"Dammit," she whispered, unsure of what to do. She ‘shushed' her dog and after a few moments, tiptoed over to the door. Cracking it open a bit, she eased by it and paused. She could hear Teague and …
Jack Simon? What was he doing here?
"You're not thinking this through, Teague," Jack said, his voice loud and obviously angry.
Instantly concerned, Sabrina held her breath, thinking she should retreat but wanting to know what the hell was going on.
"There's nothing to think through. It's a done deal." Teague's response was very matter of fact, his voice calm.
"Dammit, Teague. Why the hell would you go back there? After what happened the first time? Do you have a fucking death wish? Most news agencies aren't even allowing their journalists to travel in that country. That's how dangerous it is."
"This isn't a sanctioned gig, Jack. I already told you that. I'm not filing a report or answering to anyone. This is for me."
Jack swore a blue streak, and, heart in her throat, Sabrina inched forward. The Simon cottage had a massive great room and the bedrooms all opened to a landing that overlooked it. She peeked over the railing. Teague was in his boxers, arms folded across his chest. Every inch of him looked fierce and her heart twisted at the look in his eyes. It was one she'd never seen before.
It was cold and unrelenting, and so not like the man she knew.
Jack looked rough, as if he'd not had much sleep. With a couple days' worth of stubble on his face and rumpled hair, he looked about as far removed from his normal persona as you could get. But the thing that caught Sabrina's attention was the fact that not only did he look pissed off, he looked scared as hell.
"I think you're being a selfish prick," Jack bit out, taking a step toward his brother.
"Think whatever you want," Teague replied. "I don't need your permission to do this and I certainly don't need the Simon family blessing either."
"Don't you give a shit about Mom? And Dad?"
"That's a stupid thing to say," Teague snapped. "Our mother, more than anyone, understands why I have to go."
"What the hell does that mean?" Jack ran his hands through his hair. "Are you telling me that Mom knows you're going back?"
"I called her yesterday. As soon as I got off the phone with Bowen." Teague shrugged. "She knows. She knows everything."
"Everything?" Jack asked roughly. "Does she know that Dallas is most likely dead? Does she know that this mission of yours to track him down his ghost is probably going to get you killed?"
Tears stung the backs of Sabrina's eyes and she bit her lip in an effort to keep quiet. But she'd known, hadn't she? That Teague was leaving her?
"Jack," Teague warned, but his brother wasn't having any of it.
"Did you tell Mom about the kid?"
"Don't go there," Teague warned, but his brother plunged on as if he hadn't said a word.
"Did you tell her the whole story? Did you tell her what went down? What you had to do? Does she know what it cost you to make that call?"
Teague stared at his brother for a long time. So long that Sabrina's legs cramped. Her throat was tight and her chest heavy. She didn't want to hear any of this, and yet she couldn't stop herself from listening.
Teague's mouth was so tight that the skin around his lips was white and when he looked to the side-when he swiped at his eyes angrily-well, her heart broke. It broke into shards because in that moment, she realized that sometime over the last few weeks, she'd fallen for this man and she'd fallen hard.
"Like I said," Teague answered, his voice dangerously low. "She knows everything. Every fucking thing that happened over there. She knows that I hesitated when I shouldn't have. She knows that if I would have done the job I was there to do, then Dallas would be home with his wife and kids. She knows that's why I have to go back."
Jack shook his head and muttered. "You're unbelievable. Can't you think of your family and all the people you're leaving behind instead of some fucked up crusade that makes no sense to anyone other than you? Don't you care that when you're away and we don't hear from you for weeks or months, Mom can't eat or sleep? Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
There was silence then. A long period of silence that was so long it became a thing. It became a loud, hard, thing that pressed into Sabrina's chest. She felt like screaming and maybe she would have except Bingo decided he'd had enough of the silent game and slipped out of Teague's bedroom.
"Shit." Sabrina lunged after the dog but the puppy was fast. It barked madly and flew down the stairs, not stopping until it was at Teague's feet. It licked at his toes tail wagging happily before running to Jack and sniffing every inch of the man that he could reach.
"What the," Jack sputtered. "Since when do you have a dog?"
Teague sighed, eyes moving upward. "It's not mine."
"Then whose is it?" Jack looked at his brother-who was looking up at Sabrina-and Jack turned toward the landing.
To say that Jack Simon looked shocked would be an understatement. He was shocked all right. Shocked, and as the moment wore on, his shock was replaced with something stronger. There was no more hiding.
"Hey Jack," she said, voice way too bright for the situation. "Bingo belongs to me." Sabrina hiked up her sheet. "I'll just get dressed. Teague could you um … could you … "
Teague strode past his brother and gathered up her scattered clothes. He didn't say a word as he headed up the stairs, but his body language spoke volumes. So did the continued silence and the intensity in his eyes. His fingers touched hers briefly when he handed over the pile of clothes. They were cold and he seemed so damned distant that a part of her wanted to take him in her arms and try to make things better.
But what was the point? Seemed as if the Teague she knew had already left and at this point she had no idea if he was coming back.
"I'll make coffee," Teague said after a few moments. "And then we should have that talk."
"Sounds good," she replied, trying her hardest to keep an even tone.
On wooden legs, she turned around and headed back to his room. The rumpled sheets and scattered pillows attested to an intense night of lovemaking. But the warmth was long gone.
God she was cold.
Teeth chattering, Sabrina got dressed, wishing she could just sneak out onto the patio and bypass dealing with everything, but one glance in the mirror told her that she needed to deal with this and move on, no matter how hard it was. She never wanted to see that look of hurt in her eyes again.
She exhaled and counted to ten.
She tried to tame her wild waves, but gave up when her fingers kept snagging on the tangles. And then she headed for the stairs.
Teague had found his pants from the night before though he'd not bothered with a shirt and her eyes strayed to the scars on his body.
"Sabrina." That was Jack.
He folded her into his arms and for a moment, she took the time to enjoy the feel of his warmth and his genuine concern. When he pulled away, she attempted a smile and was happy that she was able to pull it off.
"Hey," she said softly.
"So," he said carefully, watching her closely. "You and Teague. That's not something I saw coming."
"It's not what you think," she replied carefully.
"Then what is it exactly?"
"What it is, is none of your business, Jack," she said, taking a step back.
His eyes narrowed and slid from her to his brother. There was a warning there, but then it was already too late for that. She'd gone and done something stupid and now she was going to have to deal with the fall-out.
"Hey," she said, eyes on Jack. "I'm good and that's all that matters." She turned and headed for the kitchen. Her muscles were so tight it was a wonder that she could walk properly, but she made the effort to appear as normal as possible.
Just get through this, she thought.
Sabrina grabbed a mug from the cupboard and after she prepared her cup of coffee, she turned around and pasted a smile on her face-one that she hope hid all the turmoil inside her.
"How long you staying Jack?" she asked brightly.
Jack was still watching her, and that made her uncomfortable. The man had always had a sixth sense about things. It was one of the reasons he was such a good politician. He could read people and he was damn good at it.
"I've got a meeting at six tonight in New York, so I'm heading back to the airport in a few hours."
"Oh, quick trip then."
He nodded and glared at his brother. "Yeah. All for nothing, I guess."
"Well, I'll leave you guys alone then. I'm sure there's lot to catch up on. Pop over to see the kids before you go if you have time. They'll be home in a few hours and I know they'd love to see you."
Even Sabrina was impressed with how normal she sounded. How unaffected by everything she was. Her performance was almost Oscar-worthy.