His gaze narrowed. “I don’t know. Maybe because I’m good at my fucking job.”
Pushing himself off the mattress, Adrian rose awkwardly to his feet. He could feel the pull of his stitches but ignored the pain and limped his way over to where his crutches still lay.
Balancing on one leg, he bent over and grabbed one to help ease some of the pressure as he turned and faced Gabe again.
A muscle in the man’s strong jaw twitched as he stared Adrian down. “Obviouslysomeoneconnected to Ortiz is holding a goddamn grudge against you, Adrian. And Jenna’s the one paying the fucking price. So if you could get your arrogant head out of your ass and work with me on this, wemightbe able to figure out who that someone is before they fucking kill her!”
The truthful words stole his breath as terror for the woman he loved stabbed at his heart.
Gabe was right. Not about his being arrogant. This had nothing to do with that.
Adrian had been pushing back because he couldn’t face the fucking truth. He’d said the words out loud, but he still hadn’t wanted to accept the fact that Jenna’s life was in danger because ofhim.
It didn’t matter who took her. Not really. Because when it was all said and done,hewas the one to set this whole thing in motion. The minute he tortured and killed Cesar Ortiz for payback for what the man had done to his sister.
And now Jenna was being forced to pay for his sins.
Oh, god, baby. I’m so sorry. So. Fucking. Sorry!
“We need to call Ryker.” Gabe pulled his cell from his pocket to call R.I.S.C.’s Homeland handler. “If this does have something to do with the job you did for him and the CIA, and it seems pretty fucking clear that it does, then he needs to know. Plus, if there’s new cartel activity stirring, his people might know where to start looking.”
While they waited for the call to be answered, Gabe looked back at him and asked, “You gonna be able to handle this? If not, I need to know, now.”
Could he handle knowing that he was responsible for all this? That Jenna,hisJenna, could possibly die because of him?
No.
Was he going to admit that to Gabriel Dawson or anyone else?
Fuck. No.
“I got this,” Adrian lied with brilliant form.
The CIAhadturned him into a world-class liar, after all. They’d also been the ones who taught him how to let everything else go.
Fear. Emotions. All of it.
The Agency had shown him how to become more machine than man in order to focus solely on the mission.
And this mission?
Finding the assholes who took Jenna, taking them down, and bringing her home.
So he’d do as Gabe instructed. Adrian would get his head out of his ass and be a team player.
He’d work with Gabe, Ryker, the rest of Bravo…he’d work with the fuckingCoast Guardif it meant finding Jenna and bringing her home.
And once he did that, once she was safe and those responsible had been dealt with, he’d walk away and never look back.
Because there was something he’d learned from all of this. One very important thing he’d been stupid enough to forget…
Happiness and ever-afters were never meant for guys like him.
Chapter 14
Jenna’s head pounded. Her entire face throbbed from the sudden and unexplainable abuse she’d endured.
Her bruised cheek. Swollen eye. Split lip. Itallhurt, and she had no idea what she’d done to deserve it.