Jason (Kings of Guardian #4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

easier?”
    “Yes, son, it does. But there will be days like this, too.”
    “Carpe diem.”
    “Exactly. Deal with the issues of the here and now and worry not about the future.”
    “That ever work for you?”
    Matt chuckled and stood. “Working on it, son. Working on it.”
     
    ***
     
    “So there seems to be a massive, fist-sized dent in my elevator.” Gabriel’s voice carried over the hiss of steam heating the sauna.
    After two hours of weightlifting and a half hour doing serious damage to the heavy bag, Jason’s body was demanding a little R&R. The security cameras in the office’s common area must have caught his little temper tantrum last night.
    “You don’t say.”
    “What pissed you off?”
    “You did.”
    “Really? I don’t recall speaking to you yesterday.” Gabriel sat down across from him and leaned back on the tiled bench.
    “Why? Why do you think I need to go talk to them?”
    “Why do you think you don’t?” There was no delay in Gabriel’s response. His mentor knew exactly what Jason was talking about.
    “I’m good with my past.”
    “Bullshit.” Gabriel snorted.
    “Excuse me?”
    “No, I’m not going to excuse you… not any longer. You need to have closure. Face these people. Tell them what happened.”
    “Tell them I am the reason their loved ones died? Yeah, no thanks.”
    “No, damn it! Tell them you were there when they died. Tell them that their loved ones didn’t die alone, that you feel their loss. Mourn with them and then let go of these fucking ghosts that haunt you. I’m tired of pussy-footing around this situation. Open your fucking eyes. You saved the people you could. You were tortured and damn near died.”
    Jason dropped his head back on the white tile and closed his eyes. He was so fucking tired of carrying the guilt and the anger of that mission.
    He glanced across the room. “I did what I had to do.” Hell, even after years of second guessing and pulling it apart at the seams, he really couldn’t say he’d do anything different. It just fucking sucked that he had to do it at all. And maybe that fact was what pissed him off the most.
    “And you saved lives. If you hadn’t made them jump, they’d all be dead and so would you. If you hadn’t convinced those fuckers we’d pay for you and given Jacob time to get to you, you’d all be dead. Yes, two of your men died. Yes, you need to talk to the families, but not for them… for you.” Gabriel semi-disappeared as steam rolled out into the sauna, giving the words an almost dissociative feeling.
    “When?”
    “Now, this week or next week. I’ll keep feeding you information and we can work any meetings virtually unless we need a secure connection. Those I’ll back-brief you on. You need to close the door on the past before you can move forward, and yeah… I’m pushing you to do it, but if I didn’t think you needed it, I wouldn’t. Get this done. You’ve got carte blanche to do what you need to do. Just get it done.”
    Jason nodded and shook the hand that was offered him. Gabriel stood and headed toward the door. “And repairing that elevator frame is coming out of your salary.”
    Jason shrugged off the reminder of his temper of last night. “Deal.”



Chapter Five
    “Momma, I wanna spray.”
    Faith Collins smiled at her son’s demand. It was silenced by sudden shrieks of laughter as Tippy barked and then shook vigorously, sending soap and water everywhere.
    Laughing so hard her sides hurt, Faith tried to hold onto a wet dog and the garden hose and keep her son, Reece, from falling face first into the slippery plastic wading pool they were using as a makeshift bathtub.
    “Once we get him all soapy, I promise you can spray him, baby, but we need to hurry. I don’t think he wants to play in the bathtub anymore.” The dog shook again and attempted to climb out of the blue plastic pool. He sent the little boy onto his butt in a huge puddle of muddy dog water.
    “Tiiipppyyy! You got my