Page 112 of Dangerous Mission
I fight flinching.
Scout takes a step toward me, putting him in my personal space. A shiver works through me as I tip my face up so I can see his eyes. Everything about his expression is fierce.
“That fucker lying on that backboard hurt someone I care about. This is personal.”
Tears crest over my lashes. The trails they leave are strangely cold.
I know they’ve killed in the line of duty. I really, really know this. But when you see someone living and breathing and you think about someone you know taking the life out of them, that hits differently.
This whole situation is a nightmare. The fault is squarely on my shoulders. If I had only seen the red flags with Adam.
I shake my head. No, I saw them. I just didn’t heed them.
Pinching my lip between my teeth, I fight the urge to sling my arms around Scout and beg him to leave this alone.
But I don’t. And I still feel weirdly drunk from the medsand my emotions are so wrecked, I don’t know if I’m coming or going. Angry or hurt. Scared or relieved.Raw.I decide that’s how I feel. Completely raw and vulnerable.
Hurt seeping into my voice, I demand, “Why do you care about me, Scout? Is it because I dropped my panties for you? Or is it because I’m submissive? What is it?”
Chapter Fifty-Five
A knife to the gut would have hurt less than Aria’s words.
“You want to know why I care?”
She’s shaking, her eyes wild, damp and hurt.
Fucking hell.
“Other than one of my team members, you are the first person who has ever touched me because you care.”
Her eyes flash with disbelief.
I nod, as my chest tightens. “I never had a loving parent. A sibling. Anyone that would touch me with tenderness. But you slept next to me. You checked to make sure I was breathing…”
My throat works with a rough swallow.
She makes a small, pained sound. “Scout?—”
“My father was a gigantic fucking prick. He thought a belt to the ass was caring.”
“But what about…” Her voice falters as even more water gathers on her eyelashes. “Your mother?”
“Never had one. And the women that my father brought around wanted to touch me for the wrong reasons.”
“Oh god.”
“I grew up fast. I was big. By the time I was a teenager, the kind of women he ran with wanted me as some kind of conquest.”
“That’s disgusting.” Aria shudders.
I look down at the floor as the old memories make my skin crawl. “You can see why I had certain sexual… preferences.”
When I raise my gaze to hers again, she’s nodding slowly. “That all makes so much sense. Then the fire?”
“Yes, then the fire.”
A tear drops onto her cheek and rolls down the velvety skin. It takes everything in me not to catch it. To wipe it away. “Don’t cry for me, Aria. I’m not worth it.”
