Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Greer huffed a chuckle and accidentally knocked over their baby monitor. “I reckon he cracked himself—but maybe with a bit of assistance.” He nodded toward Macklin’s cabin. “They’re in there. Walker told the boy to stay put—or else—while he dropped off Savi.”
“To Macklin’s credit, he obeyed,” Mr. West said. “He hasn’t come out once.”
I hoped he’d had his meltdown.
It must’ve been hard on Walker too. Macklin and I were so similar in that we had dominant personalities, while we also identified as slaves. But something like our friend being fucking kidnapped…? Yeah, we snapped out of all kinds of kinky mind-sets. For the most part anyway. Every rule had its exception.
A well-placed “pet” in the right tone of voice both centered me and made me heel, even in rough times. Kingsley wielded his Master sword expertly around me. He knew when to push and when to stand down, and clearly, so did Walker with Macklin.
We took our seats at the long picnic table, and Master Greer pulled two beers out of a cooler.
“Just water for me, thanks,” I said. “If there are any in there.”
He lifted a brow. “Why, you pregnant?”
I snorted. “I’m thirsty, Sir.”
He gave me an uh-huh look, then handed me a bottle of water instead.
“What’s on the grill?” Lee asked.
“Good ol’ Boston butt,” Colt replied.
Damn, that was one of Lee’s favorites.
“Fantastic.” He looked pleased. “Did everyone else go home?”
Mr. West gestured at their cabin. “Kit invited Cam, Noa, Jordan, and Gael for a movie night slash sleepover.”
Oh, that was good. Lee and I had crashed to comedies all week. I couldn’t stomach anything serious right now. Adam Sandler couldn’t quite make me laugh, but he did brighten my mood a bit.
Archie yawned and rested his head on Greer’s shoulder, to which he kissed the top of Archie’s head.
“You don’t have to stay up, sweetheart,” he murmured.
“If I fall asleep now, I’ll be up at four,” Archie mumbled. “Besides, I wanna spend every minute I can with you if you’re gonna go off and risk your life again.”
Excuse me?
“We’re missin’ somethin’ here,” Kingsley stated quietly.
Greer squinted at nothing, and Archie wasn’t talkative.
“Greer and his brother are on standby in case River and Reese need help,” Mr. West revealed.
Oh God. I was split in two just like that. Part of me was like, okay, yeah, Master Greer had been a kick-ass Marine with several deployments under his belt. Then the other side of me…just fucking great, another loved one to worry about.
“If you get hurt, I will become your worst nightmare, Sir,” I settled for saying.
Greer chuckled quietly and draped an arm around his hubby. “I’ve received enough threats from this one and the two we have at home.”
Good.
“How are Sloan and Corey doing, by the way?” Mr. West murmured.
Greer sighed. “I don’t know. It’s tough with Corey. He doesn’t process in a crisis. He does that afterward.”
“He’s extremely matter-of-fact. More than usual,” Archie added with traces of affection in his tone. “Master left his go-bag in the hallway at home, and Corey walked past it and called it the stupidest and ugliest bag he’d ever seen.”
Greer smiled faintly. “Then he kicked it.”
Aw.
Everyone was hurting, and everyone was showing it in different ways.
The worst part for me was feeling so damn helpless. There was literally nothing I could do.
“What about Sloan?” Kingsley wondered.
Archie blew out a breath and glanced at Greer. “You and I are not in agreement here.” He looked to Kingsley. “I think he’s focusing too hard on Corey and the kids. Like, I know his priorities are in order—the kids and Corey come first—but he has to process his own stuff too.”
Greer spoke next. “Unlike the rest of us, Sloan can actually deal with helplessness. He checks the news probably more than I do, but he’s like, ‘What can I do? Nothing. So I’m gonna trust River and Reese and hope Shay comes home soon.’”
A breath gusted out of me. I so wished I could do that. Instead, even though I knew I couldn’t do anything either, I obsessed over it. I let myself get angry and upset and frantic. I even became envious of those who could make the slightest difference. Like what Greer was doing, preparing to go off and fight. He was also our main link with the Tenleys. To prevent spamming the twins with our worries and whatever information we had, all communications went through Master Greer. Possibly Colt too, I wasn’t sure. He was finding ways to be useful as well. He’d told us that he and Ty were using their Air Force connections to map out private airfields along the border to Mexico. Just in case Shay’s kidnappers smuggled him out of the country, it could be helpful to at least narrow down the escape routes.
See? Helpful, helpful, helpful.
And me? Helpless, helpless, helpless.