand in front of Griffin, effectively blocking his view of Savanna and Shep.
“Something happen at that cabin?” Gray’s brows flew together, suspicion in his tone. “That’s not her shirt she’s wearing.”
His tee looked hot as hell on her even though it swallowed her up. Griffin hissed, “Nothing happened aside from the fact I got my ass handed to me, and she swapped shirts because she had my blood on her.” He looked to his left to see a unisex bathroom not far away. “I’m going to clean up.” He snatched his duffel bag resting by his feet.
Gray didn’t press for an answer, thank God. And Griffin did his best to avoid looking to where Savanna stood with a man she’d most likely known for a long damn time. And how long have I known her? He checked his watch. Twenty-four hours since he’d wiped the sugary flour off her cheek.
So, why the weird possessive feeling he had for her? He wanted to march over and claim the woman as his, which was crazy.
Shoving the bathroom door open with entirely too much force, he let go of the bag, then braced himself against the vanity counter and bowed his head, immediately slammed with the image of Savanna standing in the living room of the cabin, the shotgun shaking in her grip as she faced off with a bunch of armed men. She’d gone against his orders and left the safe room. To rescue him . His heartbeat had gone wild as fear like he’d never known, not even in combat, coursed through him.
Griffin hauled in a deep breath, stood upright, and held a hand to his chest. His heart was thumping hard beneath his palm at the idea she’d been willing to sacrifice herself for him, for a stranger.
“Can I come in?” Savanna softly called out, but she’d already opened the door.
He slowly turned to face her, unsure if he could look her in the eyes without revealing his anxiety. Or hell, the jealousy.
“I’d like to assess the damage. May I?” She pointed to his chest as she walked his way. Without waiting for him to agree, her fingers skirted the hem of his shirt.
Her hazel eyes held him prisoner as they locked gazes while she lifted the material. His breath hitched as she looked at him for what felt like years before tipping her head to study his abdomen and chest.
Then, with her bottom lip caught between her teeth, Savanna ran her fingers across his muscles, easing up on her touch as she skimmed over the bruises blooming on his torso. His entire body tightened at her tender touch, and pain or not, he couldn’t handle this. He pushed his shirt down, motioned for her to back up, then gently held on to her arm, a silent plea in his eyes for her to leave. Now she just needed to receive the message.
“I’m so sorry this happened to you because of me.” She glanced down at his hand on her arm, but she remained in place. No backing away or a sassy Roger that from her.
“This isn’t your fault. And I’m fine.” He looked up at the sound of the one-person bathroom door opening again to see Shep standing there.
“What’s going on?” Shep’s growly tone should have had Griffin releasing Savanna like a grenade but remembering that man’s hands caressing her hips and stroking her back called up his possessive caveman and almost had him reacting.
But he behaved, fighting the beast inside of him, which wanted to yank her behind his back and protect her from all men, even a “friend.” Hell, especially a friend.
“Savanna?” Shep stepped inside and let the door close behind him.
Savanna turned, which meant Griffin had no choice but to release his hold of her.
“I was checking him out,” she said. Then, as if realizing how that sounded, she slapped her palms to her cheeks and shook her head. “I mean, checking for damage. The, um, bruises.” Griffin stepped alongside her as she tripped all over her words, unsure what to make of it.
He was clueless as to whether or not she’d read romance books featuring a woman torn between two men, but that was not a place he ever wanted to find himself.
“I’ll just . . .” Leave? Griffin couldn’t get himself to finish his sentence or actually go, though.
“Are you okay?” Shep’s stony gaze was pinned on Griffin, but he knew the question was meant for Savanna. Shep wanted to know if Griffin had crossed any lines, and based on the tight draw of his brows, he was ready to throw down with him.
Only friends, huh?
Before anyone had a chance to say or do anything, the door opened again.
Jack was there.
Perfect.
Now it really was too damn crowded in the bathroom.
“Oliver called. He’s on his way. He thinks he found something,” Jack said before noticing the tension inside the small restroom. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his eyes bouncing between Griffin, Savanna, and Shep as he propped the door open with his back.
“Nothing,” Savanna quickly answered. “But did Oliver say what he found?” She eased a step forward, but Shep remained firmly in place as if still in the mood to square off with Griffin. But as much as he wanted to punch Shep in the face for having sex with Savanna, which was absolutely nuts . . . they needed to protect her. Not fight over her.
Jack slowly shifted his attention from Savanna to Griffin, his eyes narrowing. “You just can’t help yourself when it comes to married women, can you?” And with that, Jack let the door swing shut, sidestepped both Savanna and Shep, and came at Griffin, catching him by surprise and shoving him up against the wall.
“What’s your problem?” Griffin hissed, holding his palms up. Fighting Jack was not on his damn to-do list today.
Jack kept his hands on Griffin’s chest and hissed, “I’ll watch Savanna from now on.”
“Like hell you will,” Griffin snapped, still unsure what in the actual fuck had set Jack off.
“Would you please back away from him,” Savanna pleaded, and Griffin spotted her tugging Jack’s arm. “He’s taken enough of a beating today, and he doesn’t deserve to be hit by his own teammate if that’s what you’re planning to do.”
Griffin’s eyes briefly connected with hers, watching this woman fight for him again like she had tried to do in the cabin earlier. She was tough.
Griffin forcefully removed Jack’s hands, then shoved him away a good two steps. “You’ve had a beef with me since day one. Just tell me your deal, damn it.”
Jack tore his gaze away from Savanna to find Griffin’s eyes. “You fucked my wife. That’s my problem.”