Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Wren frowned as she sat in Bo's Jeep two days later. They'd holed up for a full forty-eight hours, loving each other. And in between all the bonding, Bo had held Wren's hand as she'd called her half-brother and told him she wanted to meet not only him and his brothers, but her father as well. Easton was overjoyed and said he'd be in touch soon to discuss details.

Bo had enjoyed his days off from work, but today they both had to face reality. Wren by going back to the office to see what kind of damage control had to be done because of the disastrous trip to South Sudan, and Bo had to go back to being a Navy SEAL.

As much as they wanted to stay in his house and make love all day and night for the foreseeable future, that wasn't exactly practical.

"Call me at any time," Bo told her as he squeezed her hand. "Seeing your coworkers again is bound to bring up some bad memories. "

"I'll be okay," Wren assured him. But deep down, she wasn't sure. She felt nauseous, the cereal she'd had for breakfast sat like a lump in her belly, and she was afraid she was going to barf any second.

"Look at me," Bo ordered.

Turning her head, Wren met his gaze.

"Sometimes shit hits you days, weeks, or even months later. You can be fine in the moment, but then later, when you're safe, it just sneaks up on you. What you went through. If that happens, you call me. I can either come get you or talk you through it. All right?"

"But you have stuff you have to do today."

" Nothing is more important than you. Kevlar and the others will understand. We've all been through it."

"You have?"

"Yes, Wren. We aren't machines. What we see and do affects us. Sometimes immediately and sometimes months later. The flashbacks are tough, and nightmares are kind of a given in our line of work."

Wren felt bad. She hadn't even thought about how Bo might suffer after some of the stuff he'd seen and done in his line of work. She squeezed his hand. "Like Blink. How he had to work through losing part of his team."

"Yeah."

Wren had heard all about the other members of Bo's team over the last two days. He'd told her how close they all were, details about their lives, and a little more about what had happened to Blink on the last mission before he'd joined their SEAL team—and how much he'd suffered afterward. Her heart hurt for Bo and his friends .

"So call me if you need to, okay?"

Wren nodded.

"I love you. Cut yourself some slack, Wren. You went through something traumatic. You're allowed to feel upset about it and take as much time as you need to heal."

She wished that she'd had someone like Bo on her side back when she was growing up. It would've made the feelings she'd suffered through so much easier to deal with.

"Thanks."

"If I don't hear from you, I'll be here at the usual time to pick you up. Thought we'd go out for Mexican tonight before heading home."

"That sounds perfect."

Bo leaned over and kissed her. It was long and passionate and by the time he pulled back, Wren was hot and bothered. He smiled as if he could read her mind, then he reached down and adjusted his cock in his pants.

Smirking, Wren climbed out of the Jeep and shut the door. She waved and turned toward her office building.

The second she opened the door to the lobby, butterflies started swimming in her gut. She went up the elevator to her floor, and the moment she saw Dallas, goose bumps broke out on her arms and bile rose in her throat. She nodded at him and walked to her cubicle. Sitting down, she took a couple of deep breaths in through her nose.

That was all the respite she got before one of the interns came over and told her that Colby wanted to see her in the conference room.

Dread churned in her belly once more. She had no idea what he wanted to talk about, but just the thought of seeing the man who'd casually dismissed all her concerns and warnings about the trip made her want to puke.

Metaphorically pulling up her big girl panties, Wren grabbed a pad of paper and a pen and headed down the hall.

She froze in place when she opened the door.

Inside was Dallas, Archie, Oliver, and two other men she'd seen around the office but didn't know. Colby was sitting at the head of the table. He had a bandage over the stitches in his cheek, still had bruises on his face, and was wearing a brace on his wrist, but otherwise looked impeccably dressed in his suit and tie.

"Good, Wren is here. We can get started now," he said a little impatiently.

Wren sat in the nearest chair and perched on the edge of the seat tensely.

"Things didn't go as planned in South Sudan, but the good news is that the deal is still on. We had some good press and the investors are still interested in going full steam ahead. So with that said, we?—"

Wren was already done. She abruptly stood, and her chair made an ear-splitting screeching sound as it slid along the tile floor.

"Wren? Where are you going?"

She heard Colby's question but didn't acknowledge it. She walked out the door, straight to her cubicle, packed the personal belongings at her desk—which weren't many—and headed for the elevator. She was starting to hyperventilate slightly, but she couldn't get herself to stop.

Colby wasn't even going to acknowledge what had happened. Wasn't going to admit that he'd made a huge mistake. Wasn't going to talk about the freaking two fingers Oliver had lost because of that clusterfuck of a trip. Was actually going forward with the project.

Luke and Aaron were dead —and he didn't even seem to care! Not to mention the men who had been tasked with protecting him had also died. And all Colby cared about was the stupid deal.

Maybe she wasn't being fair. There was a lot of money tied up with the pipeline project, but Wren couldn't go to work every day and pretend that nothing happened. That they hadn't been kidnapped. That people hadn't died. How many more had to die before Colby realized any amount of money that could be made wasn't worth it?

She wanted no part of it. Couldn't do it.

When she got to the lobby, Wren's hands were shaking so badly she could barely hit the right button to call Bo.

He answered after one ring.

"Wren? What's wrong?"

She couldn't speak. She couldn't get any air into her lungs.

"Breathe, Wren. In through your nose, out through your mouth. Slow it down. In…out…in…out…good. Just like that."

When she felt as if she could finally speak, Wren asked, "Will you come get me?"

"Already on my way, sweetheart. Hang on for just a little longer. I'm coming."

He was coming. Of course he was. Wren closed her eyes and leaned against the side of the building. She didn't even remember coming outside, but here she was.

It didn't take long before she saw Bo's Jeep careening around a corner. He double parked and was coming toward her before she could even step away from the building. Bo took her by the shoulders and crouched slightly, staring into her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Wren managed a weak nod. "I couldn't do it," she whispered. "He immediately started talking about continuing the project, has even brought in two people to replace Luke and Aaron. I couldn't stay!"

"It's okay," Bo soothed. "Come on, I've got you."

Wren let herself be led to the Jeep and got in without another word. After a moment, she asked, "Where are we going?"

"To the base."

"Oh, but you have work. You can take me home."

"Nope. I don't want to leave you alone. You can come with me, hang out with us."

Wren had no idea what Bo did all day, but she wasn't sure having a civilian "hanging out" with a bunch of Navy SEALs fresh off a mission was something that was actually allowed. Regardless, she couldn't deny that being around Bo made her feel less shaky.

"All right."

Bo kept looking over at her, probably to make sure she wasn't losing it, but now that she was away from the office, and with him, she was feeling better and better. She had a lot to figure out. Probably had to officially quit, needed to find a new job, should call her landlord and tell him she'd have to move out.

But for now, she didn't need to do anything. Bo would take care of her.

Safe was worried about Wren. When she'd called so soon after he'd dropped her off, he'd immediately turned around to go get her. She seemed to be all right now, but he knew better than most how traumatic events could affect someone for days, weeks, even years after they happened.

He'd brought her to base and got her settled into an office while he had some mandatory meetings with his commander and team. Every time he'd checked on her, she seemed okay. At lunch, she'd asked if he'd take her back to her place so she could hang with Remi. He had, and when he'd picked her up that evening, he was relieved to see that she seemed a bit more relaxed. As if leaving her job was just what she needed in order to move on from what had happened.

She told him she'd emailed Colby her official resignation and how good she felt about it. They'd gone out to eat—Mexican, as they'd planned—and now they were at his house, where she'd been quieter than usual.

They were sitting on the couch when she turned to him with a small frown on her face.

"I don't have a job anymore."

"I know, sweetheart."

"I'm just saying that I won't have any money coming in for a while. I never wanted to be that person. The kind of girlfriend who mooched off her man. But I can't?—"

Safe held up his hand, stopping her. "No," he told her with a shake of his head.

"No, what?" she asked, frowning harder.

"You aren't allowed to feel bad about being here with me. And you aren't mooching. You can take a moment or two to collect yourself. To breathe. What happened to you was bad . You saw some horrible things. And having you here isn't a hardship. Not in the least. Take your time. Get your bearings. Then you can decide what you want to do. It's not as if I was going to let you pay any part of my mortgage, or for food, or anything else."

"Wait—why not? If I'm living here, I should pay my way."

Safe shook his head again. "I'm that guy, Wren. The man who doesn't want his woman paying for shit. You want to buy snacks? Stuff to make cookies? Pictures for our walls or pillows for the couch? Go for it. But I've got the utilities, the mortgage, and all the other things associated with owning a house."

She glared at him, and it made Safe want to throw her on the floor and fuck her hard. She was adorable when she was mad, but he refrained, knowing that telling her how cute he found her right now wouldn't exactly get him where he wanted her—under him in their bed.

"I'll have you know, Bo Cyders, I've never made cookies in my life, and I'm not about to start now. Not when there's a perfectly good store down the street that sells them ready-to-eat."

He couldn't help it; Safe burst out laughing. When he had himself under control, he said, "Noted."

"But seriously, Bo. I want to pay my way."

"And you will. By being exactly who you are. Being here when I get home from work. Talking with me, telling me about your day. Making me laugh, making me look forward to going home when I leave the Naval base. I love you, Wren. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you. Name it and I'll do it…except say that you want to pay half the mortgage, because that isn't happening." He added that last part quickly, because he had a feeling Wren would exploit every loophole she could to get what she wanted.

She smiled at him, then sobered. "Will you come with me when I go up to Mission Viejo to meet my father?"

Safe stared at her in confusion. "You actually thought you were going by yourself?"

"Well…maybe? You have work, and now that I don't, I thought I'd go up during the day for lunch or something. So if it's awkward, I could end it and not feel weird about leaving early."

"Hon, I'm not only going with you, but Remi and Kevlar already said they'd go too."

She frowned. "They did?"

"Of course. And that was after the team drew straws to see who'd get to go with us. They all wanted to go, and I said that was overkill. Preacher was pissed. He really wanted to come, but Kevlar won, and he proclaimed that Remi was coming too because it would be less awkward for you to have a woman with you. You know, like if you needed to go to the bathroom, the two of you could go together and decide whether or not you needed us to get you out of there or something."

Tears formed in Wren's eyes.

"No! Don't cry," Safe told her, brushing his thumbs over her cheeks, banishing the tears that had fallen. "I can't stand it when you cry. "

"These aren't sad tears," she told him. "They're…I don't know what they are."

"I told you before and I'll keep telling you, you aren't alone anymore, Wren. You have family. And speaking of which, I should tell you that my mom and dad are already bugging me about meeting you. And Susie is on my case too. So we're going to have to plan a trip to Ohio to see them."

"I love you," Wren said as she threw herself into his arms.

Safe caught her and held her tightly. "I love you too."

Then she pulled back. "How full are you from dinner?"

"About to burst," he admitted.

"Okay, then you can just lie there while I do all the work," she told him with a twinkle in her eye.

Safe was up and moving before she'd finished speaking. The thought of Wren sucking him off while he ran his hands through her silky hair was enough for him to be hard as a spike within seconds.

She giggled as he towed her toward their bedroom. It was safe to say that he was head over heels for this woman. And it wasn't because of the sex. He was a goner before they'd even thought about going to bed together. She was his match in every way, and he'd do whatever it took to make sure she knew every day of her life how much he appreciated and loved her.