Except he had. Maybe not his words, but his tone. They’d had an amazing evening together, and then her fun-loving Trent had gotten all serious and basically told her, “Don’t call me. I’ll call you.” Maybe it was best that they hadn’t slept together. If they had, his next call would have seemed like a booty call. Destiny wanted much more than that, and she hoped Trent still did, too. Something definitely felt off.
Chapter 16
The moment Trent shut his door, he texted Merlin.
She just left.
I’m on it.
Can’t thank you enough.
No thanks needed, Zip. You know that. We’re a team.
Trent knew that well. He would do anything for his teammates, and they would likewise do anything for him, even if this time it meant following his woman back to her grandmother’s house to keep her safe.
Trent busied himself cleaning his kitchen and then sat at the kitchen table with his laptop. This entire situation was a fucking mess. He’d just lied to Destiny, and she knew it. His omissions were obvious to her. Her mistrust was in her eyes even though she hadn’t said a word.
When he thought back on everything he’d said, he groaned. He wouldn’t go out with himself again after hearing that ridiculous speech.
“Don’t call me.”
“Don’t come to my apartment.”
“I’ll let you know when I can see you.”
“We’ll meet in secret locations so no one finds out about us.”
Jesus. If Destiny didn’t know him better or wasn’t committed to making this work, she’d have to assume he was either embarrassed to be seen with her, married, or a serial killer.
He ran a hand through his hair, set his elbows on the table, and closed his eyes. He was a selfish prick for dragging her down this path with him. Why he’d ever thought it would be a good idea to bring a woman into his life was beyond him. He’d never even considered entering into a serious relationship. His job meant he would disappear on a moment’s notice and be gone for long periods of time with no contact.
And all that was before he’d added the unforeseen aspect of someone hunting him down on U.S. soil with the intent to kill him. At least until this mission, Trent had always lived in the relative comfort of believing when he was home, he was free. Now, that notion had exploded.
Even if he somehow managed to locate and eliminate this threat, there would simply be another right behind it. Best case scenario at the moment was for Trent’s team to locate Farid Demir and take him into custody or end his life. Then what? That would never be the end. Onur would lose his shit if his brother didn’t return home having accomplished his mission. Onur would send someone else.
Trent’s entire team as well as Commander Turano were well aware of this problem. It was unspoken but filled every meeting room with its ominousness. Roe’s furrowed brow when they met spoke volumes. Trent was fucked, and no one had thought of a way out of this mess.
He had no business dragging a civilian into his problems. Not his mom, his dad, or Destiny. Every time he saw her, he would be putting her at risk. Was it worth it? After all, Trent was a ticking time bomb. His days seemed to be numbered. Maybe he could evade Farid for a few more weeks. Maybe his team would find the fucker and take him out. But then what? They sat around waiting for Onur to send his next hitman?
In no scenario could Trent fathom life after this threat. It didn’t exist. He had no business spending time with Destiny. It simply made things harder. He was selfish and greedy for even considering it or giving her hope that he would call and set something clandestine up with her.
He felt like a world-class fuck for acting like he was doing this for her. What a joke. He hadn’t believed for a moment that the town or his parents would flinch to find out Trent was dating Destiny, but she did. She’d shared how people talked behind her back, and that killed him because he hadn’t known when he should have. As for those who did that, fuck them. He didn’t care what they thought, so long as they kept their opinions to themselves and left Destiny alone.
Granted, out of respect for Destiny’s feelings and because he had never walked in her shoes, he would grant her anything she wanted. But the truth was, he’d taken her request and twisted it into this giant lie. He did so to protect himself, but when she found out—and she would—she would be so damn furious with him, she would probably walk away anyway.
What a fucking disaster.
Trent shoved from the table and stomped to his bedroom. There was no way he could concentrate on research right now. His head was in the wrong place. He needed to change into workout clothes and make use of his limited weights and treadmill to work himself hard and drive himself to exhaustion. Only then could he manage to sleep.
Chapter 17
“Talk to me, Zip.”
Trent was pacing his apartment, which he’d been doing for hours. Woof had arrived fifteen minutes ago and was sitting on the sofa, elbows on his knees, hands rubbing together. He knew as well as Trent this current situation was a shitshow.
When Trent first moved into this apartment, he’d been rather fond of it. The layout seemed good. The view. The kitchen was larger than average. It was freshly painted and had newer carpet. Now? Now, he never wanted to see it again.
“What do you want to know?” he asked Woof.
“I get that you’re stir-crazy, but I’ve never seen you this frustrated. You’re usually the most upbeat one of all of us.”
Trent rolled his eyes. “You come here where I’m basically in hiding, where I spent several hours with my woman last night, and tell me that Demir has fucking been spotted in Dallas, and you want me to fucking calm down? Jesus, Destiny lives in Dallas.”
Woof nodded. “You’re right. I get it. It’s fucked up. We can keep an eye on Destiny’s place if it’ll make you feel better.”
“Is there any chance they’re wrong? Maybe the guy they’ve tagged is someone else?” Trent was grasping at straws here. His team didn’t make mistakes, and no way would Woof come over and lower this kind of boom on him if he hadn’t triple-checked the details himself.
“Roe is emailing you the surveillance pics. Trust me. It’s him. First a gas station and then a motel.”
Trent stopped pacing to look out the window, seeing nothing.
Behind him, Woof took a deep breath and blew it out. “Speaking of, how’d it go last night with Destiny?” Trent appreciated that Woof would do anything to keep Trent’s mind off the danger he was in.
Trent sighed. “Fantastic. And I need to stop seeing her.”
“Why would you do that?”
He spun around and leaned against the window sill. “I could ask you how you manage a long-distance relationship with Nori. I could ask you how you juggle your job and hers. I could ask for advice on how to make this work. But the truth is, none of that matters in my case. I’ll never be a free man. I’m dragging her into a dangerous situation every time I see her. Putting her life at great risk. And now you tell me Farid is fucking stalking me.”
“We don’t know that yet. There’s no evidence he’s found you. He just knows where we’re all stationed.”
Trent rolled his eyes. “Great. I feel so much better.”
Woof leaned forward. “Forget Farid for a moment. About Destiny. You can’t think like that. We all know what the commitment is to Delta Force, and yet many of us have managed to meet a significant other who’s willing to put up with our weird hours and crappy availability. Not just any woman can make that commitment. It takes a special person with immeasurable strength to overlook our inability to discuss a mission, the constant secrets, the sudden calls to duty. But women like that exist. Nori is one of them. Hell, she’s working overseas. We’re both making a sacrifice.”
Trent pulled in a long breath. “I might have seen your point until this shit happened. What no one on the team is willing to say out loud even though all of us know it’s true, is that I’ll never be safe again. Demir won’t give up. We can capture his brother and
lock him up, but Demir will just send another hitman. You know it. We all know it. I don’t want Destiny to know it, however. It’s not fair to her.”
“First of all, we’re going to work our asses off to put an end to this threat, so don’t talk like it’s not possible to squelch it for good. We’re a team. We’ve got this. We’ve handled worse missions than this in the past and won. We will this time, too.”
Trent had lost the ability to believe that was even an option, so he didn’t respond.
“Second of all, you don’t get to make decisions for Destiny. All you can do is give her the facts and let her decide what she is willing to live with.”
Trent jerked his face up to respond. “You know I can’t talk to her about this mission or any other. My hands are tied. And she left here last night looking at me with mistrust. I’ve given her no reason to trust me at all on every occasion we’ve gotten together. Why should she? I’ve been lying to her, and I keep insisting we sneak around so no one knows we’re seeing each other. It’s crazy. I have no idea why she would ever take another call from me again.”
Woof shook his head. “I’m not suggesting you mention the specifics. I’m saying you should tell her you’re in danger. Give her just enough so that she will understand the gravity of this situation. If you at least explain why you’re not available to go to dinner and a movie, she won’t have to be so suspicious.”
Trent’s shoulders dropped. “Not going to happen.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because I don’t want her to worry. She already lost my brother to an IED. I won’t have her thinking some sharpshooter might take me out while we’re walking to the car. She’d never be able to deal with the loss of yet another boyfriend serving his country.”
Woof sighed. “Like I said before, you can’t make that decision for her.”
“I already did. I don’t want her to worry. I don’t want her life in danger, either. And I sure as fuck don’t want that problem to follow her around for the rest of her life. She’s better off without me. She should find a nice man who isn’t wanted by a guerilla group in Kazarus.”
Trent turned back to face the window. He didn’t want to argue this point anymore. He was exhausted from not getting enough sleep. He really needed to make a clean break with Destiny and get his head screwed back on straight before his distraction got him shot in the head.
When Woof spoke again, he was standing much closer. “I can practically see you digging your heels in on this. Stop it. Don’t put your life on hold. We’ve all got your back. Make another plan with her. Why don’t you meet her in Lancelot or something? It’s a small town. Off the beaten path. We’ll make sure you aren’t detected leaving town, and we’ll have your back.”
Trent smirked. “Lancelot. What the fuck’s in Lancelot? Did you pull that out of your ass?”
Woof chuckled. “It was the first thing that came to mind. It’s a small town with an amazing bookstore called Camelot Rare Books and Antiquities. Meet her there. She’ll probably love the place. I haven’t met anyone who didn’t.”
Trent stared at Woof for several seconds. “I don’t know. Feels like I’m postponing the inevitable and leading Destiny down a dead-end road. It’s not fair to her.”
“Look, I know you two have history and all, so you already knew each other when you hooked up that night at the bar—”
Trent interrupted. “‘Hooked up’ is a pretty strong term for me carrying a very drunk Destiny back to my apartment to vomit and sleep off her hangover. It’s not like we slept together.”
Woof shrugged. “Whatever. Not important. The point is that you’ve been on two amazing dates since then. I’m going to assume they went very well or you wouldn’t be so torn and out of sorts. We’re in a holding pattern here until Farid Demir makes himself visible again. At least we’ve got him pinned down to a city. In the meantime, go after the woman who has you tied in knots. Don’t let her slip away without making certain. If she’s the one, none of this will matter. You’ll find a way to make it work.”
Trent swallowed over the lump in his throat. “I don’t need another date with Destiny to know if she’s the one. I didn’t even need the first date. I was certain in my heart the morning she woke up in my apartment all tousled and hungover. If I’m honest with myself, I knew I’d struck gold from the moment she started blabbering all drunk and cute in that bar, telling me how she’d felt about me her entire life. I’m pretty sure I was done for that very second.”
Woof smiled. “Then stop acting like a fool and make another plan. Don’t let her slip away over this shit. You know you have four teammates who will absolutely take out this threat even if we all die trying.”
Trent knew Woof was right about that last part. He would do anything for his team. They had a bond. They had each other’s backs. Nothing would ever break that kind of camaraderie and commitment. “Fine, but if you’re gonna be so damn invested in making sure I have a woman in my life, you better have my six.”
“You know it, brother. Always.”
Chapter 18
Destiny smiled as the chime sounded over the doorway when she stepped into the quaint bookstore in Lancelot, Texas. Camelot Rare Books & Antiquities. The smell of old books made her close her eyes and inhale slowly. It was late afternoon, and she knew she was early, but it didn’t matter. She could easily spend hours in this bookstore.
“Good afternoon,” came a voice from behind the register. “Can I help you find anything?”
Destiny turned her gaze to the young woman behind the counter and headed her direction. “I’m actually meeting someone here. He thought this would be a good location in case he was late.” Destiny glanced around at the treasure trove of antiques and old books. “He was obviously right. What a cute store. I’ve heard about this place for years, but I’ve never stopped in Lancelot to explore.”
The woman smiled as she rounded the counter and held out a hand. “I’m Gwen. I’ll have to thank him for the recommendation.” Gwen had gorgeous red hair that didn’t want to stay tucked behind her ears.
“Even if Trent doesn’t show up for hours, I won’t be disappointed. Who wouldn’t enjoy getting stuck in a treasure trove of old books?”
“I agree. I could stay in here for days or years. Oh wait, that’s exactly what I do,” she joked.
Destiny laughed. “There’s no way I can keep from asking how on earth a woman named Gwen owns a bookstore named Camelot in a town called Lancelot.”
Gwen smiled. “It’s over the top, isn’t it?” She took a breath. “Simple really. My grandparents and parents are obsessed with Arthurian legend. So, they named me Guinevere.” She shrugged.
“I don’t suppose you’re married to a man named Arthur?” Destiny teased.
“Nope. Not married at all. But that’s my dad’s name.”
Destiny chuckled. “Of course it is. I do know a man named Merlin.”
Gwen’s cute freckles danced on her cheeks as she smiled. “Can’t say I’ve ever met a Merlin.”
“He’s a friend of Trent’s.”
“And Trent is your boyfriend?”
“I’m not sure I’m ready to call him my boyfriend yet, but maybe.”
Gwen grinned. “He must be a romantic if he asked you to meet him here at Camelot.”
Destiny shrugged. “Can’t tell you that yet, either. Jury is still out. We actually just reconnected after not seeing each other for many years. We’ve only really seen each other three times this month. The first one hardly counts since I was drunk.”
Gwen’s eyes widened. “You got drunk on your first date?”
“Nope. I ran into him at a bar one night and drained several tequila shots so I could find the courage to blab my lifelong lust for him like a crazy woman.”
Gwen’s face lit up further. “I love it. So now what? Why are you meeting him in Lancelot?”
Destiny shrugged. “Trent is in the Army. He’s in the middle of some sort of local mission and he refuses to meet up w
ith me any place where someone might see us.” Destiny glanced around again. There weren’t any other customers in the store right now, but she felt bad monopolizing Gwen’s time. “Sorry. I’m talking your ear off. I’m sure you have other things you’d rather be doing.”
Gwen shook her head and waved a hand through the air. “Not at all. Meeting interesting people is my favorite part of this job. Well, okay, next to finding a first edition of Walden. Your story is fascinating. You think Trent is protecting you?”
Destiny sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe. I’m trying not to be ‘that woman,’ the mistrustful kind who nags and whines, but it’s been a challenge.”
“I’m sure you’re not. You don’t seem like that to me at all.” Gwen leaned back against the counter.
“Yeah, well, the irony is that I’m the one who insisted we take things slow and keep our relationship secretive. I’ve known his parents most of my life and didn’t want them to find out about us just in case we decided we didn’t have a spark. And I didn’t want the town to know prematurely so the gossip mills wouldn’t start up. I was insistent. And then my idea began to seem absurd after our first date. I couldn’t even remember why the hell I would care if anyone knew we were dating. Suddenly, the tables turned and it’s Trent who insists we sneak around. He’s gone out of his way this time to meet me out of town and hide from anyone we might know.”
Gwen just nodded slowly, waiting for more.
“Honestly, I’m starting to wonder if he’s embarrassed to be seen with me. He originally thought I’d lost my mind, but then he switched sides and agreed we should hide. Now, it’s grown absurd. If I was waiting for clarity about my feelings for him, I had that in spades about ten minutes into our first date. Now, I’d rather go straight to his parents and spill the entire secret. But nooo… I’m in Lancelot, thirty minutes from Killeen, meeting Trent for a clandestine rendezvous.” Destiny heard the sarcasm in her voice and winced. “Sorry, that was totally TMI.”
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