What I Fight For: A Bad Boy Military Romance (Easy Team Book 1)

by Gemma Hart

  Margie wailed and began crying again. “It’s all my fault!” she sobbed. “I should’ve stayed with her!”

  Tammy gathered the older woman into her arms. “There’s no guarantee that you could’ve prevented it,” she soothed. “If anything, you might’ve gotten kidnapped yourself. Or injured.”

  “She’s right,” I added firmly. “Don’t blame yourself. This has nothing to do with you.”

  Doc Jones eyed me sharply.

  “Does it have something to do with you?” he asked quietly.

  I looked at the man who clearly cared for Emilia like a daughter.

  “Yes,” I said after awhile. “But I plan on fixing it. I’m bringing her back, hell or high water. I promise you that.”

  Doc Jones stared at me wordlessly before grabbing my arm again and squeezing.

  “Hell or high water,” he repeated. “Bring her back.”

  I squeezed Doc’s arm in reassurance.

  I thought of El Salvador. I thought of those lost little girls at camp. I thought of all the lives Randall had ruined and destroyed over the years. It all ended tonight. I would end all of it tonight.

  “I will,” I said. “I swear it.”

  Chapter Twenty One

  Emilia

  I gasped as the door swung open.

  I jerked around as best I could. My wrists were starting to ache from being tied so long. And my right hand was feeling more swollen than ever. I was glad the wrappings had been changed before I had gone into the refugee camp.

  “It looks like we’re going to have a visitor soon,” Randall said, his tall body outlined in the doorway.

  My heart leaped.

  As terrified as I was of putting Cooper in danger, the idea of seeing him again made my whole body sigh in relief. There was no place on Earth I felt safer and happier than in Cooper’s arms.

  I heard Randall’s- footsteps fall heavily in the room as he approached me. I felt my skin crawl as he neared and winced but then winced again as I felt my face spasm in pain from my bruised and swollen cheek.

  “Guess Prince Charming is going to come after all,” Randall said, standing in front of me. He leaned down over me with his arms crossed. “I guess he isn’t too high and mighty on his moral horse to smuggle a criminal out of town.”

  He actually looked smug, as if pleased with himself for finding a fault in Cooper.

  I just looked up at him, wordless. My eye was already starting to swell shut on one side.

  “Happy?” Randall asked, practically smirking at me.

  “Are you?” I shot back, my voice a little husky. I don’t know how long he had left me in the room for. An hour? Maybe more. All I know is I had been lightly dozing in and out of exhaustion from an adrenaline spike.

  Randall’s lips twitched. “I will be,” he said. “Once I’m out of this fucking shithole. This place is desperation built on fuck-all. No wonder it’s all crumbling.”

  “It’s crumbling,” I said, fighting for each word through my pained jaw, “because people like you take advantage of the downtrodden, making things harder for those trying to survive.”

  Randall eyed me with a critical gaze, his brows arched sharply at me. After a moment of intense scrutiny, he shrugged and shook his head, chuckling.

  “Either you really don’t have an instinct for self-preservation,” he said, “or you are one ballsy bitch.”

  “Let’s say neither, if those are my only choices,” I muttered.

  That only made him laugh harder. He looked down at me with a renewed interest. I saw his eyes glimmer in the dim room with a light that looked something very akin to respect.

  He squatted onto his haunches, leaning his weight back on the heels of his feet, so he could match my eye line. He stretched an arm out, resting his hand on the back of my chair.

  “You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that,” he said. I tried to look away, to not meet his gaze but I hardly had enough room to move too far away. “You’re wasted in a hospital.”

  If half my face wasn’t so sore, I would’ve rolled my eyes.

  “If you were to go back to the States now, all you’d have in front of you is a life of flus and stitches and an occasional exotic diagnosis or two,” he said, his voice taking on a more serious tone. “But you should have more than that. You should experience what else is on the other side of life.”

  “If by the other side, you mean sex trafficking and drug dealing, then no thank you,” I bit out.

  Randall shook his head, not even paying attention to my barbed tone. “The other side is the other side of proper. Don’t look at the small details. Look at the big picture. Always toeing the line and crossing your T’s and dotting your I’s. None of that will lead you to anything worthwhile.”

  I quickly thought of Edward. He had been what had happened when I had followed all the right steps in life. And I couldn’t have been more hurt or broken afterwards.

  But when I had followed instinct and let the chaos of life fall into my lap, Cooper had come with it. And with him, my heart had been swept up into something more adventurous and daring and wonderful than I could’ve ever dreamed.

  “And you think you could give me something worthwhile,” I said slowly.

  Randall never broke his gaze. For the first time since I met him, his face wore the expression of honesty. His dark eyes bore into mine with pure openness.

  “I know I can,” he said with complete confidence.

  Despite all the fear and panic and exhaustion, now it was my turn to smirk. “Then you don’t know me at all,” I said.

  Randall quirked an eyebrow. “Oh?” he challenged

  “Oh,” I confirmed. “You think a doctor, sworn to save lives whenever and wherever we can, would find peace in a life with a person who kills and destroys human lives with absolutely no regard? You think just because you were so easily swayed by money and adventure, anyone would be. But that’s not the case with me and that’s not the case with Coop—”

  Before I could finish, he gripped my cheeks fiercely, making me cry out in pain. His lips descended on mine, taking my literal breath away as his tongue violated my mouth.

  “Don’t think you’re better than me,” he bit out against my lips, his hot breath stirring my hair. “Don’t think you or Hawk are better than me! There’s nothing he has that I don’t.” He kissed me savagely again, biting my lip, letting me taste the irony tang of blood. “Drown your life with his if you want but drown knowing damn well that you’re no better than me!”

  He wrenched away from me, leaving me gasping for air. I could smell and taste him all over me, leaving me shaking and quivering for a moment away from him. To have a chance to feel my own breath without his poisoning it.

  Randall ran a hand down his face.

  “Maybe you’re not as smart as I thought,” he said after a moment. With a rough jerk, he pulled me up to my feet. I stumbled, my legs weak and his hand tight around my arm.

  “A smart girl would’ve known better how to speak to the man who held her life in his hands,” he said, nearly dragging me towards the door.

  “Wh-Where are we going?” I asked, my heart beginning to race. I knew I had been pushing what little luck I had. I should’ve just kept my mouth shut. But my swollen face, his knowing leer, his unwanted touches, they had made it impossible for me to stay silent.

  “We’re going to get you dressed,” he said with a dark smile. “After all, we have company coming.”

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Cooper

  I turned around and gave the signal to Tennessee.

  He nodded and skillfully jumped off the back of the truck. In a matter of moments, he was swallowed up into the night. I touched my earpiece, waiting for a report.

  After a minute, I heard Ten call in.

  “I’m heading into position, Hawk,” he reported.

  “North?”

  As we approached Randall’s base, we realized there was a small rise north of it that would probably be the most suita
ble for a sniper. But with absolutely no chance for recon work, it was only a guess at best. Nothing could be known for sure until we saw it for ourselves.

  “North,” Tennessee confirmed. “I think I’ll have a clear shot of the northeastern windows which look like the main entrance hall. You need to make sure you stay in the area.”

  “Copy that,” I said. I looked over my shoulder and called out, “Got that? Northeastern hall.”

  The men, who had all heard Tennessee’s report in their own earpieces, nodded.

  The truck rumbled along silently as we all sat, prepared and ready for whatever was waiting for us.

  This was an extremely fly-by plan that had a very small margin for error. We had to be extremely careful and quick if we wanted to succeed.

  “Remember,” I said, turning around from the front seat of the truck to the rest of Easy Team. “Our primary goal is to get Emilia out alive. Randall is secondary. And most importantly, mine.”

  The eyes of Easy Team glinted with acknowledgment. They knew the relationship that had grown between their captain and Emilia. And that meant I had a personal stake in what happened to Randall.

  “We look to be about half a click away, boss,” Tweety reported from behind the wheel.

  I turned to three of the men. “Go!” I signaled.

  They immediately jumped out of the truck, our small stash of explosives tucked in their packs.

  Randall’s abandoned building was nearly on top of us and we needed to make sure all of us found our position quickly and discreetly.

  The explosives needed to be placed strategically but we had no idea what or who was in the building except Randall and Emilia. The men would have to do a covert recon before placing their explosives but they had to do it fast. We had no idea how many men would be guarding inside.

  I tapped my fingers against my knee. This was all a huge gamble of luck.

  But I didn’t fucking care. Emilia was in danger and I was going to get her back.

  Finally, Tweety pulled the truck to a stop.

  There were two guards posted in front of the main entrance. I quickly assessed them. They had guns but no rifles. Not bad.

  Perhaps luck was on our side.

  We hopped out of the truck. We had made sure that only some of Easy Team would be outfitted with rifles. It made us look less threatening and prepared than the guards that would be under Randall.

  And it clearly worked. The two guards at the door nearly smirked when they saw that not all of us had rifles.

  Perfect.

  It didn’t matter to us. One untrained man with a rifle was nothing compared to a dozen men who had sheer skill and knowledge in their bare hands.

  “Where is Randall?” I asked in Qunari to the guards.

  They looked at each other before opening the doors and making an abrupt gesture at us to enter.

  I led the way, coming into the dim and broken building. This building, although larger than the meeting hall in our town, was in a more delicate and derelict state.

  Well, I corrected myself, before the earthquake that is.

  This building clearly had withstood most of the quake but portions of it had crumbled and cracked.

  We walked down the hall, a dim light crackling above us. At the end, on the left, were a set of double doors with two more guards standing by it. These men did have rifles.

  But before we were even half way down the hallway, the doors opened and Randall stepped through. Dressed in his ridiculous attire of black slacks and a casually unbuttoned white shirt, he grinned when he saw me. His arms held wide in welcome, he said, “Ah, Hawk! My old comrades! How good to see you guys again!”

  Despite his light tone, I could see the dark smudges under his eyes, the strained lines bracketing his lips. He had spent several hours now afraid for his life. And as well he should. As we spoke, there were probably several dozen people looking for this man’s head. His hours were limited if he didn’t get out of the country fast.

  Bear snorted in disgust behind me. Comrade, my ass, I could nearly hear him thinking.

  Randall stood at the end of the hallway, making no move towards us. And I kept my position, making no move to come closer.

  Randall squinted at the men behind me. “That’s it? Where’s the rest of the team?” he asked suspiciously. I could see his mind quickly whirring as he imagined ambush tactics.

  “We needed to send some to the airstrip to secure it,” I said as if stating a painfully obvious fact. “You’re a high value target here. There’s no way we could be sure the airstrip wasn’t already being patrolled without us going there to secure it.”

  Randall raised his brows in surprise and unexpected delight. “Well,” he said, pleased, “I’m glad to see you’re taking this mission seriously.” He ran a finger under his lips, smirking. “But I guess having the right motivation helps.”

  “Where is Emilia?” I demanded.

  “Speaking of which,” he said, smiling broadly. He nodded towards one of the guards who opened the double doors and stepped inside.

  “Wh-What are you doing?”

  My throat tightened hearing her frightened voice. I curled my fist, forcing myself not to grab my gun and shoot Randall down dead, consequences be damned.

  The guard reappeared towing Emilia by the arm.

  “I had her specially decked out just for you,” Randall said, grabbing Emilia and placing her directly in front of him, his hands resting on her shoulders. “How do you like it?”

  “Holy. Fuck,” Bear muttered behind me.

  Anger and shock ran through my body like molten lava, leaving me barely able to see straight. Randall’s grin widened at seeing my raging fury.

  Over her dusty working clothes, Emilia was strapped into a large black vest that was gratuitously decked out in C4 bricks, all wired together. Randall tucked a finger under the shoulder strap of the vest.

  “Consider this additional motivation,” he said, smiling. “Fail to get me out of this country and this little lady is going to light up the night sky.”

  A tear rolled down Emilia’s cheek.

  Blood colored my vision as I noticed how swollen her cheek was. Her lips were red and bruised with dried blood staining her chin. He had touched her. No. Not touched. Hit. He, a trained soldier and former mercenary, had hit a woman who was probably no more than half his weight.

  Fucking coward. Fucking scum.

  “You…hit…her,” I breathed out, each word searing my throat in my rage.

  I felt Bear discreetly grip the back of my arm in warning. I couldn’t lose my temper now. Our plan had such a small margin for error.

  And yet….God, I wanted to fucking destroy the man!

  “Nah!” Randall said in a broad, playful voice. His hands on Emilia’s shoulders, he gave her teasing shake, which made her cry out in surprise. I nearly took a step forward but Bear kept a tight hold on the back of my arm.

  “Hit?” he said, grinning. “No, I just gave her a lesson in manners.” Randall ran a finger down Emilia’s cheek, making her wince away. “Didn’t I, darling?”

  Before I could run down the hall and bury my fist so far into his face, I’d have his cheekbones lodged into my knuckles, Tennessee’s voice crackled into my earpiece.

  “Hawk, I’ve got you,” he said. “Randall is lined up perfectly. I’m good whenever you give me the go ahead.”

  Bear, standing a little behind me to cover himself, responded in a low voice, “Ten, do you have visual on Dr. Lyon?”

  “Touch her again and I won’t get you anywhere near the fucking airstrip,” I said, partly out of anger but partly to cover up Bear’s conversation.

  Randall grinned. “Then she’ll die,” he said simply.

  I shook my head. “We’ll all die,” I corrected. “But I’ll make sure yours is a slow and painful death.”

  Randall laughed.

  “She’s a little out of sight,” Tennessee reported. “She’s a little off to the side from the window.”


  “Can you see her vest?” Bear asked. “Can you see where the engagement trigger is? Randall must have the trigger in his pocket but there has to be a point on the vest where engagement hits.”

  I carefully surveyed the vest myself. I couldn’t see anything except the fucking C4.

  Randall caught me staring.

  “Reminds you of something?” he asked smiling, pulling at the vest again. “Those good old days in South America.”

  The memory of scattered bloody body parts and wailing villagers flashed through my mind.

  Randall had done this purposely. He could’ve held a gun to her head or a knife to her throat but he knew how to push a man’s buttons. He had instead strapped her into the same kind of vest that had colored one of my darkest days as a mercenary.

  “Even if this isn’t your last day,” I bit out, “your last day is coming. And it’ll be a hard and painful one. You’ve spilled too much blood not to pay for it.”

  “Hawk, C4 is in place,” Dozer reported in my earpiece. “But there’s something here in the southwest corner—”

  “I see it!” Tennessee interrupted. “The trigger is on the back of the vest. It has a green indicator light and it’s glowing against Randall’s shirt.”

  “Can you take the shot without hitting the C4?” Bear asked.

  “It’s a tight shot,” he admitted.

  “But we won’t have another shot if we leave this site,” Tweety added, his voice low behind me. “Once we leave here, we can’t get Ten or Dozer back onto the truck. This is our only shot with a sniper.”

  Randall laughed and shrugged. “Eh, no one’s last day is gonna be pleasant,” he said dismissively. “So who gives a shit about mine as long as it isn’t today?”

  “Should I take it?” Tennessee’s voice echoed in my ear.

  “Worst case scenario, quick,” Bear ordered.

  “Semi-worst case,” Tennessee started, “I knick Randall, his men get pissed, and they open fire on us and possibly on Dr. Lyon.”

  “Absolute worst?” Bear whispered.

  “I hit one of the C4 bricks,” Tennessee said, his voice reluctant as if he was admitting to a crime.

  “Fuck,” Bear muttered.

  Exactly how I felt.