brother
Chapter 228: Boomer
I’ve known Asher a little over a year now.
That’s not long in the grand scheme of things, but in the Navy, in the field, in places where your heartbeat has to syne with the gay next to you or you don’t make it out–time stretches different. A year in the trenches with someone like him is enough to know who they are down to the bone
He’s always been the definition of unshakable. Tactical. Controlled. Every move he makes is precise. Every word measured. There’s no such thing at ente when it comes to Asher. No such thing as fear.
Until today.
We were running drills with the new SEAL recruits. Rooster and I were briefing them when Asher’s phone buzzed. No one pays attention when a guy checks his phone–unless he’s Asher, and his expression changes like the world just shifted on its axis.
His entire body locked up. Shoulders squared, spine straight, eyes glazed over like he wasn’t even here anymore. I saw his hand twitch. Just once.
And then he bolted..
Didn’t say a word. Didn’t wait for backup. Just turned and left, like his soul had been yanked out of his body and was dragging him behind it.
And I knew.
Didn’t have to ask. Didn’t need context. The look on his face said everything.
Something happened to Penny.
Rooster caught my eye and gave me the nod. One of those quiet permissions that don’t need to be spoken out loud. I grabbed my keys and followed, heart hammering, blood roaring in my ears. Because no matter how much Asher tries to keep it buried, she’s everything to him.
And–God help me–she’s starting to feel like a whole lot to me, too.
Now I’m sitting outside my bedroom door, staring at the grain in the wood like it’s gonna give me answers. She’s been quiet for at least an hour. Maybe more. The clock’s meaningless now. I can still hear the echoes of her crying.
It was like listening to someone fall apart in real time.
I nearly ripped my couch apart staying out here. Hands shaking. Chest tight. I wanted to go in there, kneel beside her, wrap her up in my arms and whisper that she’s safe now, that nothing’s gonna touch her again. That I’d burn the damn city down before letting another soul get close enough to bruise her.
But she’s not mine.
So I didn’t.
Still, I crack the door open. Just enough to see. Just enough to breathe.
She’s asleep. Finally.
Her lashes are wet. Tear tracks still drying down her cheeks. Her body’s curled tight on one side like she’s trying to make he even like that, even broken, she’s the strongest person I’ve ever met.
I close the door gently and step back, pull out my phone.
I call Asher.
He answers after one ring, voice tight. “Is she okay?”
I let the silence hang for a second too long. My jaw clenches. “If crying herself unconscious counts as okay, sure.”
smaller, disappear. And
Chapter 228: Boomer
He sighs. And I hear it–how wrecked he sounds. It shakes me more than I expect it to:
“If she’s not hurt-
“Don’t,” I bite out. “Don’t you dare tell me she’s fine, I saw her face. I saw the way she was shaking. You sent her here, Asher, Why?”
“She’s safest with you,” he says after a second.
“And that’s supposed to make this make sense?” I push away from the wall, pacing the hallway. “I’d guard her with my life. You know that. But I need to know what I’m up against. What the hell did you drag her into?”
He’s quiet for a long time.
“I can’t tell you.”
“Bullshit.”
“It’s not just about you,” he says, voice lower now. “Knowing puts you in danger.”
I laugh, sharp and humorless. “Too late for that. I was there when you picked her up off the ground, remember? I saw the bruises.”
Another long silence.
Then he says, “Three years ago, a friend of mine got tangled up in some heavy shit. Owed the Vultures money–more than he could pay. They beat him up as
a warning. He called me because I was the only one he had left. I tried to help him get the money together, but it wasn’t enough.”
I stop pacing. My heart’s in my throat now.
“They threatened his little sister. Sent him a picture of her at soccer practice. Said she’d be next.”
My jaw tightens. “Jesus.”
“I went to them. Made a deal. Paid the biggest part of the debt, said I’d pay the rest over time. I was already enlisted, and my family wasn’t in town. I figured I could disappear. And I did. Two months later, I was deployed. I thought it was over.”
“But it wasn’t,” I say, already putting it together.
“They saw her,” he confirms. “At the bar. And that was all it took.”
I press the heel of my palm to my forehead. “So this was never about her.”
“It is now.”
I exhale hard, winded by the weight of it. “Holy shit…”
“I need time,” Asher says quietly. “I have a plan. But I need her safe. I need you to keep her safe.”
I nod even though he can’t see me. “She stays here as long as she needs.”
He’s quiet for a second, and then he says, softer, “Does she hate me?”
That nearly floors me.
“She’s… confused. Hurt. But hating you?” I shake my head. “Penny doesn’t have that in her.”
He’s silent for a long time. I swear I hear a sniff on the other end.
Then, “Her rehearsals this week are Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. All at eleven sharp. She likes to be twenty minutes early. She skips breakfast if no one reminds her. And she never zips her bag properly. Keys fall out of the side pocket.”
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Chapter 228: Boomer
I close my eyes. Try not to let that hit me too hard. This guy’s so gone for her it hurts to withee it.
“I’ve got her,” I promise. “You focus on fixing this.”
“Thank you,” he says.
He hangs up before I can say anything else.
I stay in the hall for another minute, then push open the bedroom door again and step inside. She’s still asleep. The bruises on her arm are darker now. Her mouth has a cut at the corner. She looks so small, so fragile.
I sit down beside her, careful not to wake her.
She stirs, just a little. I brush her hair back off her forehead.
“Asher’s gonna fix everything,” I whisper. “You’re gonna be okay, I promise.”
I rest my hand near hers on the mattress. Don’t touch, don’t take.
But God, if I could–I’d be the one to make it okay.
I’d be the one to hold her steady and never let the world come close enough to leave a mark again.
But I’m not him.
So I just stay here.
And I guard her.
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