CHAPTER 211

“Hey,” Brack’s warm hand rubbed my shoulder.

I cried harder. “You don’t understand.”

“I think I do.”

I was too upset to respond. He let me cry for several minutes, making slow circles on my back. When he spoke, his voice was low and soothing, “When we’re faced with death, it’s a normal reaction to reaffirm life. Sex is the best way to do that. There isn’t a Marine out there who will tell you differently.”

He had my full attention now. “You were a Marine?” I sniffed.

“Yes, and then a cop,” he said as he pulled a few strands of hair from my face.

“You’re too young.”

“And you’re too young to be the reigning world singles champion. I joined the Marines at eighteen and went to the police academy at twenty-two.”

I sniffed again. “Why did you quit?”

He hesitated a moment and I thought he wouldn’t answer. “I spent my military enlistment in the Middle East and saw some very bad things. My Marine brothers died. Women and children died and I never suffered an injury. Three years after joining th