The King (Gentlemen Rogues 2)

LACHLAN

It turnedout I wasn’t the only one getting a private ass chewing from Gabe since Saint was waiting on me in his office.

“Have you two lost your fucking minds? We have protocols for a goddamn reason."

Saint was relaxed, as if he'd anticipated this ass chewing and was taking it on the chin with his characteristic seemingly good nature. He nodded. “Yes, sir. We know, but it was necessary.” He was clearly unbothered that Gabe was well ticked off.

"And you, King, you knew better. You had one task. Stay on target. It's not your fault the devil incarnate turned up, but you broke protocol. Went out on your own."

I met his gaze coolly. "Would you rather I’d left your sister to die?"

He sat on his desk and leaned forward, glowering at me with a raised brow. “You see, that's the thing. Saff, in case you haven't realized, is the fucking heir. She knows how to survive. She's been training for this since she was in diapers. She doesn't need saving. Not by you.”

That one line pierced my soul, because it had been instinct to help her, despite how angry I was. Yes, of course, she was my teammate, but still, she was Saff.

“I know. But we were assigned to be a team. And we don’t leave each other behind.” Maybe he would buy that I had full-on committed to a team.

Instead, he growled at me. “A team operates when we follow bloody protocol. What if you’d saved her only to be captured?"

Saint held up his hands. “I'm too pretty for jail." He was such a twat. But still, I wanted to chuckle. He was too pretty for jail. He would be very popular wherever he went.

Gabe looked like he wanted to throw something. He didn't look at Saint when he spoke. "Saint, get out."

Saint was up and out of his seat in less than a nanosecond. Gabe didn't have to tell him twice. As he strolled by me, he muttered. "Wanker." He grinned at me good-naturedly. "See you back at the flat, mate."

When he was gone, Gabe ran his hands through his hair. “Speaking as Saff’s brother and not your superior, thank you. I owe you a debt."

I frowned. "Weren't you just chewing me out because Saff knows how to survive on her own?"

"She does. She probably would have made it off the island before you did. It doesn't change the fact that I’m happy someone's looking out for her. I’m also thrilled you seem to understand teamwork.”

“You know, she's really good. I made a dozen mistakes on our little jaunt. Without her, I might not have survived."

“I know."

It wasn’t my place, but I had to ask. "Then why the fuck isn't she in the field? Is there something wrong with her?" Maybe I didn't have the right to this line of questioning, but I needed to know. Because Saff had been responsible for my current residence here, and I wanted to know everything.

Gabe crossed his arms and sat back. "She's not ready."

"Bullshit. You wouldn't have sent her on the mission if she wasn't ready."

“You don't understand. Drake Webster… She handled that better than I would have."

I cursed under my breath. "He's the one who killed her parents?"

He nodded. “Yeah. Saff sees herself as responsible. Webster approached her when she was at uni. Classic asset recruitment. Except he pretended to be interested in dating her. While Saff was cagey, she couldn’t find anything on him. He looked legit. While he never progressed their relationship beyond friendship and mild interest, he kept a close eye on her, watched her for months. Stalked her and pretended to be interested.”

Hearing that he groomed her, that she'd been that close to danger made a pit form in my gut.

"Our parents weren't going to let her graduation day go by without being there for her. All Webster had to do was sit on Saff and wait until they turned up. Our folks were careful. They flew private on a small commuter plane in and out of a private airstrip. At least he let Saff have her graduation first, but when they were leaving, he bombed their plane. Saff saw the whole thing. She’s never really recovered."

I winced.

"He found her afterward. Said that if she identified him, what happened to our parents would happen to her."

“Fucking hell, I’m going to kill him."

Gabe nodded. “Get in line. Of course, Saff knows protocol. When we lose someone in the field, everyone comes home to their respective base. Everyone. We take all precautions, new passports, wash everything, close down that base, and return to central command. We scrubbed IDs and sent everyone back out to new posts."