Cale had his hands up. “Easy there, big guy. You don’t have to worry about any threat from me.” His lips twisted. “Not that the woman would be interested. Hell, I knew from day one that she was hung up on you.” Then, softer, “Though hell if I can figure out why.”
Gunner frowned at that.
“Maybe there’s a charmer hidden under the grizzly bear exterior.” Cale’s hands dropped. “Some women go for the guys who growl.”
Once more, the jerk almost made Gunner want to smile. Mostly because he’d said, “I knew from day one that she was hung up on you.”
“How are you going to handle things with Slade?” Cale asked him, still keeping his voice low. “Because I’m going to assume that the ridiculous plan of giving her up—”
Gunner’s brows climbed. Had that plan been so obvious?
“Yeah, I figured out that martyr bit earlier. Forget that. I’m going to assume that’s over now?”
Sydney was pregnant. There was no way he’d leave her now. “I’ll always be there for my brother.”
“And for her?”
No one could make him leave Sydney. Last night, hell, he still couldn’t believe she’d opened her arms to him last night. That she’d given him such pleasure.
Did it mean that she still cared? Just how much did she care?
The real question...can I make her love me?
“I’ll stay close to Sydney,” he said, trying to keep any emotion from his voice.
Cale raked his face with his gaze, considering. “That was the order, right? Logan said you were to keep her at your side, and I’m to do backup duty, watching you both.” Cale’s stare drifted around the condo. “This isn’t the most secure place, you know. All of these windows...”
But Gunner liked the windows. After he’d been held prisoner and tortured on a mission gone bad, he’d needed to find a place that let him look out and feel free.
It was the same reason he’d helped his brother get settled in another nearby building. One that would give Slade views so that he knew he wasn’t trapped.
Free.
“Just know that I’ve got your back, man, okay?” Cale said. “I’ll be there for you and Sydney.”
That was good to know. Gunner nodded.
Cale hesitated. “Logan told you about the Guerrero file?”
“Yes.”
“You know...you and Sydney were on the list of EOD agents who were targeted for takedown.”
Gunner rolled his shoulders. A few months back, Cale Lane hadn’t been working for the EOD. In fact, the EOD had been hunting Cale. They’d thought that he was responsible for the murders of three EOD agents.
Cale was an ex-Ranger and an ex-mercenary. His psych profile had shown that he was prone to highly aggressive tendencies and that he could prove to be unstable.
Too late, they’d found out most of that profile was garbage, and then they’d realized that Cale was being set up. They’d started working together, and they’d tracked down the real killer—a man who was systematically working his way through a list of EOD agents who needed to be eliminated.
The killer had never had the chance to finish his kills. Never had the chance to take out Sydney or Gunner.
“This could be related to those attacks. Guerrero, the EOD agent hits...it could all tie together,” Cale said, voice tight.
Gunner nodded. He feared, suspected, the same thing.
“If this is the case, then the EOD has one powerful enemy, one with a grudge against you and Sydney.”
The bedroom door squeaked open. Gunner looked over his shoulder. Sydney was clad in jeans and a fresh shirt. She’d put on her sneakers and was coming toward them with a smile on her face.