Decked (The Invincibles Book 1)
Page 18
When I closed my eyes, I heard something I never had before. Mila was singing.
I’m so tired, but I can’t sleep
Standin’ on the edge of something much too deep
It’s funny how we feel so much but cannot say a word
We are screaming inside, but we can’t be heard
I will remember you. Will you remember me?
Don’t let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories
I’m so afraid to love you
But more afraid to lose…you.
With the last word she sang, Mila turned around and held her hand out to me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as I walked over to her.
“I remembered you and you remembered me, Decker. Don’t you think that means something?” She stood and put her arms around me.
“I think it means everything.”
“I love you, Decker.”
“I love you, Mila. Just you.”
“I know.”
“Do you?” I asked.
She nodded.
“I need to say this, though.”
“Go ahead.”
“I don’t care about a red cent you inherited or an acre of land or whatever else Judd Knight left you. If you told me you gave it all away, I wouldn’t care. Not at all.”
“There isn’t anyone else on this earth I would believe if they said those words. Only you.”
“You haven’t answered my question. What are you doing here?”
“I hate Boston, but more importantly, I love you. I didn’t belong there, Decker.”
I smiled, tilted my head back, and looked up at the ceiling.
“What?” she asked, resting her hand on my heart.
“I rode out today knowing, or believing, it would be my last time.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but the biggest one was not getting on that plane and going to Boston with you.”
“You know where I want you to go with me now?”
I shook my head.
“Upstairs. Decker.”
She took her phone out of her pocket and turned it off, so I did the same.
“Where’s the other one?”
“Back at the ranch.”
“Good. I don’t want anyone or anything to interrupt us. I want you to show me what love is, Decker. Not just today…”
“Every day—for the rest of our lives, Mila.
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Edged
I had one more night in Texas, and then I had to fly to Boston—a place I had zero interest in going, for a reason I didn’t give a shit about.
If it were for work, that would be different. If there was a mission to be had, I was the first to raise my hand, particularly now that I’d left the rules and regulations of MI5 behind and was a partner in the Invincible Intelligence and Security Group.
One of the partner’s girlfriend had first started calling us the Invincibles, and it took. Yeah, it sounded cocky as shit, but we all were, so what the hell?
I’d tried to get Grinder to come out with me tonight, but my friend was in what I referred to as his dark place. The man had PTSD from a deployment with ISAF—the International Security Assistance Force was a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan. I admired the guy enough to respect the times when he wasn’t interested in socializing.
I could’ve asked Rile, the eldest of the four partners, but that would be almost as bad as going out with my secondary school headmaster.
It wasn’t as though I wouldn’t know anyone at the Branch tonight; most of the hands who worked on the King-Alexander Ranch, where I was currently staying, frequented the place on Friday nights.
I pulled into the crowded parking lot and found a spot a few rows from the entrance.
Climbing out of the 1957 Ford pickup I’d borrowed, I slammed the creaky door closed. The locks had a tendency to stick, so I didn’t bother trying to secure the vehicle. If any wanker tried to make off with it, this truck, like the rest of those at the ranch, was equipped with a tracking device that would allow the engine to be shut off remotely.
I hadn’t done it yet, but if I was ever given the chance to, I’d press the kill button as soon as the driver hit a decent speed. For the Ford, that would be about seventy since the old thing wouldn’t go much faster than that. I chuckled, thinking about the look on the bastard’s face when the truck flipped end to end on one of the area’s dirt roads.
It was hotter than Hades tonight with close to one hundred percent humidity, but I still wore my pearl snap shirt and pressed Cinch jeans. Anything else would get me tossed out of the Branch on my head.
Walking past a newer edition pickup, I averted my eyes when I saw the front bench seat was occupied by a couple going at it. I was almost to the back bumper when I realized the sounds the woman was making weren’t those of pleasure.
I spun around, wrenched open the door, grabbed the asshole by the shirt collar, and pulled him away from the woman I now could tell was trying to fight the guy off.
“What the fuck?” the guy slurred.
I threw him up against the truck next to this one, and as I did, I got a whiff of alcohol.
Holding the drunk asshole by the neck, I turned around to tell the woman to get dressed and get the hell out of there, but she was ahead of me. Instead of getting out of the passenger side, she climbed out the driver’s side, walked straight over to the drunk, and slammed her knee into his crotch. I cringed just thinking about how much that had to hurt.
When she threw a punch into the guy’s gut, I thought I may have just fallen in love at first sight.
“That’ll teach you to wrangle a woman in the parking lot and try to rape her, Possum.”
“Wadn’t rape, you ol’ bitch.”
“This ain’t the supermarket, dickhead. You can’t just throw a woman in your cart and have a go at her.”
I let the guy go, and he fell to the ground, rubbing his crotch.
Whoever the feisty woman was, turned to me, got on her tiptoes, and planted a kiss right on my lips.
“Thanks, Edge,” she said as she walked away. “You can put me in your cart any ol’ time you want, cowboy.”
When the guy tried to grab her ankle, I bent down to give him a warning of what would happen if he didn’t let go. When I stood back up, the woman was gone. Not just gone, flat out disappeared.
“Who was that?” I murmured to myself. I leaned back down to find the drunk had passed out. I couldn’t just leave him there; someone might run him over. While it might be what the wanker deserved, I hauled him up and tossed him into the back of his pickup, making sure he hit his head once going in and then again when he landed.
“Fuckin’ Rebel,” I heard the man say before he passed out again.
I looked around the parking lot a few more minutes, hoping the mysterious woman reappeared. Disappointed when she didn’t, I decided I might as well head into the bar and have a pint before returning to the ranch.
I pulled open the heavy door and made my way through the crowd. When I got up to the bar, Bobby brought me a beer before I had a chance to order.
“This one’s on her,” said Bobby, pointing to the end of the bar.
I looked to where the bartender motioned and met the woman’s eyes. “What’s her name?”
“Rebel.”
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Also by Heather Slade
THE INVINCIBLES
Book One: Decked
Coming Soon!
Book Two: Edged
Book Three: Grinded
Book Four: Riled
Book Five: Caspered
Book Six: Tackled
K19 SECURITY SOLUTIONS
Book One: Razor
Book Two: Gunner
Book Three: Mistletoe
Book Four: Mantis
Book Five: Dutch
Book Six: Striker
Book Seven: Monk
Coming Soon!
Book Eight: Halo
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SECTION 6
Book One: Shiver
Book Two: Wilder
Book Three: Pinch
Book Four: Shadow
Coming Soon!
Book Five: Quiver
BUTLER RANCH
Available Now!
Book One: Brodie
Book Two: Maddox
Book Three: Naughton
Book Four: Mercer
Book Five: Kade
COWBOYS OF CRESTED BUTTE
Available Now!
Book One: Fall for Me
Book Two: Dance with Me
Book Three: Kiss Me Cowboy
Book Four: Stay with Me
Book Five: Win Me Over