Hero - The Assignment: A Military Romance Read Online Free PDF Page B

whined about all of the calories in a stick of celery. When I was hungry, I ate. Fuck the calories.
    He knocked back the rest of his champagne and dialed his driver as he came back over to fill my glass. As my grandfather began to speak, his normally steady voice trembling, I dropped the crystal flute, and it shattered across the travertine tiles.
    “Leighton, I know you think you're busy, and you have half a dozen excuses, but you need to get home now. Your brother's been injured in the line of duty. It's...bad. He'll be coming home...if he survives...”
    If. Not that word. If.
    My phone fell from numb fingers, and I barely heard Ricky saying my name.
    If.
    If.
    I shook my head, only partially aware that I was repeating “no” over and over again while Ricky kept saying my name.
    Not Ian. I couldn't lose him too.
     

Chapter 3
    Leighton
    I found my grandfather in his study. My mother's workaholic father, the well-known Devlin Pope, sat behind his large mahogany desk, his hands loose and unmoving on the polished surface. While I'd been in the study plenty of times, I'd never seen him sitting at the desk. He was always pacing on the phone, always full of so much life and energy. His current quiet unnerved me. Even at my parents' funeral he hadn't been still. He'd taken care of everything and everyone, including my brother and me.
    And he was still taking care of us.
    When he could.
    I didn't walk into the room, as if that would keep any of this from being real. I tapped on the door, the sound echoing.
    “Alive.” He didn't make me ask the question.
    I slumped against the doorframe, the relief making my body go numb. “When will he be home?” The question was faint, but the room was quiet enough that I knew Grandfather heard me.
    “He's in critical condition, in some military hospital. I'm still working at finding out where. I've been promised that he'll be airlifted when he's stable enough to move,” Grandfather said.
    He roused himself and slashed his hand toward one of the straight-backed chairs facing his desk. I knew that gesture. I entered the study and sat down, feeling like I was in trouble. I sat there for nearly a full minute before my grandfather cleared his throat and finally looked up.
    “You'll stay here until he's back. Your rooms are made up as always,” he said brusquely, his tone leaving no room for argument.
    “I know they're made up.” I struggled to keep my voice even. “I do still live here.”
    He gave me that same 'don't bullshit me' expression he'd used on me growing up. “How many nights have you slept here in the past two months?”
    “Ricky wants me to start working on decorating. He's afraid his mother's decorator will answer more to her than to him...”
    “You're not picking out paint colors and playing house in Malibu while we wait to hear if your brother is alive,” Grandfather said. His eyes, so much like mine, were two sharp points of light.
    He looked good for his age, but it had always been his eyes that had been the most alive. He was in his late sixties with close cut silver hair and a clean shave. Always a clean shave.
    He stood up to pace, and I gripped the arms of the chair. I knew what was coming. Whatever went wrong with Ian, I would take the brunt of it. Grandfather was far from abusive, but he didn't believe in sugarcoating things...or keeping his opinion to himself.
    “Your shiftless, useless lifestyle has got to stop and that walking leech you call a boyfriend is the first thing that should go.” Grandfather gave me his sternest look. “You're not a child anymore, Leighton. You haven't been for years, and this should be a wake-up call for you.”
    It was the same lecture no matter what I did. It had been the same lecture when Ian decided to join the army and signed up without consulting Grandfather. He hadn’t been able to reverse what Ian had done, or criticize Ian's choice without sounding like he was against the military, so he'd come down on me.
    My