Page 54 of Securing Samantha
Shadow sighed, “I know. It’s gotta hurt like hell. Do me a favor. I know you need a break. The last couple of months sucked, you’ve dealt with your own trauma, worried about LJ and found out about Whiskey. Don’t make any big decisions yet. Let us worry about Whiskey. The team and I will watch out for him. Check in with the girls or the team and let us know if you need anything. We’re here for both of you.”
“I appreciate it more than you know. Take care of him,” she told Shadow.
He leaned down and kissed her forehead. LJ ran back into the room. “Whiskey says when we go home, he’ll take me sledding,” her son excitedly announced as he bounced up and down.
She smiled down at the miniature version of Whiskey and her heart missed a beat. “I bet you’ll have a great time.” She hugged her son close to her.
Shadow gave her a nod before turning and leaving. She listened to LJ chatter about his evening with Shadow and how he and Whiskey shared a bed. “Whiskey said I can bunk with him any time. Do you think Uncle Leo and the guys will feel sad if I don’t bunk with them?”
Chuckling as she recalled some of the guys complaining LJ held little Ninja skills and stole the majority of the bed, she assured her son, “I think they’ll be happy you’re making Whiskey feel welcome.”
“Good, he seemed sad last night and this morning he hugged me really tight. I told him we’d come home soon, and I’ll play helicopters with him,” LJ confessed.
Her heart hurt. When he told her he wanted to make love to her, she started to refuse. Part of her knew she needed to let him go while the other part clung to him fiercely. The final straw came when he whispered “Hello, Sunshine” in her ear. Whiskey claimed his other self didn’t exist. Yet Liam was the one who uttered those two words, destroying her. Even if a small part of him lived inside the man who returned home, it meant he intentionally pushed her away.
Whiskey boarded Kassie’s private plane. He buckled up and went through the motions of breathing because his lungs refused to stop. His heart continued to beat no matter how much he commanded it halt. When the flight reached the correct altitude, the attendant brought out two meals and he mechanically ate his food. Shadow relented striking up a conversation with him when he refused to respond. He texted on his phone while Whiskey stared out over the clouds.
Samantha’s words haunted him. They angered him. It hurt him. Didn’t she realize everything he endured to get back to her and his son? Didn’t Samantha understand he dealt with good days and bad. Something triggered him and he spiraled hard. He hurt too. Now he left her to stay with the prissy feck. Yep. Whiskey thought to himself. She intended to stay in New York and build a life with the other man. All because he didn’t want her to see him at his darkest and his weakest.
He hardly noticed when the plane descended and rolled to a stop. Shadow waited while he grabbed his gear and exited the plane. Leo stood anxiously on the tarmac waiting for them. Whiskey felt his leader assessing him as he walked toward the awaiting truck. Shadow climbed into the back as Leo headed toward Serenity.
“Saint and Nugget made us dinner at the team facility. Don’t worry it’s not chicken. She’s found a new fondness for spaghetti,” Leo attempted small talk.
“I want to go back to my cabin,” Whiskey told him.
Leo shot him a worried glance. “I can’t imagine the pain you’re going through, but I don’t think staying alone right now will do you any good.”
“I didn’t ask your opinion on it. I told you I’ll be heading there with or without your permission.”
Leo frowned. “At least join us for dinner. Hope’s at the facility and you’ll need to pick her and your truck up there.”
“I’ll grab her in the morning,” he curtly replied.
“No. You’ll take her home tonight. She’s yours and she missed you. She’s your responsibility and we aren’t giving you a free pass,” Leo ordered.
“You’ll not be giving me a free pass, ya bollocks? Fine. I’ll take her with me,” he angrily spat.
Leo and Shadow remained quiet until they reached the facility. Shadow slipped out and Whiskey opened the door when he felt the hand on his arm. “It’s a damn shame it didn’t work out how you wanted. Playing devil’s advocate, do you think maybe Samantha’s reasons for wanting to move might carry some validity to them?”
“What is this? Gang up on Whiskey Day? She dinna think how I felt about her seeing me like some withered old man who barely made it across the room without breathing hard. She dinna care I won’t stand for her staring at me with pity in her eyes. Or maybe Leo, I don’t blame only Ash for my predicament. What about you? Where the hell was my team who never left a soul behind? I’ll tell you. You focused on getting Olaf back to Catherine. You didn’t search for me. Me own team left me there to suffer. You’re part of the reason I lost my family. If you had attempted to search for me sooner, my life of hell might be different. Samantha and my son might have stayed with me instead of moving to New York and finding happiness with another man. I might’ve experienced a chance at a normal life like you. Now I’m some sad shite with no home and no woman to relieve my pain,” he accused Leo.
Leo took it all. He didn’t flinch or react to anything Whiskey threw at him. Whiskey’s mood turned blacker. He slammed the truck door and stalked to the team entrance, punched in the code and made his way to find Hope.
His chest heaved, his ears pounded, and he clenched his hands to keep from punching a hole in the walls.
The men heard him coming when he rounded the kitchen area. Saint stood by the table, Taco turned the water off and Shadow laid his bag on the table.
“Where’s Hope?” he gritted out. He stared angrily at his friends. They didn’t understand how he felt. They didn’t know what he was forced to endure all while they slept like babies and watched one tiny woman who they claimed gave them more trouble than some of their missions. How fucking rough for them.
“She’s here, Uncle Whiskey,” the sweetest voice called to him. Nugget rounded the table as Saint drew closer. Great, his teammate didn’t trust him around his kid.
Whiskey knelt as Nugget placed Hope in his arms. The excited puppy squirmed, and her tail wagged happily as she recognized his scent. She whimpered as she snuggled her way up to his neck to place puppy kisses on his face. He held onto her with one hand.
“I took really good care of her. I made sure I measured the food and didn’t give her lots of treats. Didn’t I do it right?” The innocent pair of golden eyes stared back at him, anxiously waiting for him to respond. He melted when he used his free hand to pull her to him.
“You did an amazing job, lass. I thank ya for taking such good care of my wee Hope,” he assured her.
Her tiny arms wrapped around his neck. “Welcome home, will you eat sgetti with us? I helped make the sauce and I made dessert!”