The punch to the jaw from Matt caught him by surprise and hurt like hell. “I said, knock it off.” Matt nodded toward Nate. “Get your stuff, and get to the airport.”
Nate eyed Shane. “We can’t leave it like this.”
“We’ll deal with this later. For now, we’re under a deadline.” Matt turned back toward Shane. “Now, Nate.”
Grumbling, Nate turned and hustled toward the cabin.
Shane stepped to the side. He had to make his brother see reason. “Nate? This will all work out, you know.”
Nate slowly turned, a massive man standing in the rain, pure regret in his dark eyes. “We’ll go down fighting, Shane. That’s always been the plan.” He rubbed a hand through his hair, sending droplets flying.
“I know. We’ll win the fight,” Shane said.
Nate shook his head. “The fight ends bloody, and the fight ends sad. I’m sorry.” He moved into the cabin.
Shane frowned. “Is he right?”
Matt kicked a rock out of the way. “Probably.”
“He always does just what you say.” Was Nate a soldier or a brother?
Matt sighed. Emotion darkened his eyes. “Our childhood shapes us. Nate learned the hard way that orders matter—and that most things end bloody and sad.”
“Someday you’re going to have to explain that to me.”
Matt pinned Shane with a hard glare. “Fighting each other doesn’t help.”
Shane shuffled his feet. “He hit me first.”
Matt barked out a laugh. “We’re not teenagers. You’re fighting because you can’t figure out your life. And if you’re still standing, Nate seriously pulled his punches.”
So had Shane. “I know.” His chest hurt. He glanced down at his bloody knuckles. “Do you think he’s right? Does Josie make me weak?”
“Yes.” Matt shoved his hands in his pockets, allowing the rain to beat down on him. “And no.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Anybody you love is a weakness the commander will use. That’s how they kept us in line for so long—they used the threat of death over a brother.” Matt wiped rain off his face. “They’ll use Josie.”
Desperation felt like knives slicing his gut. “I can keep her safe.”
“Maybe. What about in three months when the chips activate?” Matt stepped wearily up the stairs. “Or when we finally find them and die taking them out?”
Shane stilled. “You don’t think we’ll find the code in time?”
Matt turned. “No. Where does that leave Josie then?” He shook his head. “Let her go, make her believe you’re letting her go so everyone else believes it, too. If you love her, you’ll let her find a life.” He opened the door. “We need to get to work now.” Slipping inside, he shut the door.
Shane stood in the rain, his thoughts swirling. What the hell was he going to do?
*
He’d left her alone. Given her space. While she’d slept in the big bed last night, Shane had worked with Matt on the computer. Trying to figure out where he’d been the last two years. Didn’t those men ever need sleep? Josie tapped her heel on the floorboard of her Toyota, refusing to look at her husband in the driver’s seat. God forbid he let her drive her own car.
A new hardness cut lines into the sides of his mouth. “We’ll go in and get the files, angel. Then we leave.”
She continued her study of the trees outside. She felt numb inside. “No. I have thirty clients, Shane. I need to work.” Especially since it now appeared her new life was permanent. Without him.
The SUV bounced along deep potholes. “I’m not completely unreasonable.” He ignored her snort of disbelief and continued, “I understand your job. If you need to finish up with your current clients, we can work something out.” Deep, sincere, and so full of compromise, his voice pissed her off beyond belief.
“We have nothing to work out.” Once he left, she’d be fine. And alone. So alone. She rubbed chilled arms.
“Listen, I’m trying to compromise here. If I had my way, you’d be secured at the cabin right this second. You said you needed to wrap things up at work, and I’m going against my instincts in agreeing.” Shane reached forward and flicked on the heater. He cleared his throat. “I actually remember my childhood. All of it.”
She stilled. “How?”
A masculine exhale filled the vehicle. “Matt. Once he started talking, memories came flooding back. So many.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “My first mission was to assassinate a drug dealer in New York.”
Her breath caught. Did she really want to know this? “How old were you?”
“Twelve.” His inflection didn’t change.
So young. Josie straightened her shoulders. She wouldn’t feel sorry for him. “Did you?”
“Yes.”
She didn’t want the details. “Oh. Do you want to talk about it?”
“Shit, no.” His voice softened. “There are things you shouldn’t know. Things I can protect you from. Please let me.”