Avenging Laura (Special Forces: Operation Alpha)

Chapter 26

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“Is what ye captain said true? Ye were just thinking of up and running when ye got the set of photos today?” Highlander deflated as he sat back down on the bed.

“I honestly don’t know what I was going to do. Yes, a part of me was considering it. I felt that you and the kids were safer without me here. That if I just left then they would focus on finding me and leave you and the kids alone.”

“Do ye not trust me enough to protect ye or our children? Did the fact I didn’t sleep a moment until I knew ye were safe make sense to ye? Does it not sink into ye thick skull that I can’t even sleep now because I can’t hold ye without ye pulling away from me? That I’m utterly hopeless on how to help ye when ye wake up screaming in the middle of the night from the nightmares that plague ye? Am I doing that shite of a job as ye husband?” Highlander asked, looking her in the eyes, breaking her heart.

“No! I don’t know what I’m doing! I just feel like I’m putting you in more danger being here!” Laura yelled at him, trying to get him to see her point of view.

“Do ye not realize how fucking ridiculous that sounds? Ye trying to martyr yourself? That would leave us open for them to make a move to draw ye arse out into the open. They know that the only way to hurt ye the most would be to harm me or our children. Ye running away, like ye have in the past with this shite is exactly what they want ye to do,” Highlander yelled out at her, standing above her now.

Laura shrunk into herself. She knew he was right. She always ran thinking they were better off without her. She felt that Highlander and the kids deserved better than her.

“Hey, enough. I get it. Ye are mad at ye wife. But, brother, this isn’t the way.” Ash pulled Highlander back as he came through the bedroom door.

“I don’t know how else to get it through her head that her thought process is wrong. I thought what we’ve shared these last seven years would prove to her how much I love her and what she means to me. Now I’m wondering if my children and I are enough for her,” Highlander landed that last blow before walking out of the room.

All of the air left Laura’s lungs at Highlander’s words. Without realizing what she was doing she laid down in the floor and sobbed. Tears she thought had dried up flowed freely as she painfully cried her heart out on the bedroom floor, empty, cold, and alone.

Had she actually meant to do all that? Did David and Maria finally win? They accomplished something she promised herself she would never knowingly do. They broke her. Inside and out. Physically, mentally, and emotionally.

“Fuck!”

Even hearing Ash’s muttered words as he squatted down to pick her up and place her in the bed did nothing to her. All she could do was scream and cry for everything she’d done.

She couldn’t even really blame David, Maria, or Cyrus anymore. This was her. She failed to trust her husband when she got those photos. She should have told him. She was the one who always harped on communication being their biggest plus. Yet, when they needed it the most, she shut him out.

“We’ve got her, Ash. Go with Wolf, Cookie, and Dude to deal with Joe. Captain Irby is ready to hunt him down and put a bullet in him,” Diesel murmured from behind her in the bed.

“Hey, it’s ok. I know it doesn’t feel that way, but it will be ok. That man loves you. He’s not going anywhere,” Raso murmured from her front, stroking her arms.

Laura couldn’t say anything to either one of them. Would it be better if Joe left her and took the kids? Show Cyrus, David, and Maria that they were right? That Joe would no longer want her because she was soiled to him?

“It doesn’t matter. They were right. Once Cyrus and Ziegler raped me, I was ruined. I’m not worthy of being Highlander’s wife or a mother to those kids. He’s right to leave me,” Laura sobbed into her pillow.

God why did those words hurt her so much? The pain she felt at those words stole her breath. She just wanted to curl up into a ball and die right then and there.

“Laura Renee Pratt-MacLeod! Do you think because I was raped and treated like nothing that I wasn’t worthy of Hunter’s love?”

Well shit! Now Fiona was going to rip into her. She deserved it. She wasn’t worth the kindness and politeness everyone was showing her right now.

“You weren’t married to him when your situation happened,” Laura ground out, refusing to look at the woman.

“So, you’re saying that women who are married, or in a relationship, if they are raped, beaten, or sexually attacked then they aren’t worthy of their partner’s unconditional love, patience, and just being there for them?” Diesel looked down at Laura with sadness in her eyes.

“No! Why can’t you guys understand I’m broken! I have a father, stepfather, whatever the hell he is and a sister who are part of a human trafficking ring that will stop at nothing to hurt me for some fucking reason! I don’t even know why they are so fucking fixated on me. They won’t stop until I’m six feet under and everything I love is destroyed!” Laura shouted at every person in the room as she sat up in the bed.

“I think you did a damn good enough job of destroying everything yourself. You didn’t see your husband burning every fucking candle he has in his system to find you. You didn’t see your husband break down and nearly lose his shit when every avenue that we went down to find you came up empty. You didn’t see the heartbreak in that man’s eyes when he had to explain to your kids that he hadn’t found their mom yet. You didn’t see the tears of joy that man cried at your hospital bed when he found out you were going to live. You didn’t hear his prayers when he thought no one was around to hear them asking for the man upstairs to heal you. Thanking him for bringing you home to him and your kids.”

Well fuck. Guess now her room was going to be beat Laura’s ass central. Laura turned her glare to her captain who stood in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest and a glare in her direction.

“Why? He could have any fucking woman he wanted. Someone who isn’t ruined. Someone who doesn’t have a fucked-up family like mine! Someone worthy of him!” Laura screamed at her captain.

Captain Irby clapped her hands sarcastically during Laura’s tirade, rolling her eyes as she walked further into the room.

“You don’t get it do you? He loves you ! He wants you ! Yet you threw his love back in his face with this pathetic bullshit. You hurt that man today, Laura. You hurt all of us in this room right now with your refusal to trust us with what was going on. I don’t mean the whole Cyrus bullshit. Yeah, we know you didn’t know about him doing the shit he’s doing. I’m talking about the fucking photos. You didn’t trust any of us to tell us about them. You’re not a martyr, Laura. You’re a fucking idiot who needs an ass kicking. You want to throw your shit out there but when you get it back in return, you get your ass up on your shoulders. It doesn’t work that way.”

Laura sat back on the bed, deflated. Shit. Was her captain right? Did she not trust them? Is that why she didn’t tell them about the photos?

“You’re on leave until you’re officially cleared by a psychologist. I can’t have you in the field watching your team’s back if you don’t trust them. Physically, yes, you’re getting there. I know you have three more weeks on your medical leave because of physical therapy, but I don’t think you’re ready to come back. I need to know you’re a hundred percent mentally and emotionally. If you can’t trust us to have your back, I can’t trust you to have theirs.”