Chapter 5 #2
Darwin ran his hand through his hair, adjusting his glasses as he looked at Wynn, then back to Coulter. “With time, I could probably find a stable synthesis. But I honestly didn’t think it was worth the potential loss. That’s why I shelved it.”
Coulter sighed, meeting Neve’s gaze for a moment, his breath stalling as he watched her watch him before she blinked, looked away.
“So, you’re telling me all I did was gather some evidence that implicates Ramsey and Blackridge, but considering how I obtained it, nothing would stand up in court.
And definitely nothing we can tie back to Oliver Finch. ”
Zadie tapped on the keyboard, launched another window.
“Not exactly. A few of the files you pulled over were highly encrypted. I’m talking DoD-level sophistication.
Took me a week to break into them. And this…
” She motioned to the new window. “This was worth having Ramsey put you on the top of his shit list.”
Coulter stared at the seemingly blank window. “Are you going to tell me what it is?”
“It’s a window into his dark web comms link via his shadow server.
How we think Finch or other associates contact him with upcoming missions.
So far, there’s been chatter about a possible UAV retrieval, but he hasn’t verified the target yet and if he’s sending a team or taking care of the issue, personally. But when he does…”
Coulter grinned. “We’ll know exactly where he’ll be.”
“That’s the plan, though, I doubt we’ll get much notice, which means, we need to be ready to roll at any given moment.”
“Give me ten minutes in your armory, and I’ll be set.”
Wynn glanced at Neve, then Darwin. “So, you’ll be coming with us, then?”
Coulter frowned. “Is that even a question?” He pinned Neve with a hard stare. “Didn’t you think I’d want to be part of this? To finish what I started because that doesn’t sound like you.”
Neve pursed her lips, looking as if she wanted to be anywhere but there. “I never said I didn’t think or want you as part of the team. We just didn’t know your medical status. If Darwin had cleared—”
“I’m fine. Sure, my ribs still feel like I’m breathing fire, but I’ve completed harder missions in rougher shape. You of all people should know that.”
The air stilled, the usual hum fading into the weight of his words hanging in the air. She took a beat, breathing a few times before tilting her head to the side, staring at him the same way she had for the past week — as if he wasn’t the only one seeing a ghost.
“Something tells me this isn’t about whether we consider you part of the team, but the fact you’re a month late to the party.”
He crossed his arms. “All you had to do was call, and I would have come.”
“You were in the middle of a mission. I couldn’t put that kind of pressure on you.”
“But learning you were dead was kinder? Didn’t fuck with my head in a whole different way? Because I promise you, if it weren’t for my men, I wouldn’t have made it out still breathing.”
Neve’s face paled, and she took what looked like an involuntary step back. “I never wanted to hurt you, Coulter. I’ve told you that. Every day.”
He matched her motion, hands locked at his side, all the pain and hurt barely contained beneath the surface. “I understand you didn’t have many options. I just wish you’d had enough faith in me to give me a choice.”
“Faith? You think I don’t have faith in you?
” She leaned forward, tapped his chest with one delicate finger.
“I quit the unit for you. For us. Because I thought we were worth the risk. Worth making concessions for. You’re the one who hasn’t stepped up.
Who keeps moving the goalposts. It’s been a year, and we’re still orbiting each other like freaking satellites.
I wanted more. I asked for more. So, don’t judge me for questioning if this was the line you’d finally cross. ”
The truth hit him like the blast had, and he pulled back. “I’ve been deployed.”
“And I’ve been patient.” She snatched her hand away. “I’m not saying it was fair. But knowing you might become a target, that Finch could get to you before you even realized there was a bullseye on your back…” She shook her head. “I did what I thought I could live with.”
“That just wasn’t living with me.”
Coulter cursed inwardly as soon as the words slipped free. Neve inhaled, chin quivering, eyes glassy. She bit her bottom lip, looking vulnerable and lost and so damn beautiful his heart stopped. No erratic rhythm, no increased beats, just a dead weight inside his chest.
She inched back, gaze still locked on him, only he swore she looked through him. Zeroed in on the part still seething.
He forced in a deep breath, hating the way he winced when his ribs burned. “Neve, I didn’t mean…”
“I get that you’re hurting. That you’re angry.
That Troy dying kicked you when you were already down.
” She shoved the wisps of hair off her face.
“I don’t expect your forgiveness. But don’t stand there and act like staying here didn’t gut me.
That I haven’t spent the last month mourning you.
” She turned, stopped at the threshold, glancing at him over her shoulder.
“You’re not the only one who lost something, Coulter. ”
Coulter closed his eyes, embracing the bite in his ribs, how his leg burned when he took a step back, braced his ass on the desk.
Her footsteps tapped down the hall, hollow, finite. The rest of Neve’s crew left, vanishing into another part of the bunker, leaving him alone with his thoughts, his damn pride. He stared at the floor, wondering why he had a habit of making situations worse, when a snort sounded off to his left.
He looked up, groaning inwardly when he realized Scout had lingered, her green gaze locked on his, her head tilted to one side as if she thought she could read his mind if she tried hard enough.
He leaned back, hoping the desk would hold his weight.
“Whatever you’re going to say, Scout, trust me.
I’ve already called myself something worse. ”
Scout ambled over, kicking at the floor as if it had wronged her in a previous life.
“I didn’t stick around to judge you. Or berate you.
In the end, this is between you and Neve, and you’ll either work it out, or you won’t.
But I thought you should know, she fought for you.
From the moment Gus mentioned us staying, fighting Finch, she argued to have you join us.
Be our fifth, I guess. But he shot it down.
Said it was too risky. That she’d be putting all our lives in the crosshairs, including yours. ”
Scout glanced at the empty doorway. “Neve’s one of the strongest people I know.
Never gives up. Never thinks about her own safety before the rest of us.
You can imagine the position that put her in.
Having to choose between keeping everyone else breathing or keeping her love for you alive. It nearly broke her.”
She turned, headed for the door like the rest of her teammates had done. “Knowing her, she’s either in the armory cleaning her rifle again, or on her way to her room so she can throw shit at the wall. In case you had something else to say.”
Coulter watched her leave, her words lingering like a judgment.
He sucked in a breath, then struck off, checking the armory before heading for the sleeping wing.
Boots tapped in front of him, starting and stopping a few times as he rounded the corner, caught her silhouette near the end of the hallway.
He picked up the pace, ignoring the burn down his thigh, the way the medical tape pulled on his skin as he closed the distance. She paused for a few moments, one hand braced on the wall, head bent low, a couple shuddering breaths drifting down the corridor.
He didn’t stop, didn’t call her name, just moved faster, catching up as she turned then froze. She straightened, shoulders back, her weight on her toes as if bracing for a fight. He slowed.
She bit her bottom lip, a few tears dotting her cheeks. “Coulter, I can’t—”
He stepped into her, both hands lifting to her face, cupping each side as he lowered his mouth, cut her off mid-word as he slanted his lips over hers, kissing her.
Heat shot through his veins as her hands landed on his chest, fisting his hoodie before yanking him closer, holding him tight as she moaned against his mouth, tangling her tongue with his once he’d shifted, delved inside.
The light overhead flickered, the familiar scent of warm rain mixed with a hint of gun oil smothered his senses, the aroma he’d thought he’d lost forever, as he turned, pinning her against the wall.
Neve gasped in a breath as he kissed his way down the curve of her neck, biting at her shoulder muscle before inching back up, reclaiming her mouth.
He lost himself in the play of her lips on his, on how she made soft, purring noises, her fingers sliding into his hair, locking him against her. He couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe beyond the taste of her mouth, the way her body molded perfectly to his.
Deep pants raked across his face when he finally came up for air, his forehead resting on hers, his chest heaving as his heart hammered against his ribcage. Their breath mixed, a hint of coffee paired with a sweet heat that was all Neve.
He brushed his thumb across her cheek, hating the hint of wetness. “I should have done that the moment I woke up. Hell, out in the rain at the facility.”
He dipped down, kissed her again. Softer.
As if she’d shatter if he pressed too hard.
“I’m not quite ready to let this go. To move past the last thirty days.
How it felt laying a rose on an empty grave.
How those damn shots echo in my head whenever I close my eyes.
Knowing I’d let you down. That if I’d just gotten my head out of my ass, I might have been there.
Had more than empty promises to keep me warm.
But I’m just so fucking happy you’re alive. ”
She sighed, her fingers falling back to his hoodie. “I can wait until you’re ready.” She traced her thumb along his lower lip. “You’ve always been worth the wait.”
He closed his eyes, breathed her in when footsteps stopped farther up the hall. He clenched his jaw, looked up the hallway.
Zadie stood near the entrance, arms crossed, mouth quirked at the corner. “If you two think you can come up for air, I just intercepted a signal. Ramsey’s heading out with a team to retrieve and sanitize that downed UAV. Confirmed he’ll be on sight. I’ve got the coordinates. We leave in fifteen.”
Coulter sighed, easing back enough that Neve could slip out. He hooked her arm when she went to walk away. “I meant what I said. We’re not done. And the next time I have you in my arms, I won’t let go.”