NINETEEN
“ W ake up!”
It took everything inside May not to react to Simpson’s harsh command. She didn’t want to do this anymore. Playing unconscious was far worse than children’s games of hide and seek. And she thought staying shut up in a dark closet, hidden behind her father’s clothing so her cousins wouldn’t find her was horrible.
Remaining totally limp, her expression blank, she continued to lie there on the cold, unyielding floor.
A sharp slap jerked her out of her ruse.
“Rise and shine, May.” The major general’s tone was calm with an undertone of boredom that she wasn’t buying.
She let her eyelids flutter to continue the act and pushed awkwardly into a sitting position. She’d been lying on that floor so long that her muscles were stiff and uncooperative, making it look authentic.
She let her head loll to the side before fixing her stare on Simpson. “What…” She rubbed a hand over her face, aware of how shaky it was.
His beady eyes watched her intently. “I know you’ve been awake, May.” Again, with that nonchalant, bored tone. It was starting to frighten her how blasé it sounded, as if the man had lost all sense of morality the moment he walked into the storage unit.
As he stared at her, she remained silent. If he wanted something from her, he would have to work for it.
He crouched in front of her, near enough that the sharp scent of his stress sweat flooded her nostrils. She drew her spine into the straight rod that got her through so many trials in her life. And it would get her through this one.
If she was going out, she’d go out with all of her faculties and a little poise too.
“I have questions. And you’re going to answer them.”
When she smiled, she winced. Her cheek stung where he’d struck her. “Then you’re going to answer mine too.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
“What does it matter what I know? You’re going to kill me anyway.”
Something flickered in the depths of his eyes, a serpentine shadow that slithered through the remnants of sanity Simpson clung to.
“Fine. You first.” He tipped his head in a gentlemanly style, the one he’d used when he caught her attention across the restaurant and she lifted her glass to him in a silent show of appreciation.
Just how long had this man been playing her?
AJ, if you’re out there looking for me, come quickly!
Unflinchingly, she met Simpson’s gaze. “You know about the bomb, don’t you?”
If he was surprised by her question, he didn’t let on with anything but a nod.
“Where is it?”
“You know it was moved? Hm.” He scratched at his trim military mustache. “I don’t know where it was moved—I just followed orders and handed it over to the person who showed up for it.”
“And who was that?”
He shifted his shoulder in a small shrug as if passing a bomb to an unknown person was an everyday transaction.
Hell, for all she knew, it was for him. How many deals had he taken?
Her stomach soured…then gave a little twist of fear.
Their plan to intercept the bomb had failed. Two things sent icy dread into her gut—the target was unknown…and the clock was ticking.
She raised her chin a notch. “Then at least tell me who you’re working for.”
He issued a low chuckle. The familiarity of the sound broke her out in chills that swept from the top of her head to her toes curled inside her boots.
“It’s my turn.”
She waited.
“How did you know about the bomb?”
“We had knowledge that it was headed to Fort Leonard Wood. Why are you working for Cipher?”
Dropping that name had exactly the effect she hoped for. Simpson flinched, a ruddy splotch climbing up from the collar of his uniform shirt and tie to flood his cheeks.
With remorse? Shame? Maybe regret?
He had been squatting before her, but now he sat down hard on the concrete, legs sticking out in front of him. He bowed his head.
“I cheated on my wife.”
“On Kate?” God, of all the things she expected to hear from the man about his connection to a known terrorist, it wasn’t that he’d been unfaithful.
“I loved her.” His tone didn’t break, but he wouldn’t meet May’s eyes. “I screwed up and when she found out, she left me.”
“But how did you bury all of this? The military—”
“Has a morality clause? Yeah, it would have ruined me. Working for Cipher allowed me the money to pay Kate to keep quiet about going our separate ways.” He pushed out a slow sigh. “The art is nice, you know? It feeds the soul that I lost, given all I had to do.”
At this point, he looked up at May. The cold flicker of evil in his eyes turned her stomach to water, and it swirled down a slow drain.
She scooted back along the floor. Prepared to run for the door. Could she whip the metal door up high enough to roll underneath and make a break for it? A scream gathered in her throat.
Simpson pulled out a pistol. Small, military-issue. And completely terrifying for what he intended to do with it.
“Shaw. Stop. You can’t do this. You aren’t a killer. You know me, my family. You fish with my father and my uncles.” On every word, her voice rose higher, grew shriller. She worked to get her feet under her.
Simpson leaped up, staring down the sight of the weapon aimed at her.
She shrieked. The long, curdling noise mixed with the metallic one of the door exploding.
Shockwaves from the blast vibrated through the metal wall at her back and the concrete under her. She threw her arms over her head…
Then another set of arms surrounded her, drawing her tight against a body she knew.
“AJ!”
“Get her out,” he commanded a man in camo she recognized from Charlie.
The SEAL scooped her off the floor and rushed out the ruined door with her. She struggled. “He has a gun! He has a gun!” She kicked frantically in the SEAL’s hold. “Put me down!”
He twisted with her in his hold enough that she could see AJ and the major general, face to face.
“You’re about to lose your life, Simpson.” AJ’s voice was cold, layered with barely controlled fury.
May’s insides clutched in dread. Was this some sort of pistols-at-dawn moment where they walked ten paces, turned and fired?
“AJ!”
Simpson didn’t drop the weapon he held in his shaking hand. “I’ll save you the trouble. Death before dishonor.” He whipped the pistol up to his temple and pulled the trigger.
May screamed again, and the SEAL holding her lowered her to her feet. As soon as she touched down on solid ground, she took off to AJ.
In two strides, he exited the storage unit. His strong arms clamped around her, and he lifted her, but this time she didn’t mind being carried away from the horrific sight of the major general. The traitor. The betrayer.
Tears rolled down her cheeks, soaking into AJ’s shirt as he shielded her. They rounded a corner of the long building, where the car was waiting. Time seemed to hang suspended. She didn’t know how long it took to reach the vehicle, but came back to herself when he slipped into the back seat with her. Another SEAL who was heavily muscled appeared in the open door. “You good?”
AJ answered with a hard nod, and the man moved away, probably to join the other SEAL and call Con.
AJ cupped her head to his chest and buried his nose in her hair. “Christ, May. I thought I’d lost you. I’ve never been so fucking scared in my life.”
She curled her fingers into the hard planes of his spine and clung to her lover. Her anchor.
“I’m okay. He was ordered to kill me.”
“Fucking hell!”
“H-he confessed everything. He was working for Cipher.”
He drew away from her and studied her. His vivid blue eyes roamed over her face. “May, I can’t be partners with you anymore.”
Her heart hitched. “W-what?”
“I can’t be your partner because you’re never going on another op again. I need you safe because I’m in love with you, May.”
“Oh my god, AJ. I love you too.”
He scattered kisses across her forehead, trailing his lips down her cheek, and finally claimed her mouth in a searing kiss filled with urgent need filled with the fear, the longing that had been tearing him apart.
He pulled her into his lap, and she curled close to him, comforted by his touch, his presence.
His love.
She lifted her head and met his gaze. “We’re not finished. The bomb is missing. Cipher is still out there.”
He gave her a grim nod even as he stroked the pad of his thumb down the curve of her cheek with all the tenderness burning in his eyes. “No, we’re not finished. But we’re together. And that’s all that matters.”
She melted in AJ’s arms, pressing her cheek to his chest and listening to the steady thump of his heart. “Together.”
* * * * *
Henner, Cobra and Mason walked through the doors of the Blackout Charlie base, the weight of the op on their shoulders. After the guys contacted the right people to inform them of Simpson’s death, they got in the car and traveled all through the night.
May had slept in his arms most of the way, seemingly exhausted from the ordeal. Henner looked down at her standing beside him in the open door, clinging to his hand.
He rested a gentle hand on her spine. “It’s okay. Go inside, darlin’.”
She took a step and then froze and let out a little squeal. “My things are here!”
Their luggage from the hotel in DC had been brought here, and clearly she was thrilled to have something to wear besides the department store clothes.
“Between your suitcase and the shopping bags we grabbed at the hotel on our way out of town, you have a whole wardrobe.” Smiling down at her, he touched the point of her chin.
She offered him a smile that was much brighter than any he’d seen since he blew the fucking door off that storage unit to get to her. He was only glad that because she’d been sitting so far back against the wall so when the metal peeled back like a can of sardines, she wasn’t hit by any shrapnel.
Suddenly, the entryway of the mansion flooded with his teammates. They were all there, bumping knuckles with Cobra and Mason and talking over each other.
Like old times. Everything was the same.
Except it wasn’t. Henner was different.
When Con emerged from the group and headed toward Henner, he reached out and slipped an arm around May, anchoring her to his side.
Con gave them a single look that took in everything about the moment and the gesture. He studied Henner.
“See you got more than you bargained for.”
“You could say that.”
Con smirked as if he’d known what would happen all along.
At that moment, Sophie rushed over to welcome them, hugging May and then Henner.
She fussed over May for a minute, then May turned to him. “I’m going to take my bag upstairs and get cleaned up.”
He nodded and let her take a step away. Catching her by the hand, he pulled her back to press a gentle kiss to her lips.
She softened at the caress and melted into him for a moment before she withdrew and went off with Sophie.
Henner faced his CO once more, waiting for it.
“So, Chickie. What do we have in common?”
Henner cocked his brow. “Besides being reckless and breaking rules?”
He chuckled. “I prefer determined and finding loopholes.” He clapped Henner on the back, and they moved off with the group, talking and laughing over who was firing up the outdoor pizza oven.
They gathered in the kitchen, and one of the guys started pulling food from the fridge to make pizzas.
When they grabbed items and carried them to the outdoor kitchen, Henner found himself alone with Cobra.
The way his friend stood at the expansive window, staring out at the manicured lawn, sent a flicker of worry through him.
Slowly, he edged up to him, careful not to move too fast and set him off in case he was having one of his moments. The ones where he relived the moments after Commander Barrett sat him down and told him that the Echo team had died…and the only reason Cobra lived was because he was sidelined due to an injury.
The man didn’t move as Henner stepped up beside him. Together, they stared at the manicured lawn that shouldn’t be part of a military base and shockingly was.
“You doin’ okay, man?” Henner asked finally.
He didn’t react to the question at first. Not even blinking. After a long minute, he rubbed a finger over his upper lip. “What Simpson did…”
Henner looked at him harder. “It wasn’t easy to see. We all need to talk to someone about it.”
“Yeah. It was probably his only option, you know? Cipher would have killed him.”
“You’re right. He would have.”
“It won’t be easy on his family.”
“No.” His stomach clenched to think of how Simpson’s family had to live with his choices now.
“I never want to end up that way.” He turned to Henner, eyes focusing at last. “I was spared that day Echo went down in that chopper crash for a reason. When I heard, I swore I wasn’t going to waste my skills. I was going to find the bastard who was responsible for their deaths.”
“The day you do, I’ll be on your six, brother.” He hooked an arm around Cobra and thumped him on the back.
Just then, the patio door opened, and two guys walked in, laughing about something going on outside.
The moment broken, Henner and Cobra shared a nod. Henner walked over to the open door and called out, “Save me and May a pizza!”
As he mounted the sweeping staircase in search of May, he checked his room first and found that Sophie had situated May there.
He leaned in the doorway, watching her pull clothing out of her bag. God, she was amazing. If he had lost her…
“You going to stand there watching me?” she asked without glancing up.
He pushed off the doorframe and sauntered over to the single military bunk he slept on. “I can’t take my eyes off you.”
She looked up, her heart in her eyes. “Oh, AJ.”
He circled the bunk to sit on the edge beside her bag. Drawing her to stand between his knees, he searched her face. She was strong—the strongest woman he’d ever met. But she still had to face things that would send echoes of memories through her—bad memories.
Holding her by the hips, he weighed his options—tell her now or after she had a full stomach and got some rest.
“If you’re going to break the news to me that I have to debrief with Con, save it, SEAL. Sophie already told me.”
His jaw dropped, and he barked out a laugh. “SEAL? Since when do you address the man you love as his profession?”
She giggled. “Since now.” Suddenly, the laugh dropped from her lips, and she sobered. “Sophie and I talked about Cipher.”
He tensed, fingers closing around her waist tighter. “What about him?”
“She heard his voice…and so did I. She’s going to set up a linguistics specialist we can talk to. Try to analyze what we heard and see if we can figure out…well, anything.”
“May, this is a lot to worry about right now. You just got here. Take a shower. Put on clean clothes—hell, put on that gawdy pink dress if you want to.”
“Gawdy! It’s designer!”
He pulled her down, finding her lips and reveling in the soft crush of her weight on top of him. The kiss they shared was filled with promise…and sparks of the night to come.
When they parted, he stared deep into her eyes. “Whatever happens from now on, we’re in it together.”
“Together,” she echoed, her rosy lips turning up in a private smile glowing with tenderness and love. “You still have to meet my father.”
Surprise vibrated through his chest on a laugh. “Doesn’t matter how much he offers me. I won’t take it.”
“What if it’s a million dollars?”
He arched a brow. “Your father’s that loaded?”
She slapped him lightly on the chest. “AJ!”
Cupping her by the nape, he drew her lips back to his. “Then I will tell him to shove his money where the sun don’t shine, and that he’s seriously undervaluing his daughter. The love of my life.”
“My SEAL.” Her whisper brushed over his senses, and they drowned in each other for a long time.
He was the luckiest man alive.
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