20. Brent

CHAPTER 20

brENT

I never really intended to put all my sex toys out on the counter for Austin to find. Sure, it would have been funny as hell, but that little display was for John's benefit. The way I figured it, he would lose his shit and tell me I was too much. But he did the opposite and gave me one more reason to fall for him even more.

After breakfast, we hand-washed the dishes since the dishwasher was occupied. The last thing we needed was my ass smelling like maple syrup. Or maybe we did.

"What are you thinking about or do I not want to know?"

I grinned, but decided to keep that ridiculous thought to myself. That might be a tasty surprise one day. "Nothing really."

"Your face says otherwise."

As soon as we had it all cleaned up, John went to the refrigerator and pulled out two packages of ground beef, an onion, green pepper, and fresh tomatoes.

"You can't be hungry."

He smiled. "No, but I am going to make the meat sauce for the lasagna. It takes a while, and I figured we could burn some calories on the sofa while it simmers for a couple of hours."

I rubbed my hands together. "Now you're talking. What do you need me to do?"

The doorbell sounded before he could give me directions, so I went to answer it. I swung the door open to find my best friend standing outside the door.

"Why didn't you use your key?" I asked, stepping aside to let him in.

Dare laughed as he entered the condo. "You know why. It's not safe around here anymore. Last time I got to see way more than I bargained for."

"So did your husband," I laughed. "Speaking of husbands, where's Greer?"

"At home. He had some business to take care of, so I thought I'd pack up the rest of my stuff."

I nodded, but my smile slipped from my face.

"What's wrong?"

I cleared my throat and stuffed my hands in my pockets. Looking at the floor, I tried to get control of the emotion I was feeling. All this letting my guard down with John was messing me up.

"Brent. What's going on? Is it your dad? Is he okay?"

I chuckled humorlessly. "It just occurred to me that you're not going to be living here anymore."

My voice cracked as I looked away from him. Austin didn't say anything, but I knew him well enough to know this was just occurring to him too.

"Yeah, that's actually just hitting me too."

I glanced up at him as he looked around at the place we'd shared for more than three years. Neither of us was big on showing our emotions. That's how we got through losing Nate. We pushed it all down and held each other up.

"We've lived together for a long time. In the service, and Cheyenne. Now here. I don't know how to live alone."

Dare smiled at me, but I could see the emotion behind his eyes. "You're never going to truly be alone, Dreamy. We may not live in the same space anymore, but I'm always going to be here for you. So are GQ and Phantom. We are best friends and brothers until the day we die. We'll always have each other's six no matter what."

I nodded, still looking at the floor. Emotion was clawing its way up from the pit of my stomach. "I know. And I'm happy for you. But I could use a promise that you won't go back to Chicago."

Dare smiled. "I'm not leaving. My husband owns a football team. And I've got these friends I don't think I can part from. But you've also got that man in there who adores the ground you walk on. Don't push him away."

Nodding, I reached up and hugged the fucker. "I'm happy you got him," I said, kissing his cheek. "I love you brother."

"Love you too." He clapped me on the back. "I'm going to go pack up."

I nodded as he walked to his bedroom. "Don't forget your shampoo," I called over my shoulder.

Dare laughed. "Oh no, I'm leaving that here for you and the Commander. You two seemed to enjoy that."

I chuckled and waved him on.

Rubbing away the pain in my chest, it occurred to me he was right. John cared about me for some damn reason. Maybe he even loved me. And I felt the same way about him.

I walked into the kitchen, no longer afraid to need the reassurance he gave me every day. But when I rounded the corner, I found him much different from when I left him a few minutes ago.

Something was wrong. John had both hands flat on the counter as he looked down at the ingredients and pots covering the counter. His jaw was tense like he was holding back his anger and his brow was furrowed as he peered down at the counter.

My heart sank when I saw what he was looking at. And when his eyes met mine, I felt his anger from across the room.

"John—"

He cut me off. "What the fuck am I looking at here, Brent?"

I frowned and propped my hands on my hips before I straightened my spine and stalked over to pick up the bag that held the hunting knife and my picture.

"None of your fucking business," I said, snatching it off the counter.

"The fuck it's not! Why did you hide this from me? From Dare? When did this happen?"

He was uncharacteristically losing his shit. But I was losing mine too.

"I can take care of myself and I can find whoever is doing all this shit. This doesn't concern anyone but me. It's about me."

John ran his hand over his head and threw his hands in the air. His voice got louder the more frustrated he got with me.

"I bet Daredevil won't agree with your bullshit. Neither will GQ or Phantom. And if you think for one goddamn fucking minute that I'm going to let you handle this alone, you're full of shit!"

Daredevil came into the kitchen, his brow furrowed. "What the hell is going on?"

John walked over and grabbed the bag from my hand, then held it out for Daredevil. "This asshole has been hiding this from everyone."

Dare took the bag and looked at the contents. "What the fuck, Brent? Where did this come from?"

"The motherfucking door" John barked. "That's where the gouge came from, isn't it? You lied to me. You said you didn't know how it happened!"

Fury grew inside me the more he came at me. The rational side of me knew it was out of fear, but I didn't need any of them involved in this.

"I'm a goddamn Navy SEAL. I don't need any of you to protect me from whatever nut job is doing this shit. I'll find them. So back the fuck off and let me handle it."

John gritted his teeth together and I could see the hurt in his eyes before he turned and walked away. He stopped in the middle of the floor and turned to look at me. "You're not doing this alone. I won't allow it."

I threw my hands up. "Why are you so fucking determined to take care of me?"

John leveled me with his expression. "Because I fucking love you. I fell in love with you the minute you touched me on the dance floor in Vegas. And if you think I'm going to allow my husband to deal with this bullshit alone, you're out of your goddamn mind."

He turned and walked out of the kitchen without another word.

Daredevil stared at me, wide-eyed as the front door opened and slammed shut. I waited for him to come charging back through the door, but he didn't.

"Dare—"

He picked up the bag and looked at it. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because this isn't about you. That proves it. You have a new husband and a new life, and I've pissed someone off. I'll find them on my own."

He laughed humorlessly. "He's right. You are out of your fucking mind."

I rolled my eyes. "You're all overreacting. I can handle it."

"I have no doubt that you could, but you don't have to handle it alone. Would you let me do it alone if it had been my picture instead of yours?"

As much as I wanted to say yes just to placate him, we both knew the truth. "No. I'd kick your ass."

"Then why should we let you do it alone? You know good and well that Jesse is going to lose his shit. And Michael…"

I hung my head, but he didn't get it. "You all have families now."

"And so do you. And you have that man who just stormed out of here. Who loves you. Who you're married to," he trailed off. "We're your fucking family asshole and it pisses me the fuck off that you dismiss our brotherhood."

My head was starting to hurt, so I sat down at the bar. "I'm not. I just wanted to protect you all from my bullshit. That's what we do. We protect one another."

Dare released a heavy sigh. "That's right. But you forget, we're protectors too. So deal with it."

He took out his phone and sent a message. My phone pinged, and I knew I'd been busted. "Let's go," he said, moving toward the door.

My brow furrowed. I didn't want to go anywhere. I needed to stay here and wait for John.

"Where are we going?" I asked, moving to get my shoes.

"I'm taking this to Phantom and calling GQ. You're going to go find your husband."