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flow.
    She understood what it meant. She’d been there, done that. Only someone who had gone through the loss of a loved one could fully understand. When she’d heard the news of Rex’s death, she’d accused Jack of lying to her. For days, she’d told him he was wrong, but then the report came in. The Peruvian government had raided a terrorist camp. The same camp Rex had been visiting undercover as the arms dealer, Volkov. Everyone had been killed and the bodies dumped in a mass grave. The names released as evidence of their success. Rex’s undercover name listed in black and white.
    For months after she’d received the news that Rex had died, she moved from denial to anger to depression. Even after she moved on, the anniversary of that day haunted her. No matter how she fought it, as the day wore on, she would become pathetic, crying and drinking to forget the nightmare. But even in her worst moments, she’d never harmed another person. For Rex to feel such pain, to be so angry, how could she ever expect him to forgive her? Odd that, until she read it in his file, she’d never wondered what he’d gone through during that time. She selfishly had remembered only what she’d endured.
    She slammed the folder shut. Damn you, Jack! What was he up to letting her see his brother’s whole file? With a sigh, she shoved away from the table.
    It was time for her to truly move on and quit feeling sorry for herself. They were each alive but their relationship had been dead and buried years ago.
    R EX TACKLED HIS brother. They rolled on the floor, fists slamming into ribs and kidneys. The hollow thuds filled the exercise room.
    “You bastard!” Though two inches taller, Rex still didn’t have an advantage. Jack fought dirty and didn’t make any bones about it.
    “Ha! What does that make you?”
    They rolled back and forth across the mat, not letting the other get an advantage. Jack broke free and jumped to his feet. Rex followed, lifting his closed hands, looking for another opening to slam his fist again into his brother’s nose. Blood coated Rex’s hands and Jack’s face, with more streaming down Jack’s chin onto his T-shirt.
    Jack darted to the side and landed another blow to Rex’s ribs, knocking the air out of his lungs. Rex bent down and inhaled deep as he looped an arm behind Jack’s knees and brought him down. Before his brother could move, he thrust his elbow beneath his chin.
    “I should end everyone’s misery and put more pressure on your trachea, you manipulative asshole.” It felt good seeing his brother’s face turning blue beneath all the blood as he leaned a little harder, blocking off his air.
    “Rex!”
    “Stay out of it, Abby!” Rex grinned down at his brother. “Don’t fuck around with my life, Jack.” He lowered his voice as he ground out each word between clenched teeth. “You’ve already done it once and I let you live, but don’t think for one minute I won’t kill you if you do that to me again. I have my limits.”
    The blue eyes staring at him looked so much like his mom’s, filled with pain and a little hopelessness, that he eased his hold. Jack took advantage of his lapse and brought his knee up. At the same time, he slammed his fist into the side of Rex’s head.
    “Enough!” Abby stepped between where he was curled up on the floor and his brother. With her hands on her hips, she faced Jack, daring him to go around her. “That’s enough! What kind of example of leadership are you showing your people?”
    Rex rolled onto his back and looked around. A large crowd surrounded the mats. He hated that Abby had come across them acting like hormonal teenagers.
    “We were sparring.” Jack lifted the end of his T-shirt to wipe off the blood.
    A BBY EYED THE bruises and blood on the men. “Yeah. Right. Sparring.”
    Before she could say more, a gleam shone in Jack’s eyes. “Be sure to tell your mom and brother about your newly acquired husband. Remember you have six days