LoveBetrayed by Samantha Kane

‘break’ me, yet you still saved his life and sent him home. For me.”
    That made James put down his pen and look at Daniel. “And?”
    “Unbelievable,” Daniel commented with a wry laugh, “that
you, among all of us, are the one to emerge from this tawdry situation smelling
like a rose.”
    “Hardly.” James scrunched up his shoulder and sniffed
himself with a disgruntled expression. “Thanks to Wellington’s folly here, I
haven’t had a chance to bathe in days. I think I’m putrefying.”
    “Is that a sense of humor?” Daniel asked with genuine shock.
“Where was that hiding?”
    “Behind the French line,” James parried. “With the
reinforcements that thankfully never appeared.”
    Daniel snorted with a slight chuckle. “Perhaps I’ll find
mine there too, in time.”
    “Do you need a shoulder to cry on?” James asked drily.
    Daniel shook his head. “No. Contrary to what you apparently
thought, Harry’s lie did not break me.”
    “And his leaving?” James asked quietly. Of course he’d ask
the hard question.
    “We’ll find out,” Daniel said. He turned to leave the tent.
    “Do you want this new assignment, or shall I give it to that
madman Tarrant? Tell me now if you can’t handle it.”
    “What rot,” Daniel said crisply. “The day I can’t handle an
assignment is the day some Frenchman takes a lucky shot.”
    “Good.” James picked up another letter.
    “Tarrant is a good man,” Daniel told him.
    “Of course he is,” James said, clearly surprised. “All my
men are.”
    “He doesn’t really hate you,” Daniel said with hesitation,
because he wasn’t entirely sure it was the truth.
    “Of course he does,” James said dismissively. “I give him
something to hate besides himself. It’s what he needs.”
    Daniel had a shocking moment of clarity that made him feel
lightheaded. “Do you give us all what we need, then?”
    “I try. At least what you need to complete your missions in
the field and return.” James signed the letter in front of him with a harsh
scratch. “I know what I ask of you all, and I know the price you pay. I shall
repay that debt to the best of my ability.”
    “If Tarrant needed a favor, would you do it for him?” Daniel
asked curiously. “Even knowing he hates you?”
    “Yes,” James answered without hesitation. “But he doesn’t
need to know that.” His smile was predatory. “I shall deny this conversation
ever happened, by the way.”
    “What did you give Simon?” Daniel asked, letting curiosity
get the better of him.
    “You,” James said succinctly. “The mission?”
    Daniel laughed. “I’ll take the mission.” He turned to leave
the tent. “But I may need a favor afterward. You know how I get.”
    “Yes, I know,” James said. Daniel looked over his shoulder
to see him reading another letter. But there was a little smile on his face.
“And I also know not to expect more.”
    James’ acceptance of the limits on their friendship was a
great relief. He hesitated before leaving the tent. He didn’t want to ask, but
he needed to. “Are you sure he’ll make it home safely?”
    “It’s all been arranged,” James said without looking at him.
He made a shooing motion. “Go. I’m busy.”
    Daniel left the tent and looked down at the French, trying
to save face with their ridiculous maneuvers on the empty battlefield. Their
next move would be to relieve the garrison at Badajoz if he were to take a
guess. No doubt that was where he was headed. So the war went on, with or
without Harry. And so would he. He’d lost something precious today, but he’d
gained something, too. A newfound understanding of what made Sir Barnabas James
tick, for one thing. And the knowledge that he was stronger than he’d thought.
Strong enough to survive Harry’s leaving.
    It wasn’t just the forgetting. There had been so much more
with Harry. But he had the memories and the knowledge that he was safe. It
would be enough. It had to be. He faded back to