Harmless Revenge: A Harmless World Novel (Harmless #11)

He’d changed clothes, pulling on a pair of loose white pants and a shirt to match. At least now she couldn’t see the purple bruising that had covered his chest. Even if she didn’t know what he did for a living, she would recognize the lethal grace in his movements. And sweet. He was so damned sweet, but people didn’t see it in him. They only saw the player. She knew the man who could make her laugh, and who would happily feed her chocolates in bed.

It didn’t excuse him for being an ass, however. She decided to lay it out on the line so Sean knew exactly where they stood.

“Let’s just say that we are here for answers and we aren’t leaving until we get them.”

Thirteen

Randy held onto his temper. Since the two volatile people of the group had decided to argue, he figured he would be the cool-headed one. When he was the one in control of his temper that was a bad thing.

But, there was nothing he could do. From the moment he had met both Sean and Jaime, they had never really been good for each other. Oil and water. Of course, he knew it made for mind-blowing sex, and that’s why neither of them had been able to move on.

Sean’s lip curled in disgust. “I don’t think either of you deserve any answers.”

“You might not think so, but then you never did,” Jaime said.

Normally, he would let them continue on, but Randy wasn’t in the mood. If he didn’t stop both of them right now, Randy would spend most of the next few days trying to get them to forgive each other. They both had a habit of saying horrible things when they were mad.

“Stop it both of you. We came here looking for you, Sean. When you didn’t answer the phone calls—and they were for some pretty lucrative jobs—we went by your apartment in Tokyo. You were gone.”

Sean’s expression turned even colder. “Unless you missed the last couple of years, I don’t have to answer to anyone. Not even you two.”

“So,” Randy said, acting like Sean had never spoken. “We came here. When you need rest, you come back to Hawaii.”

Sean sighed, the sound of it so solitary. It hurt Randy’s heart to hear, to know that he could do nothing to make him feel better. That bridge had been burned, and there was no hope for building it again. Sean had made sure of it—but Randy knew it all had been laid at his feet. He shouldn’t have been so dismissive of their relationship, but Randy didn’t believe in living in the past.

Randy pushed those thoughts away. “So, what happened?”

“I had a job for Lassiter. We disagreed on the outcome. He burned me.”

Randy shared a worried glance with Jaime. Getting burned in their business didn’t just hurt a person financially. Randy and Jaime knew that Sean now had a big bull’s eye on his back. And there were a lot of people who would want to hurt Sean. Just in the last ten years, he knew at least two-dozen operatives who would like to see Sean suffer—before killing him.

“And then, you disappear and don’t call?” Jaime asked. He could feel her irritation, heard it in her voice. But there was more. Much more. She was in pain, physically hurting by Sean’s rejection. Randy trailed a finger down her spine. She was holding it together, but just barely.

Sean watched the movement, then he raised his gaze to Randy’s. Nothing. There was absolutely no emotion in his eyes. To Randy, that was worse than accusation or anger.

“I didn’t want to pull anyone down with me. And…I had other things to do.”

His tone told Randy that Sean expected no argument. He had always been that way to a point, but he had gotten worse in the last couple of years. It was one of the reasons most of Sean’s acquaintances had faded away.

“You should know better than to think we wouldn’t want to know, Sean. We’ve been working with you for the last year and a half on jobs, then you vanish.”

Sean cocked his head to the side and watched them. “Funny that it took you six months to come look for me.”

Randy hated that cynical expression. There had always been an edge to Sean before, but now it was downright contemptuous. There was no room for humor or even a nasty smile. It frayed the seams of Randy’s temper.

“I don’t care how long it took us to find you. You should have called.”

Sean’s expression turned to stone. “I stopped answering to anyone the day I left the military.”

Jaime opened her mouth ready to blast him, but Randy saw the pain in her expression. Sean missed it because he had turned away. She straightened her shoulders and held her head high. She wanted to fight, but she wasn’t ready to. He knew that she had been put through the ringer, and while most people thought she was tough, the softer side of her was damaged at the moment.

“I can’t deal with this.”

He heard the defeat in her voice, but Randy couldn’t help her right now. Nothing would soothe her. When Sean said nothing to her, she shook her head and walked out of the room. The desolation he had seen in her gaze stabbed him and left him bleeding. She still loved Sean—they both did, but he knew she regretted their break up more than Randy had. Sean had offered everything and she had walked away.

“She’s not in the best of moods.” Sean’s tone was almost as if he were narrating a story. So detached and cool.

Randy flexed his hands trying to remain levelheaded. Someone had to.