by Honor James
The cursing behind her was getting closer so she put some effort into her running. But that only worked for a while before a large form came out in front of her. It was Connor, she realized soon enough, and he had her spun around, and tucked up tight against him. Yoshi was stalking toward her, blood pouring down his face, and he looked like he wanted to kill her.
She was fighting like a wildcat to get away from Connor now. “Let me go, dammit!” She twisted and turned, tried to get away from him as she had Yoshi. “Michael went that way. I have to get to him. Goddammit let me go!” She was shouting but she didn’t care. She had to know Michael was okay.
“Gigi, honey, stop.” Michael’s voice was there. His hands cupped her face a moment later. “Relax,” he whispered. Connor let her go then, and Michael pulled her into his arms. He held her to him tightly, rubbing up and down her back. She noticed he smelled like smoke, and the sleeve of his fatigues looked a little singed.
“Michael?” She looked up at him and then hugged him tightly. “You are never, ever allowed to scare me like that again, damn you,” she muttered and allowed the tears to soak his front. Finally she pulled back. “What the hell is happening?” She had no idea what was going on, but she was more than a little pissed off right now. Later she knew she would feel bad about hurting Yoshi, but that was then and this was now.
“The asshole who was after you blew up my dad’s cabin, boy is he going to be pissed,” Michael muttered. He was still holding her tightly, like he couldn’t let her go. “Cutter has the asshole, and the other three, all hog-tied and waiting on the reinforcements. We managed to grab them when they all were running away. Now we need to see about saving the damn cabin. Can you behave yourself a little longer, and hopefully we’ll get some answers?”
She nodded and looked up. “Yes but dammit you are not allowed to leave me like that again.” She turned to Yoshi and blushed. “Sorry.” She really was sorry, but her whole life had been missing in that moment, Michael was everything to her and would always be so. “Damn, I think that my dad should tell your dad. What do you think?” she asked when she heard the snap of the fire and what sounded like an explosion, much smaller but one all the same.
“Might keep me alive,” he said. Sighing, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Come on, let’s go see what we can salvage.” Keeping an arm looped around her shoulders, he led her through the forest to the clearing that had once been neat and tidy. Now it looked like a war zone. “Damn. Good news is, I saved my bag, most of your stuff, and the veil your dad sent to you. Thankfully Harker was already yanking stuff out, he really does have a strange sense of when bad shit’s about to hit the fan.”
“Oh god. My great-grandmother’s veil.” She had forgotten about that. It was a thing, something she could live without because in the end it was replaceable, Michael wasn’t. “Everyone is okay?” she asked and winced when she heard Connor snapping Yoshi’s nose back into place. “I really owe him big, don’t I?” she whispered to Michael only.
He didn’t answer right away, he couldn’t with Yoshi swearing up a blue streak. “Just a little bit,” he finally said. “He’ll forgive you in time, but I wouldn’t expect him to be overly friendly for a while. Oh, I think the troops have finally arrived,” he said, turning his face up to the sky. A moment later she heard the whomp-whomp of helicopter rotor blades slicing through the air.
“I can’t say that I blame him for being upset with me,” she whispered and looked to the skies. Sighing, she leaned into Michael and said, “I’m sorry about your dad’s cabin. I will make sure that it’s rebuilt, even if I have to make Daddy do it.” She relaxed against Michael, feeling the rush of adrenaline leaving her and making her knees weak. “Goodness I can’t believe how scary that was. And you guys do that often?” She was shocked by them. She wouldn’t be able to do that all the time, not like these guys.
“Every day is the same adrenaline rush,” he said. “Well, for them, not so much for me now. Nowadays I get to have you in my bed, which is much better than that constant nagging worry that it’s the day something will happen. I much prefer worrying about what I can do to make you fall a little more in love with me.” She felt his body stiffen as the chopper settled. “Uh-oh, four-star General alert.”
Looking up at him Gigi didn’t even look toward her father. “I don’t think that it’s possible to love you more, but I’m finding each moment I keep re-evaluating that thought. You amaze me, Michael. Each and every single day you amaze me.”
“Keep telling you, honey, I’m freaking awesome.” Shooting her a grin, Michael kissed her even as her father stormed their way. Slowly, with care, he kissed her with so much emotion that all she could do was hold on.
When they parted, Gigi licked her lips and sighed. “Mercy.” She patted his chest and then laid her head on his chest, turning slightly to look to her father. “Hi Daddy. Before you ask, yes I’m good. Michael and Yoshi had me away from there long before the fire. See, all good.” She saw her father look to Yoshi and then back to her. She blushed and looked down. “Sorry again. I kind of sort of hit him and broke his nose.”
“I can tell this is going to be an interesting report,” her father said. Sighing, he looked at the cabin and shook his head. “Damn boy, you blew up your daddy’s cabin?”
“No Sir, that dirt bag over there blew up my father’s cabin. He’s also the one that’s been chasing after and trying to get to Gigi. From what little he’s said, the one with the broken nose and his balls up in his throat is the one that shot her.”
The General’s attention was immediately focused, laser sharp on the men tied up on the ground. “I will take them with me. Anyone that wants a ride out, you have ten minutes to grab your gear and mount up.”
She looked up at Michael and grinned. “So are we taking a ride with Daddy or are we going to take the trucks home?” Shit, was the truck actually still intact? She looked around and didn’t see it. “Crapballs.” She had no idea if the truck was okay or not.
“We’re taking the trucks back, no way am I leaving my ride out here,” he said. “Connor and Jacobs moved them after lunch, they’re tucked back in the trees a ways. We figured they might target the cabin, but we didn’t realize they’d go to this extreme. I’m going to have to call my dad, he is so not going to be happy about this.”
“Oh god, he’s not even met me and the first thing he’s going to know about me is that I was the reason his cabin was destroyed. Fabulous.” She looked at the men that were now being forced into the helicopter and wanted to kick them herself. “Daddy, will you please give them all a good kick and rough ride for me? And for Michael’s father? He’s going to hate me,” she whispered.
“He’s not going to hate you,” her father said. “I’ll be calling him and letting him know what happened here. I’ll also be assuring him that the contractor will be out here first thing tomorrow to start working on getting everything rebuilt. It’s the least I can do for his son keeping my one and only daughter safe.”
“Oh thank God,” Michael muttered.
“As for you, boy…” Her father turned his intense look on Michael. “What the hell is the holdup?”
“Been kind of busy, Sir. But don’t worry, everything will fall into place.”
“See to it.” Her father gave a grunt, and then turned back to her. Coming over, he pulled her from Michael’s arms to give her a hug. “You need anything, you call me, baby girl.”
“I will, Daddy.” She pulled back and looked up at him. Smiling. “I love you. You know that, right?” She didn’t tell him often, but when she did, she saw the same glimmer in his eyes. The sheen of tears as she did now. “And why in the heck did you send me great-grandmother’s veil?”
He brushed his fingers lightly to her cheek before dropping his hand. “Not for me to say,” he told her. He flicked a look to Michael, gave a nod, then spun on his heel and headed for the helicopter.
Michael tucked her face to his shoulder as the rotors started up, kicking up di
rt and debris. They all waited, heads bent, until the helicopters were out of sight. “Well, I think we should make sure the damn fires are out and then find a hotel for the night.”
“Sounds good.” Gigi pulled back from him and smiled. “Do you have anything we can use to assist us with that? A well, a hose, anything?” She had no idea how they were going to fight back the last of the flames. Thankfully most of it had been put out by the men that had come with her father. Thank god, but there were still burning posts here and there. “At least it’s still sort of together, right?” she asked and jumped when a corner of the porch fell.
All the men turned to give her a varying range of looks. “Bite your tongue, love. We’ll need to use the well water for the rest, I think. Given the water tank went flying God only knows where, we can’t risk using the water lines. Which reminds me, Jacobs. See if you can find the damn thing and make sure it hasn’t lit anything else on fire. Gigi, why don’t you and Cutter do a walk around and stomp out anything that’s debris and on fire. The rest of us will do a bucket brigade to get the cabin out.”
“Sounds good.” She looked to Cutter and smiled. “Come on, bub. Let’s go and stomp out some flames?” She could be Smokey the Bear, well sort of. Gigi the hairless Smokey the Bear. She giggled at herself and shook her head. “Sorry, my brain is melting and I’m thinking the weirdest things.”
He shook his head, but put a hand on her back, and walked with her around the cabin. There were a few pieces, here and there, they needed to stomp out. For the most part though, all the debris had burned out, or never really got started. “So, what the hell is the story with the veil your dad sent? Or maybe I should ask, why did he send it to you now?”
“I have no idea. I got it before we left for the cabin. I haven’t seen it in years. I remember Mother being pissed at Daddy because he refused to make his mother and grandmother let her wear it when they got married. I had no idea that Daddy still had it to be honest.” She shrugged and stomped out another flame. “I wish I knew what was up though.” She stopped and frowned. “You don’t think that something is wrong with him, do you?” she asked Cutter. “He isn’t giving me that because he’s sick, is he?” Suddenly she was terrified for her father, worried something was wrong with him.
“Your father? Hell no, that man is healthier than most men half his age. He’ll still be kicking ass when all of us retire,” Cutter said. “He probably figured you’d want it, given you and Michael seem to have this thing going on. Unless of course he’s trying to tell you that you should just run away with me.” He shot her a grin, and then suddenly leaned back. A dull thwack had her looking over to see a knife vibrating in the trunk of a tree.
“Stop flirting with my girl, Cutter!” Michael said in an extremely annoyed tone from across the yard.
Gigi looked at the blade, Cutter, and then Michael. Shaking her head, she laughed. “So that was you flirting? If so.” She shook her head and walked away to grab the blade from the tree. “Cutter, I think you need some help. I think that I need to give you lessons on how to flirt with a woman, or better yet Michael does. He did after all win me over,” she said and handed the blade off to Cutter, Michael being too far away.
“Nah, that’s not me flirting. I don’t flirt with my buddies’ girls. That is just too many ways of wrong. But I do like messing with my buddies, especially when their girls are present,” he told her. Flipping the knife, he threw it back across the yard. Turning, she saw Michael pry it out of the tree it had hit and give Cutter another warning look. “And he is seriously fun to screw around with, he’s very sensitive if you hadn’t noticed.”
“I think he’s perfect.” Gigi replied and continued to walk around with Cutter, looking for more flames that might need to be extinguished. “So what’s your deal, Cutter?” she asked with a smile. “Have you got a girl of your own? Married? Kids? I don’t know a lot about your personal lives. I know about your guys’ families, but none of you have talked about a loved one in your lives. Why?”
“We’re not exactly in the line of work that guarantees a happy ever after sort of life, Gigi. You know that. When we all got into the more high-risk end of things, we talked about what that would mean on the home front. It was a unanimous decision not to have wives, kids, or any of that until we got out. Not a one of us felt right about leaving someone behind to fend for themselves or any potential children. That’s all there is to that,” he said. She heard the words, but his tone of voice said there was definitely more to it, at least for him.
That had her frowning and she cocked her head to the side. “So does that mean that Michael won’t be around for long?” She didn’t like that thought, at all. “If you guys agreed not to have anyone that you cared about in your lives, what happens now?” There had been no talk of commitment, likely because of her fear of it, but she didn’t want to lose Michael. Not now and not ever.
“You actually think he’s not going to stick around? Gigi, you are a hell of a lot smarter than that. Michael loves you. Hell, he’s giving up his career in the military so he can have a life with you. He told me, straight up, he can’t be out there anymore because all he thinks about is being here with you. He knows, as well as all of us do, that thinking about home in places like we go can get you killed. It’s why he jumped at the opportunity to come home when your dad proposed it to him.”
If she wasn’t already in love with Michael, she would have been then. She let out a sigh that was pure happiness and shook her head. “As long as that’s what he wants.” She whispered. “What about you guys? Are you guys going to get out and stick around as well? I wasn’t kidding when I said that you should all start a business of your own you know.”
“We’ve all got different amounts of time left on our contracts, but yeah, we’ll all be getting out and coming home. It won’t be the same without Michael there. He’s our team leader for a reason, where he leads we follow, it’s been that way since the beginning.” He stopped to kick at a chunk of debris before stomping on it a little.
“And where do you all call home? Do you all come from the same hometown or something? Or did you all just gravitate to the same area?” She was curious by nature. She was also a writer and knew that if Michael wanted to live where these men were, she would go in a moment. She had nothing tying her to her home now. At all.
“Michael’s a New Yorker, though you can’t tell that from his accent. He was an army brat, like you, so they moved around a lot. He did settle down in New York though, well outside of it technically, since the city proper is too expensive. Yoshi and Jacobs are both from Florida. I’m a Kansas boy, born and bred. Harker is a Californian, but his dad was military, too, so they moved around a bit as well. Timmons is from Montana, grew up on a working ranch raising horses, and cattle. Connor’s from Texas originally, lived there until he was ten before his parents moved to Colorado for his dad’s job. Markham’s from Cincinnati, and Bradley’s a Washington D.C. boy, his dad was a senator for a long time. We’re from all over the place, is basically what I’m trying to say. Not a one of us really has a home, per se. We go where the wind blows, and will settle wherever the others do I think.”
That had her nodding, thinking about what he was saying. “Well that’s all for another time.” She looked back toward the cabin, well the burnt shell of it at least. “Why people do this to each other is beyond me,” she whispered softly. “I hate that I’m the reason for the damage. Even though the cabin will be put back to rights, I don’t like it.” Lifting a hand, she waved to Michael and grinned. “Come on, let’s get back to the guys so that we can all head out. Hopefully.”
“You’re not to blame for any of this, Gigi. You know that, right? The only one that’s truly to blame is the guy that had a hard-on for you. He’s the one to blame for all of this. Now, go and hug your man. I’ll round up the others, and we’ll head out right after you two hit the road.”
“Sounds good.” Gigi gave Cutter a quick hug and then ran to meet Michael halfway. She hugged hi
m tightly and then looked up. “So I guess you and I get to have a truck to ourselves?” She hadn’t thought that would be possible, but she would go with that. “Ready to get out of here?”
“Yes Ma’am,” he said. Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to her lips. “The others have a couple of trucks between them, so don’t worry. We’ll go into town, find a motel, and get a grouping of rooms. We need to get some sleep, and I really need a shower.”
“Sounds good to me. Shower and sleep both would be wonderful.” She wrapped her arm around Michael’s middle and gave him a hug. “Let’s get out of here.” She told her man, her love. “Hopefully the shower will be big enough for us both, if not, well who knows,” she teased.
Chapter Thirteen
Two days after returning home, her father had left her a cryptic message. He’d “requested” her presence, and Michael’s, at his offices. The rest of the guys had already shipped back out overseas. All with a lot of tears, mostly hers, but she was still positive she’d seen a few in a couple of their eyes as well.
Michael held the door open for her to enter her father’s outer offices. He was in full military mode, in the uniform of the day as he’d put it, and followed on her tail. He’d been sticking close to her side since they’d come back to town. She’d also noticed he’d been slightly distracted and would catch him watching her with an odd, yet slightly dreamy look on his face. Any time she asked though, he’d miraculously managed to get out of explaining himself.
Once they were in her father’s offices, Gigi crossed her legs and leaned back. She watched Michael as he paced for a moment and then shook her head. “Will you please have a seat? You are driving me crazy with the pacing.” She teased him, well she hoped he would realize it because of the grin on her face. “Come and sit with me? This lovely chair is large enough that you could easily sit with me.” Her father had chair and halves in his office because he entertained men of considerable girth from time to time and rather than make them uncomfortable, he ensured that they never would feel that in his office. “Please? Join me?” she asked, holding her hand out and waiting on him to decide what he wanted to do.