“I’m not surprised.”
“He learned all he could about you and told me that James had died for nothing, that he’d given his life to save a nobody.” Jenna’s gaze jerked to Derek’s, blood rushing to her head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you that.”
Derek didn’t seem to feel insulted. “It’s true. I am a nobody. I grew up in the foster system until I was old enough to join the army. I have no family, no ties.”
“That sounds lonely. Where are your parents?”
“I don’t think anyone knows who my father is, but my mother died of an overdose when I was a toddler.” There were shadows in Derek’s eyes, but he spoke as if none of it mattered. “Someone found me next to her corpse in an alley.”
“I’m so, so sorry.”
“Don’t be. I don’t remember it. What I do remember is foster parents who were drunk or a bit too eager to hit me with a belt. One of my foster fathers beat the shit out of me when I refused to suck his dick.”
“God, Derek, that’s awful.”
“I ran away, but the cops found me and brought me back, and he beat me again. I told them what had happened, but the cops thought I was lying. So, yeah, your father was right about me.”
“No, he wasn’t. None of that was your fault. Did you have friends at least?”
“Jimmy was my first close friend—and the best friend I’ve ever had.”
“Can you tell me what happened? How did my brother die?”
* * *
Derek didn’t knowwhy he was telling Jenna all of this. He’d never shared the truth about his past with any woman. He especially didn’t want to talk about the day Jimmy had died, but that was the one thing Jenna deserved to know.
“We’d been working in Kandahar for a while, moving back and forth behind enemy lines. We were patrolling an area in the Sulaiman Mountains, looking for some caves where AQ shitheads were supposedly hiding. I was ahead of Jimmy when I heard your brother shout, ‘Sniper!’ I don’t know how he spotted him—the glint of sunlight on the sniper’s scope maybe. He slammed me to the ground, knocking the breath from my lungs. Then …”
Rat-at-at-at!
Derek thrust all emotion aside. “Then the sniper opened fire as we fell. Your brother ended up taking four or five rounds meant for me. They penetrated his helmet, blew his skull apart. He died instantly.”
Derek could still smell the blood, feel Jimmy’s weight on his back.
Something warm touched his hand.
Jenna.
She watched him through green eyes filled with tears—and worry. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. I shouldn’t have made you relive that.”
Derek twined his fingers through hers, her touch bringing him back. “You deserve to know the kind of man your brother was. He was a hard charger, a true warrior, a credit to the uniform.”
Jenna’s face twisted with grief, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’m glad he didn’t suffer. After I became a nurse, I… I wondered how bad it had been.”
“I don’t think he felt a thing.” Derek rubbed a hand over his right cheek. “When I hit the ground, I struck my face on a rock and fractured my cheekbone. I came close to losing consciousness. When my head cleared, I saw blood on my arms and on the snow around me. For a moment, I thought I’d taken a round to the face. Then I realized Jimmy was on top of me, and he wasn’t moving. Our guys took out the sniper.”
“I didn’t realize you were hurt, too.”
“I had one hell of a black eye. It was the last thing your brother gave me.” Derek had savored that pain, his fractured cheekbone a parting gift from a brother, a gift that had meant life. “I know it sounds crazy, but I was sad to see the bruise go.”
“That doesn’t sound crazy to me.” Jenna wiped her tears away with her free hand. “I wish I’d gotten to know him as an adult. I was so much younger than he was.”
“You know the army awarded him the Silver Star, right?”
“Oh, yes. In private, my father seethed because he thought James had died for nothing. But on the campaign trail, he wore James’ medal and bragged about his heroic son who’d died to save another soldier and earned a Silver Star. It made me sick.”
Senator Hamilton was a hypocritical piece of shit.