The Sunset Job (The Rainbow's Seven 1)

“Bang Bang!” Doc said from her seat, eyes wide.

Wyatt laughed, stumbling a little as he sat down in the chair next to her. Bang Bang blew her a kiss before going to play cards with Mustang, Mimic, and Roman.

“We should call him Burp Burp instead,” Doc said with a roll of her eyes and a growing smile on her lips. She set down the historical romance she was reading, the cover catching Wyatt’s eyes.

“You were incredible, by the way.” Tipsy Wyatt tended to spill over with compliments and fawning. “The way you handled things in the van. I’ve never seen anything like that, and I’ve watched all thirteen seasons of Grey’s Anatomy.”

That got a laugh out of Doc. She fiddled with the pink band that wrapped up her tight ponytail. “Thank you. It’s what I love to do—heal people. Ever since I was little. I was the house nurse.”

“Is that where you started learning?”

She nodded, looking out the small window at a clear blue sky, stretching for what appeared to be infinity. “It is, actually. My dad’s a cardiovascular surgeon, one of the best in the country. Came from Korea with his parents when he was only four, and he was similar to me—obsessed with medicine even at that age. He taught me a lot, but not all. I learned so much from spending a couple years with Tibetan Buddhists, absorbing every little thing I could from them.” She gave Wyatt a wink. “And then, of course, there’s Grey’s Anatomy.”

“So what brings you to the Rainbow’s Seven? Why not go the traditional route, follow in your dad’s footsteps.”

Doc nodded, turning her gaze back out the window. “That’s a really good question with a very complicated answer. Short version: I became disillusioned with the medical field and wanted to make a difference some other way. Plus, I made some really bad bets that I’ve now got to pay off, and a surgeon’s salary wouldn’t even cut it.”

Wyatt’s eyebrows rose, the champagne flooding his system making it difficult to control his expressions. Doc didn’t strike him as the gambling type, but it must have been a pretty big hole she dug herself if it couldn’t be paid off without completing this job.

“What’s the long version? If you don’t mind me asking.” Wyatt hated to pry, but on the flip side of that token, he also wanted to get to know Doc some more. Each member of the Rainbow’s Seven had surprised him one way or another, all of them feeling like family more and more with every passing day. It wasn’t something Wyatt ever expected to feel when he signed up for this, but he wasn’t opposed to it, either.

“I don’t mind,” Doc said, reaching for her bag of sour worms and popping a few of the colorful candies into her mouth. But before she could continue, their conversation was cut short by a new addition: Monica “Mustang” Mercedes, smiling as she chugged down some beer.

“You seem happy,” Doc said.

“I won two hundred bucks just now. I’m very happy.” She put a hand behind her head and relaxed into the chair. “What are you guys talking about? Seems really sad over here.”

Doc and Wyatt both laughed, not minding the interruption, although Wyatt did want to hear that long version at some point. “We were just talking about our reasons for being here,” Doc said.

Monica nodded, licking her lips before taking another sip. Suddenly, it was like those two hundred dollars disappeared, along with the grin on her face.

“What’s yours?” Wyatt asked, apparently as forward as he was complimentary after he’d had a few drinks.

“Revenge,” Monica said, point-blank.

“Oh…” Wyatt wasn’t expecting that answer. Not with the amount of money on the line. He assumed everyone here was driven by how fat their bank accounts would get after it was all said and done. With money came power, came the power to change. They’d all have enough money to make a difference, not only in their own lives but in their loved ones’ lives.

“For what?” he asked.

Doc fiddled with her ponytail again, keeping her eyes down at the floor. Mustang took another chug. “For love—what else is revenge for? I used to love someone, someone I shouldn’t have but that I couldn’t help. It came on fast and fierce. Burned brighter than anything I’d felt up to that point in my life.

“Her name was Vero. She was everything to me. She was also Leonidas’ wife.”

That pulled a shocked gasp from Wyatt, again the drinks having lowered his ability to control his face.

“Right, well, Leonidas found out. And he had her killed. The sick fucking bastard had her tortured and killed. He sent me the video and then sent me a finger of hers a day. It was horrific, and it changed me. It really fucking changed me.”