Chapter 20
Cameron
Taking a gamble again, we leave the SUV behind another building just inside the complex. We donned our night vests, night vision goggles and miked up before inching our way through the downpour to reach our main target. Four targets in total are protecting the main loading dock and entryways.
Wyatt and Max handle taking them down while Beckett, Jeff and I break into the building. We take down two more targets who are more interested in playing poker and drinking beer. We figured they’d be slow, not on alert.
And we were right.
The assholes are lazy as fuck. And that’s to our advantage. We divest them of their weapons and communication devices, then tie them up and gag them with duct tape after I force one of the motherfuckers to reveal Lacey’s location by threatening to cut off his balls.
We move inside the corridor and make our way down another poorly lit hallway, thunder booming outside as rain pounds overhead.
But nothing, not even the weather’s barrage of noise, can shield the sound of Lacey’s scream. With little time to waste, I detonate the flashbang and move.
Night vision floods my visor as I breach through the dilapidated warehouse’s rusty, metal door.
Three henchmen are inside. The closest one to Lacey pivots toward her, gun raised. I don’t hesitate. And bring him down before he can squeeze the trigger.
“Contact left,” Beckett shouts, taking down the second henchman and rushing in.
Jeff’s to my left. More shots fired and the third man slumps over, crashing to the concrete floor. My team’s been instructed not to shoot to kill, but fuck. I wish we didn’t have that command.
“All clear,” Beckett yells.
“Restrain them,” I call, but my natural instinct is the throttle them all until they’re totally incapacitated.
Still, as much as I want the bastards dead, we need them alive for the feds to question. They might have credible leads to get to Vale.
The team rounds up the henchmen, then zip ties their hands behind their backs and pushes them against a wall.
While they stand guard, Beckett’s contacting the local cops to come get the trash.
I cross the distance between me and Lacey, then scoop her up in one smooth motion. My heart pounds against my ribcage, knowing how close I came to losing her. She’s everything I’ve ever wanted, needed. And I still have a chance to have her with me forever. “I got you,” I murmur, holding her close.
“You found me,” she whispers, looking up at me.
She trembles, her breath coming in sharp gasps as I pull her closer in my arms. “It’s over,” I say, feeling the adrenaline still coursing through my veins.
She clutches me, burying her face against my chest. “Have they got Vale?”
“Not yet, but they’re getting closer to luring him out of hiding. When they do, you’ll be completely out of danger. Plus, while we’re waiting for that to happen, you’re protected with me here,” I say, soothing her as best I can given the hellfire she’s been through.
As the sound of approaching sirens fills the air, I press a gentle kiss to Lacey’s forehead. One eye is swollen shut, her cheeks are bruised and stained with smears of dust, and her hair’s a tangled rat’s nest.
But she’s the most beautiful sight I’ve seen in days. A sight I thought I’d lose forever.
“We need to get you to a hospital,” I say, carrying her across the floor and through the blown open door.
Lacey tightens her grip on me, like she’s afraid to let go. “No hospital,” she says. “Not yet. Just… don’t put me down.”
Her voice is hoarse, raw from the hell she’s been through, but there’s a sureness in her tone that makes my chest tighten. I’ve legit got hope that she’ll be okay with the kind of life I have no matter what I decide to do in the future.
I stop just outside the warehouse beneath an overhang, the night air cool against my overheated skin as rain pelts the asphalt parking lot. Flashing red and blue lights from the incoming police units cast streaks of color across her battered face.
“You’re safe,” I say again, brushing a stray lock of her hair from her cheek. “It’s over.”
She lifts her head then, her swollen gaze locking onto mine. “It’s never going to be over though for you,” she says. “Because you’ll be going off to the next fight. The next mission.”
I shake my head. “We’ll talk about my future later,” I say. “Right now, the only thing that matters is getting you to a hospital where they can check you out. Then we’ll talk about what happens next.”
She exhales, pressing her palm to my chest. “Okay, but I want you to know that if you decide to take another tour overseas, I’m okay with that too.
I thought I’d lost you forever after those jerks kidnapped me.
I was terrified I’d never see you again,” she admits, her voice shaky.
“That I’d never get a chance to tell you?—”
Her lips tremble, and I see the fear behind her exhaustion, pain. Not fear of what just happened, but fear of losing something neither of us ready to let go of.
Lowering my head, I brush her lips softly. She melts into me, her fingers curling into my vest, like she’s anchoring herself to this moment. To me.
And I’m anchoring myself to her too.
She’s my woman, my partner. My everything.
I lower my forehead against hers. “I thought I’d lost you too,” I say. “That I’d never have the chance to tell you how I feel. That I’d never have the chance to say hello to you again. And damn it. I’m sick of goodbyes.”
A tear slips from the corner of her good eye, but she’s smiling. “Hellos are so much better,” she says softly. “And I’ll take them anyway I can get them as long as they’re from you.”
My lungs fill with air and a weight I’ve been carrying for more years than I wanted starts to lift from my shoulders. I take another breath, my pulse hammering harder than it did when I stormed that warehouse room.
“I love you, Lacey.” The words feel right, the moment might be insane, but I need her to know how much I care. “I don’t know what that means for us, but I’m done with walking away.”
She lets out a shaky laugh. “Good. Because I love you too, Cameron. And we’ll figure out the rest of our future later.”
The sirens wail closer, but right now, in this moment, nothing else matters.
She’s safe.
She’s mine.
And I’m never letting her go.