Awakening Book One of the Trust Series(74)

Chapter 21



The negotiation had been the last straw. Garrett being away was becoming par for the course, which he hated. The Trust was becoming more aggressive in its security measures and had captured several members of the Cine Tofa as a result. It had kept him away from Caitlyn for weeks at a time, but she understood never questioning when he could not tell her where he was going.

The fact was he was feeling quite insecure about his relationship with Caitlyn. The time they spent together was wonderful, he felt like the luckiest man on the planet. But the time they spent together was becoming such a rare commodity and he worried that despite how happy they were, other factors would interfere.

Specifically, Declan. Caitlyn was happy with her new mentor. Garrett should have been pleased that she was content and progressing beyond her wildest dreams, but there was something about her when she was in his presence that set him at unease.

A touch, a glance. It was all very innocent. It was the look or hug that a friend gave one another, but he still did not like it. Garrett had always had an underlying possessive nature. It was a trait he had inherited from his father, and he despised it. He hated that very specific trait was what led him to Declan’s office earlier that afternoon.

He had just returned from an Interrogation, and the Council had notified him that they needed him to head out to ferret out another Cine Tofa member. Garrett was looking forward to some time with Caitlyn when he had received word that he had to leave again that next morning to get down to Georgia.

He consoled himself with the knowledge that at least Caitlyn would be there for the night, and he would be able to see her for a while before he had to catch his next flight. His last trip had been grueling, and he had not been able to communicate with Caitlyn. He knew that she would be pleased to see him.

Garrett was not weary at first when she wasn’t there immediately after he sent her a text. He figured she was in training with Declan. He chilled a bottle of her favorite wine and got started on dinner. As time ticked by, he reached out to her to communicate, but she had a block up, which was par for Caitlyn. When she finally walked through the door, dinner was long cold.

Her smile was ear to ear as she ran over to greet him. “Garrett!”

Despite his frustration, he lifted her in his arms, drowning himself in her touch. “Where were you? I thought you would have been back from training long ago.”

Her eyes lit up and he could only describe her as radiant. “I wasn’t training. Declan had an arbitration to attend and invited me to go. I’ve been gone for the past few days myself. It was amazing, Garrett. I learned so much. Declan is amazing, his negotiation skills are phenomenal.”

Garrett set her down, his tone harsher than he meant it. “Wait. He had negotiations for the Trust with the Cine Tofa and took you along with him?”

Her body stiffened. “Yes. Is there something wrong with that?”

Garrett bit his tongue as best he could. “Who else went?”

“It was just Derrick Adair, Declan and me. It was a closed arbitration, and there were only two members of the Cine Tofa there.”

“Where did you stay?”

“Declan and I stayed at the Trusts cabin.” Caitlyn picked up her abandoned bag. “Garrett, I am going to ask you again, do you have a problem with this?”

“It’s just that I don’t think you are ready for that. That is very intense.”

The truth was that Garrett thought she was more than capable of handling the negotiations, but he did not like that Declan and her went on the trip together. Garrett was seething inside. He had worked up in his head that Declan was trying something with his Caitlyn, and he did not like it. Garrett wanted to take her away from all this. In his own way, he wished that he had never introduced her to the Trust.

The next morning, before he caught his flight, Garrett had confronted Declan head on. By the end, Garrett had left Declan’s office, still uneasy about the relationship between them. He had seen Declan’s eyes, knew that he was not lying when he said he only viewed Caitlyn as a friend. But he had this nagging feeling that he was still losing Caitlyn to him. For so long she has been singing his praises, about his training, his personality, his drive.

Garrett knew that he needed to be more supportive with Caitlyn, or else he would lose her. He decided that after this last interrogation, Garrett was going to cut back significantly, despite the protests that he knew would inevitably come from the Trust. By the time the plane landed and he walked into the Trust facility, he had made a decision that he wanted time off from this all, to spend time with Caitlyn, giving their relationship the opportunity it deserved.