“Christ, man!” Christian stopped him from making a second hole. “Hey. Knock that shit off.”
“She’s gone.” Brody struggled to free himself from the other man’s hold. “I promised I’d keep her safe, and now she’s fuckinggone!”
He did break free, then. He also made that second hole.
A small cloud of dust formed, and bits of paint chips and drywall flew out and fell to the ground. Brody’s chest heaved with forceful, heady breaths.
On the brink of hyperventilation, he tried—and failed—to regain control of his lungs. Brody couldfeelthe staring eyes of those around him, their retinas burning into his skin.
He needed to leave. He needed to get out of there right the hell now. Because if he didn’t, the next thing he punched might not be a wall.
Brody didn’t say a word as he pushed and shoved his way through the small group surrounding him. Stepping up and over his blown-in door, he didn’t give two shits that he was barefoot and shirtless. He didn’t even notice the chilly autumn air.
His thoughts—his entirebeing—was too consumed by the fact that Ro had been taken right out from under his fucking nose. All his bolstering to Yorke about what he’d do to the person who’d dare to hurt Ro, and now look at him…
There was a knot the size of Texas on the back of his head, his knuckles were split open and bleeding, and he had to physically work not to show the others how fucking dizzy he really felt.
But the worst wound of all was the one he’d given to himself. An invisible, internal wound that ran far deeper than any cut or concussion could reach.
For the first time in his professional career—Navy or Delta Team—Brody had failed. He’d made a promise to protect…had looked Rosquarein those beautiful eyes, and he’d sworn to keep her safe.
Now she was gone, and he had absolutely no idea where she was, who had taken her, or why. And without a place to start…
The flash of a very recent memory filled his mind’s eye. Ro’s face above his, her cheeks flushed with arousal as she rode him into ecstasy.
Another picture took its place. This one of Ro laughing while he tickled her in the shower.
Soon his entire mind became filled with memories. Recent, intimate ones. Older moments they’d shared as friends. Some memories returned from decades past, back when he’d first met a young, pigtailed brunette with a wide smile and eyes that seemed too big for her face.
Ro had eventually grown into those eyes. She’d grown into the most incredible, loving, intelligent, talented woman he knew. And now…
Now I’ve lost her to an enemy I know nothing about.
“Ah, God.”
Brody’s legs gave out from underneath him. He would have fallen flat on his ass, too, if not for the set of hands shooting out at the last second to catch him.
“Come on, brother.” Christian guided him over to a nearby chair. “That’s it. Just sit and breathe.”
“I can’t.” He tried pushing himself back up. “Ro needs me. She’s—”
“We’re going to find her, but first we have to make sure you’re okay.”
“No.” Another push to his feet brought him right back down on his ass.
“Goddamnit, Brody. Would you just stop?” Christian finally managed to hold him in place with a strong push on both shoulders. “Now I want to find Ro as badly as you. Wealldo. But you’re not going to be any good to her if you pass out cold.”
“You’re wrong.” Voice flat and wooden, he felt numb as he met his best friend’s stare. “No one on this planet wants to find her as badly as me.”
A look of understanding saturated the browns in his best friend’s eyes. “I get it, brother. I do.”
“You can’t.” He couldn’t. “No one does.”
“Really? You don’t think I know exactly how you’re feeling, right now?” Christian sounded pissed, then. “You don’t think I can tell that you’re beating yourself up, blaming yourself for what happened, even though there’s not a damn thing you could’ve done to stop it? Maybe you’ve forgotten that I’ve lived through the part where someone wanted to kill the woman I love.”
The angry glare Christian was sending his way—and the words he’d just spoken—showed Brody the error of his ways. The other mandidknow how he felt, in a way. Because Christian had been on the phone with Megan the night someone broke into her apartment and tried to kill her.
His friend had shared the story with him, after the fact. Brody could still see the haunted look that had come over Christian’s face when he’d told him how terrified he’d been that he wouldn’t get to Megan in time.