The Payback (Team Zulu 2)

30

Sage

Thedoorswungopen,and Brandon stepped inside, dumping a black backpack near the entry. I took my first real breath since seeing him on camera at Dante’s.

Waiting for Brandon to return had been the longest forty-five minutes of my life.

We stood three paces apart, staring at each other. It was impossible to contain my frantic heartbeat. I was a wreck. An emotional, stressed-out mess after the almost-disaster at the mansion. It was still hard to believe Brandon had come out of it unscathed.

That was about to change.

“You son of a bitch.” I charged for him and aimed a punch square at his nose.

The bastard dodged it. I swung again and again, but each time he parried the blows. Brandon’s huge hands circled my wrists, and he used his much-larger frame to press me against the wall. When I went to shove a knee into his balls, he blocked it by leaning his hips into mine.

Brandon’s brows pinched. “I owe you an apology, Sage. I’m sorry things went down like that.”

“You went without me,” I said through gritted teeth and with tears stinging my eyes.

“It was a covert mission. I couldn’t risk more than one of us going in there.”

“Why didn’t you tell me what you were going to do?”

“I didn’t want to worry you. I knew you’d freak out and demand to come along, and that wasn’t an option.”

“Why, then? What was so important you had to risk your life tonight?”

“I had to get inside before the ball. We’ll never be allowed in with weapons. I had to hide them beforehand so we can get them once we’re inside.”

“That doesn’t make sense. If you knew you could sneak inside all along, why didn’t you go straight for the vault?”

“Because the only way I can open it is with a large amount of C-4. I need Dante to open it willingly, not under duress.”

In that case, planting the weapons was smart, even though it had been a significant risk. One he should’ve included me in.

Brandon’s hands shifted from around my wrists to twine his fingers with mine. “You’re right, though. I should’ve told you my plans. I’m sorry. I won’t do that to you again.”

“They almost found you.”

“But they didn’t.”

“They would’ve killed you. I would’ve watched them do it and—”

“Stop.” He leaned into me and tightened his grip. “Don’t let your mind go there for one second.”

But I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t let go of the thought of Brandon hurt or dying and being lost to me forever.

“It would’ve been my fault.”

“No, never.” He let go of my hands, and my arms slumped to my sides, all fight gone out of me. Brandon gripped my shoulders and brought his eyes to my level. “Sage, why would you think that?”

“Because it’s happened before!” I cried.

Brandon stared at me in confusion. Of course he didn’t understand. How could he? The news articles had never detailed the stupidity of my decision to venture into the wrong part of town at the worst time possible.

“Kieran’s dead because of me. We should never have been in the city that day. He came with me to a bookstore when I insisted on going, even though there’d been a shooting a block away the week before. The police had warned people to stay out of the area due to the Mafia turf war. Kieran begged me not to go, but I went anyway. He only came because he was worried about me.” I swallowed thickly, hardly able to believe I’d let my life follow the same tragic path it had already been down. “Now, you’re risking everything for me, and it feels like my nightmare is happening all over again. How could it not when what we’re doing is so much more dangerous, and you could get hurt or worse, and I”—my voice caught in my throat—“I can’t lose you, too.” The tears I’d been holding in cascaded down my face.

“You won’t lose me. I’m not going anywhere.”