Epilogue
EPILOGUE
B ecca clutched Dom’s hand as they waited for the boarding gate to appear. She was really doing it. She was going back to America with her brave, warm-hearted, gorgeous man. Her mercenary, her soldier, her savior.
The last few days had been blissful. Dom had been so gentle with her, and she’d hardly left his side. They’d swum in the hotel pool, made love—repeatedly—in their suite, and dined with the other members of Blackthorn Security.
Becca had gotten to know and like them all. Pat wasn’t nearly as intimidating as he’d seemed at first, though he could still give you a look that made the hairs on your neck stand up. Most of the time, though, he was like a big teddy bear.
Blade was the hardest to get to know. He was reserved but radiated strength and discipline, and she could tell he was an excellent soldier. Every now and then, he’d make a wicked, off-beat joke that reminded her he had a sharp sense of humor. He was especially funny after a few beers. She hadn’t had the chance to meet his wife, Lily, a brilliant computer analyst who was working on a top-secret project for the U.S. government.
Cole was super friendly. He and Thorn—whose real name was actually Rose—were very close and kept everyone in stitches with their banter.
Damian didn’t seem to mind his fiancée’s friendship with Cole. In fact, Damian and Cole seemed to be good friends too. Later, Becca learned that Cole’s wife, Anna, was expecting their first child any moment now, and he was eager to get back. “She told me to hurry, said she can’t hold on much longer,” he’d confessed before they left the hotel. Becca could see he was nervous but also excited to be a dad.
“How are you feeling?” Dom asked. He was nervous too, having not been back to the States in a long time.
She felt her passport in her back pocket and a shiver of excitement ran down her spine. “I’ve never felt better,” she told him, loving how his face lit up.
Pat had promised to help her find a job through his contacts in Washington. “With your skills, you’ll be snapped up in no time,” he’d assured her. “In fact, I know someone whose executive assistant just left, and they’re struggling to find someone who can keep up. I’ll put you forward for the role.”
Becca still couldn’t believe how welcoming everyone had been. A new start, a new career, and an exciting future with the man she loved. It didn’t get better than that.
They boarded the flight and took their seats. As the plane took off, Dom took her hand. “I believe this is what they call flying off into the sunset.”
“You’re such a romantic,” she teased, leaning over to kiss him. Her lip was almost healed now and didn’t hurt as much. Their kiss lingered, and she felt a familiar warmth spread through her body. She couldn’t get enough of him.
“Easy, you two,” Cole called from across the aisle. “Save it for when we get back. I miss my wife enough as it is.”
Becca laughed and snuggled into Dom’s shoulder instead. Even Dom had a job waiting for him back home.
“You don’t think I’m letting you get away that easily, do you?” Pat had said one night at the hotel in Panama. “I’m always on the lookout for a good operator.”
At first, Dom had been hesitant.
“It’s been a long haul this time,” he admitted. “I could use a break.”
“I’ll give you a month,” Pat had promised. “But then you’re mine. The unit needs you.”
Blade, who managed the operational side of the business, had reassured him that most of the projects they took on were for the U.S. government, even if they were deniable.
“We go where regular forces can’t—either for political reasons or because it’s not a sanctioned op—and we pick and choose our missions. The money’s good, and we’ve all got each other’s backs. Several of us have worked together before, in the SEALs or the Army.”
Dom hadn’t needed long to think about it. “That’s reason enough for me.”
“Welcome to the team,” Cole had said as they toasted Dom that night—or Ghost, as Pat and the others called him.
Hearing them call him Ghost was a strange reminder for Becca. She’d always known him as Dom—the man she’d fallen for, the one who had saved her, cared for her. Ghost felt like someone else. A shadow of the past she hadn’t really known, a part of him she was only just beginning to understand. That name belonged to the soldier, the man who had spent years operating in the world’s most dangerous corners, surviving impossible odds. She’d seen glimpses of that side of him when he stormed the hacienda to rescue her. It wasn’t just a nickname. It was who he’d been before they met—the man capable of disappearing into the night and coming back with victory on his shoulders.
It made her love him more, realizing he wasn’t just Dom, her protector, but Ghost too—the man who could walk through fire to protect the people he loved. And while she might never fully know all the things he’d done or the places he’d been, she didn’t need to. Whoever he was out there in the field, to her, he’d always be Dom.
Becca had seen the delighted expression on his face and knew he’d made the right decision. Sure, it was dangerous work, but that’s what he was trained for and what he was good at. He was a soldier, and like all soldiers, he needed a challenge. He’d be bored doing anything else. That was just who he was, and she had no desire to change him.
“I feel like I’m going to wake up one day and realize this has all been a dream,” she murmured into his neck, breathing in his scent.
He stroked her hair. “Then I’m going to remind you every day that it’s not.”
She laughed. “Deal.”
Turns out she’d been wrong—there was such a thing as a happy ending. She and Dom were living proof.