Sharpshooter (Shadow Agents #3)(23)
Author: Cynthia Eden

“We can’t—we can’t even think about that now. We have to get you well. That’s the priority, that’s—”

“Are you going to marry me?” He was yelling at her.

This wasn’t the man she’d known. “I want him back,” she said, lifting her chin. “I want the man I knew back. We’re getting you help. No matter what else happens, we’re getting you help.”

His hold tightened. “You won’t answer my damn question.” His hold was so hard that she knew he would leave bruises on her arms. “Have you been with him?”

“Slade—”

“You had sex with my brother.”

She flinched. I made love with him.

“And you won’t marry me. Back in Peru, you said…you said you still loved me, but you didn’t mean the words, did you? Just trying to keep me calm, controlled.” He said the last word as if it were a curse.

Sydney shook her head. “That’s not what I was doing! I care about you, Slade. A part of me will always love you.”

He dropped her. She stumbled, almost fell when her knees wanted to wobble. Her heart was racing fast, as fast as it did when she was in combat.

Slade turned away from her. “I don’t want your help, Sydney. I don’t want Mercer’s help. I don’t want anyone’s help.” He strode toward the door.

She rushed after him, grabbed his arm.

Slade spun around and hit her. Sydney wasn’t expecting the move, so she didn’t have time to block the blow. This time, her stumble wasn’t from weak knees. Then he was shoving her, slamming her against the wall. “You think you’re getting away from me? You’ll never get away from me!”

She tried to kick out at him, but he trapped her legs and—

“Let her go!” A roar. Gunner’s roar. The door banged against the wall, and in the next breath, Gunner was grabbing Slade and throwing him across the room.

Sydney tried to suck in deep breaths. She’d been in fights before. She’d been on battlefields, but…but this was different. This was Slade.

Gunner.

Gunner caught her hands and tucked her gently into his side. “Are you okay, baby?”

Slade snarled.

Gunner put his body in front of hers. “You know better than to ever raise a hand to her. Our grandfather taught us…you never hurt a woman. You know that.”

“That fool didn’t teach me a thing!”

Sydney peered over Gunner’s shoulder. Saw that the guard was holding Slade in a tight grip.

“He was a good man.” Gunner’s voice boiled with fury. “And you were once, too.”

But Slade…laughed?

“You will be again.” Now that booming voice—that came from Mercer. He’d just appeared in the doorway, right behind Slade and the guard. “We’re getting you help, son.”

Slade broke away from the guard and lunged for Gunner. “I’ll kill you!” His fist flew toward Gunner’s face.

But Gunner caught that fist. Caught it and shook his head. “No, you won’t. And you won’t ever hurt her again, either.” He grabbed Slade, twisted his body around and held him in an unbreakable hold. “You’re going in for any kind of help that the doctors can give you.”

“It’s a treatment facility,” Mercer murmured, watching them all carefully. “For veterans. They can give you what you need.”

Slade was trying to break away from Gunner. But Gunner held him in a tight grip.

The guard came forward and Mercer gave him—handcuffs?—to put on Slade. More guards entered the room, and they all started dragging Slade out.

Her heart was still racing too fast. Her hands were trembling, so she balled them into fists.

“You think you’re safe with him?” Slade shouted. He wasn’t going easily. Kicking, head-butting. “You don’t know what he’s really like!”

At that moment, she felt as if she didn’t know what anyone was really like. Her jaw hurt from where he’d hit her, and her arms throbbed. Nausea rolled in her stomach, and her cheeks seemed to be going numb.

“He wanted you, so he took you!” Slade’s voice was just getting louder. “He got me out of his way once, and he’s doing it again now!”

“Damn it, I’m trying to get you well!” Gunner snapped.

“He won’t let you go—he won’t! If he can’t have you, then he’ll make sure…he’ll make sure that no one else does, either! That’s why he’s sending me away, that’s why—”

The guards pulled him through the door. Sydney kept trying to suck in some much-needed oxygen. The room was spinning on her. Why was the room spinning?

“I’ll take care of him,” Mercer said as he slipped away to follow the guards and the sound of Slade’s yells.

Her cheeks didn’t feel cold anymore. Pinpricks of heat were shooting across them.

“Sydney…” Gunner turned back to face her. His face was locked in tight, angry lines. “Did he hurt you?” His gaze locked on her jaw. “Hell, of course he did. I see the mark he left on you.”

She shook her head. “I—I’m fine.” The words were such a lie. Sydney took a step forward. Don’t fall apart now. Don’t. Soldiers never fall apart. That was what her dad used to tell her. “A good soldier never falls. You carry on, no matter what.”

She took another step, trying to carry on.

But the spinning wouldn’t stop. And the room got dark so fast. She tried to grab for Gunner, but then she couldn’t grab anything. Her body went limp, and Sydney felt herself crashing to the floor.

She couldn’t even cry out Gunner’s name.

Couldn’t do anything…but collapse.

* * *

“SYDNEY!” GUNNER CAUGHT her before she hit the floor. He dived forward and wrapped his arms around her. He pulled her up into his arms, against his chest, holding her as carefully as he could. “Syd?”

Her head sagged back. Her eyes were closed.

Fear stabbed into him as he rushed for the door. “I need help, now!” His bellowing voice seemed to echo down the hall.

Slade was near the elevator. He turned, and his face went slack with shock when he saw Sydney in Gunner’s arms.

“What did you do?” Slade shouted.

Slade had been the one to hit her. The one to hurt her. And Gunner had never wanted to attack another man more in his life.

His brother.

And he could have ripped him apart. When he’d seen Slade punch Sydney…