Raegan shook her head with a humorless smirk. “I received a Purple Heart, an Honorable Discharge, and a ‘Thank you for your service’.”
“You, uh…” Rocky’s throat worked a hard swallow. “You got a Purple Heart?”
She looked up at him, a strange expression falling over her pretty, bitter face. Rather than answer his question, Raegan slowly rose to her feet. And with her eyes still staring back into his, she unbuttoned her jeans, released the zipper, and shoved her pants down to her knees.
“What the hell, Raegan?” Rocky threw up a shielding hand and turned his head away. But not before he caught a glimpse of her black cotton panties and toned, bare thighs.
“You wanted the truth; I’m giving it to you. Figured you’d have a better chance of believing me if you saw the scar.”
His eyes fell shut, and he filled his lungs with a slow, deep inhale. If she was willing to drop trou during an impromptu interrogation, he was already pretty convinced she was telling him the truth.
“It’s okay.” Rocky shook his head. “I don’t need to see it.”
“Well, I need you to see it.” Her tone was almost desperate in its delivery. “I need you to at least be able to try and understand.”
“Understand what?” He turned back around, his gaze instinctively dropping to her exposed upper legs.
His gut tightened when he saw the circular, puckered scar a few inches above her right knee. Suddenly he wasn’t thinking of smooth, sexy curves, but rather the horrific image of her injured and bleeding out.
“It was a through-and-through.” She turned sideways so he could see the damage the exit wound had caused. “I didn’t realize it at the time, though.”
Pushing aside the sudden, unexplainable rage he felt for the person responsible, Rocky asked again, “What is it you need me to understand, Raegan?”
Her ponytail fell over one shoulder as she looked down and began pulling up her pants. Shimmying back into them, Raegan quickly rebuttoned and zipped them.
When her gaze returned to his, there was an equal amount of pain and determination.
“I agreed to tell you everything about me and why I was in that house tonight because I’m hoping you’ll understand my reasons for what I’m planning to do.”
“I know I’m probably going to regret asking this next question, but…what exactly is it you’re planning on doing?”
“The man responsible for my scar and the deaths of my entire M.P. unit is connected to that house,” she stated as a matter of fact, “I’ve been watching and waiting for him to return, and I think he did. Tonight. So I’m going tokeepwatching for as long as it takes, and when I see him again…” Her voice trailed as it grew thick with emotion.
After a few seconds of waiting, Rocky prodded with a soft, “When you see him again…what?”
Raegan blinked, almost as if she’d been lost in some sort of a trance. But then she pushed back her shoulders, jutted out her adorable chin, and stared him square in the eyes as she said without remorse, “When I see him again, I’m going to kill him.”
8
Raegan staredat the imposing men taking up space in various places within Rocky’s living room. Seriously questioning her sanity, she looked up at the man who’d somehow convinced herthiswas her best option.
“Go ahead.” His blond head dipped with encouragement. “Tell them what you told me.”
With a quick scan of the room, she licked her lips and asked, “Which part?”
“Why don’t you start at the beginning?” Christian Hunt stood between the edge of the couch and the front door. Arms crossed at his chest, the Delta Team lead operator turned his assessing glance her way.
Sitting on the cushion nearest him was Brody King. Rocky had introduced the stoic former SEAL as the team’s SIC a few minutes before, and from the way he was staring her down, Raegan was fairly certain he’d rather be anywhere else but here.
She took in a deep breath, her shoulders dropping with the heavy exhale as she stood to the side next to Rocky. When her gaze slid back up to his, he gave her another prodding nod.
“It’s okay. You can trust them.”
Easier said than done, big guy.
“My M.P. unit was sent to Iraq three years ago as part of a classified operation to train a specialized group of Iraqi soldiers.”
“They deployed an M.P. unit?” The man who’d been introduced to her as Cade Ellis frowned from the recliner in the corner of the room. “That’s kind of unusual, isn’t it?”