Gambled - A Titan Novella by Cristin Harber Read Free Book Online

head, centered his goals. Rebuild our trust, reconnect our marriage . Moments later, she was nestled back onto his lap, their luggage safely stowed, and the Hummer was looping S-turns on a pocked road.
    Where to begin? “The only reason you might be crazy is for putting up with me all these years. Imposing restrictions on our family. I’ve been a dick—”
    “Not a dick. I easily could’ve questioned why and how we lived.”
    “But you’re not crazy. Not for lashing out at me. Blaming me.” He brushed a lock of her hair off her cheek. “Hurt like hell though.”
    The passing landscape caught her attention again, her discomfort evident. “I feel stupid. Everyone knows that I walked out. Just took the kids and left.”
    “Everyone being Titan?”
    “And their wives.”
    “Trust me when I tell you, no one’s calling you names. I walked away from Titan. I was disloyal. If they have something nasty to say, it’ll be about me.”
    “I’ve stayed in touch with Nicola and Sugar. I think they like me.”
    “You’re easy to like.” His lips pressed a kiss to her shoulder while his heart squeezed. Of course they’d like her, and she never should’ve been so isolated to begin with.
    She rocked a laid-back personality, always made him smile, and Sarah could run with the likes of Sugar and the Titan ladies. Not easy to do, but his wife could. No problem.
    “We were so sheltered. Why didn’t you ever introduce me?”
    Sheltered. The word stung. Before, it’d seemed like a practical defense strategy. Now, it seemed overbearing. “Everything got complicated. Recently and quickly. All of us were single. Married to the job.” He frowned, analyzing his poor rationale. “God, it’s been years since Jared started Titan. When we first hit the road, mission after mission, we accomplished a lot of good, taking out a lot of bad.”
    She nodded as he summarized the last decade on the job.
    “I met you, angel. Fell fast. Hard. You’re my world, my best friend, the sexiest damn thing I’ve ever set eyes on. I didn’t want to put a bull’s-eye on your pretty little forehead. I saw bad things happen to decent people; I’d made a lot of enemies. I never wanted that for you. Sure as fuck not for our girls. It seemed safer to bubble-wrap our life. I’d be home, things would be normal. I’d be gone, you did your thing. A protected existence.”
    “But Nicola and Sugar? And Mia? They’ve got kids. I think.”
    “They’re all new additions. It’s all happened so fast. And I never thought about it. Besides, how would that go? Well, look, here’s my wife. I’ve got one too.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “That sounds ridiculous. It just never came up, and I liked you safely away from that side of me.”
    “That seems…” Her hand waved in the air, reaching for a lost word.
    “Selfish. I see it now. What I did to protect you girls only made things worse. You’re my family. And Titan’s my family too.” At least they were . “You should’ve been part of that. Now I’ve lost them and am hoping to God that I haven’t lost you.”
    She bit her lip.
    “Angel, I’m not dumb enough to think hot sex in the back of a Hummer and a revelation about PTSD will bring you home. But it’d be a lie if I said I didn’t hope it did.”
    She scanned the back seat, finally settling back on him. Her fingers twisted in her lap. “I’m going to see a counselor about that. The PTSD.” Her cheeks pinked, and he wished a serious screw could banish the negativity that came with mental blocks.
    “Nothing wrong with talking to a pro. You lived through an awful experience.”
    “I held it together for the girls. Too many young kids in the room to let me fall apart.” Her soft voice cracked. “I tried to pretend we were on vacation.”
    “And for that, I’m grateful. Strongest woman I know.”
    She scoffed. “Not really. There’s a big difference between pretending to be on vacation for the kids’ sake and hiding parts of