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He came to the Marines already packed with muscle, which only increased with training. The man was larger than life, the true-blue loyal type… and married.
That silicon band meant he was untouchable. But as it turned out, Aaron was as beautiful on the inside as he was on the outside, and he made one hell of a friend—my best friend, actually. We were Raiders together until I retired to start working with Dillan Knot. A couple of weeks after I moved to Virginia, Aaron resigned his commission, and I convinced him to join Knot’s organization.
We’ve been working together now for eleven years. He’s always had my back, even when I was at fault, and he’s chewed my ass out when I’ve done something stupid, like now.
Feigning a stiff neck, I drop my head to hide my burning cheeks. My eyes remain on the floor until the last of my teammates file out of the small warehouse we’re using as shared sleeping quarters.
Holding the door open for the victimized operative, Brock whacks him on the back of the head as he walks past. “I told you not to wake her up like that.”
Brock kicks the door closed, leaving only Aaron and me inside. I scrub my hands over my face to mask the redness, and when I open my eyes again, Aaron is kneeling in front of me, holding out a bottle of water.
His warm eyes are full of concern, without a trace of judgment or pity. He doesn’t push for an explanation for why I nearly killed New Guy. Not that he needs one. He’s intimately aware of the nightmares that plague me.
I accept the bottle from his hand and take several long draws of the cool water. “What happened?” I ask.
Aaron chuckles. “What happened is that DC learned a valuable lesson.”
He pulls out his satellite phone and shows me the screen. The messaging app is open and currently displaying a text update on the status of our transport. “Looks like our ride is an hour out,” he says.
At my nod, Aaron tucks the phone back into his pocket. “DC came in here to wake you up but decided to ignore Brock’s warning about how not to do it.”
The smile then fades from Aaron’s face as he studies mine. “You were back in that Philippine jungle, weren’t you?”
“I wasn’t, no. At least not until that idiot put his hands on me.”
Aaron shudders at the memory that will forever haunt us both. “I’m sorry, Sadie.”
I shrug my shoulders. “It’s not your responsibility to look out for me, though you’ve always done a good job of it.”
Aaron drops his head, no doubt, as images from that day filter through his mind. My team of Knot PMCs was serving as undercover security for an American diplomat to the Philippines. He was attempting to negotiate with the Filipino president to renew the US armed forces treaty after he abruptly withdrew from it and kicked US forces out of the country
Without the treaty, the diplomat wasn’t allowed military security. Given that the Philippines was and still is a hotbed for terrorist activity, there was no way the US government would send an attaché without protection. Out of all the options available, the State Department contracted Knot’s company for our ability to operate undercover.
I was the diplomat’s main bodyguard, posing as his love interest. Late on the last night of the trip, some asshole ambushed me in the hallway outside my room. I was drugged and kidnapped for ransom.
My boss, Dillan Knot, somehow worked it out with the Filipino government to allow a Navy SEAL team to attempt a rescue. Fish and his team were guided in by Aaron, who refused to evac with the rest of the PMCs.
Fortunately, the tracker all Knot operatives wear allowed Aaron to track my location, following the kidnappers from Manila to San Vicente. I was stripped of my valuables and clothes and thrown into a fortified room in a dirt-floor shack.
By the time Aaron and the SEALs got to me, I was bloody, concussed, and had a broken arm from fighting off a would-be rapist and paying dearly for it. The worst part was learning that Aaron watched the whole scene. He’s never gotten over it.
I suppose I was lucky. God knows things could have been so much worse. Even so, I still have the occasional nightmare from that mission to go along with so many of the others from my time serving as a Marine.
Since that day, I’ve fought off the bad memories by spending more time at the range. Aaron seems to cope by being fiercely overprotective of me, walking me to my car, calling to check on me, and not allowing me to suffocate morons that wake me up the wrong way.
“Is DC ok?” I ask.
“Don’t worry about him. He may be a little sore for a while, but I’m betting he’ll be a little wiser too. What about you?”
My heart’s still beating a mile a minute, but whatever. “I’m fine, thanks to you.”
Aaron’s face softens, and he places a hand on my knee. “Damn right. I’ve got you, Mein… Sadie.”
At the odd stutter, Aaron shuts down completely, blanking his face of all emotion. He snatches his hand off my knee, pushes off the floor, and turns his head toward the ancient building’s entrance. “Come on,” he urges without looking back. “Let’s get something to eat before the helo gets here.”
That’s another thing about Aaron that’s changed since the Philippines. He switches from comforting and warm to ice cold in the blink of an eye. I don’t know what sets him off, but whatever it is, it has him receding into himself for a few hours.
With a sigh, I shove up from the cot and follow my best friend out in search of coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.
