SEVENTEEN #2
They drove to Virginia in comfortable silence, the kind of quiet that came from knowing someone well enough that words weren’t always necessary to communicate what mattered.
Sinner kept one hand on the wheel and the other on Opal’s thigh, tracing lazy circles over the denim of her jeans with his thumb. Every so often, she’d glance at him with questions burning in her eyes, and her lips parted as if she was about to demand answers.
But he’d just shake his head and keep driving, and eventually she’d settle back into her seat with a huff of frustration that made the corner of his mouth kick up.
The hours passed in a blur of highway miles and rest stop coffees, stolen kisses at red lights when he couldn’t resist pulling her close, and the quiet rhythm of their breathing filling the spaces between heartbeats.
She dozed off somewhere around the Maryland border, her head tipped against the window and her features finally relaxed in a way they never were when she was awake and hyper-vigilant.
When they finally pulled up to a small house on a quiet residential street in a neighborhood that looked like it had seen better days but was holding on with stubborn determination, Sinner killed the engine and turned to look at her.
She was already awake, her gaze fixed on the house with an expression he couldn’t quite read. “What is this?”
Her voice was cautious, guarded, like she was bracing for another blow because life taught her to expect it.
Before he could answer, the front door opened and a woman stepped out onto the porch.
She was in her late fifties with dark hair streaked with gray and pulled back in a practical ponytail, wearing jeans and a faded sweatshirt that had seen too many washes.
But it was her eyes that gave her away—the same black as Opal’s, filled with the same wariness and strength that came from surviving things that should have broken her.
Opal sucked in a ragged breath, her hand flying to her mouth as recognition slammed into her with the force of a freight train. “Mom?”
The single word came out broken, disbelieving, like she couldn’t trust what she was seeing.
The woman’s face crumpled, tears streaming down her cheeks as she took a stumbling step forward.
Opal was out of the car before Sinner could blink, moving with the kind of desperate speed that came from years of longing compressed into a single moment. She ran up the cracked walkway with complete abandon, all the careful composure she usually maintained shattering like glass.
Her mother met her halfway down the path, and they collided in a tangle of arms and sobs that made Sinner’s chest ache with an emotion too big and raw to name.
He stayed in the car, giving them the space and privacy they needed for a reunion that was years overdue.
He watched as Opal buried her face in her mother’s shoulder and finally—finally—let herself fall completely apart, her body shaking with sobs that seemed to come from somewhere deep and ancient.
Her mother held her tight, one hand stroking her hair the way she probably had when Opal was small and the world hadn’t yet taught her that showing weakness could get her killed.
His throat felt tight, his eyes burning with emotion he hadn’t expected to feel this strongly.
He’d spent his entire adult life as a ghost, a man with no past worth remembering and no future beyond the next mission. He’d been bound to a team and oaths that consumed everything, requiring him to surrender every piece of himself to a cause that came first.
He’d been dead to the world, erased from every record, living in the shadows between heartbeats.
But now? Now he had a reason worth fighting for that had nothing to do with duty or honor or patriotism.
He had someone worth living for…building a future with.
And he wasn’t letting go, not for anything in this world or the next.
* * * * *
Opal had never known happiness could feel like this—huge and overwhelming, filling every empty space inside her that she’d spent years pretending didn’t exist.
The days with her mother hadn’t been enough. They could never be enough after all the years they’d lost, all the birthdays and holidays and ordinary moments that had slipped through their fingers.
But now they had each other again, and they could stay in touch. Her mother had Opal’s number saved under a different name, and Opal had already programmed in the burner phone number her mom would use to contact her.
It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t normal. But it was theirs, and that was more than Opal had ever dared to hope for.
Last and most important, she had Sinner. Each minute she spent with him felt like a precious gift. She shot him a sideways glance, taking in his rugged profile, and a shiver of want rolled through her from the memory of how he’d made her feel in bed last night.
He’d given her back some pieces of herself she thought were lost forever: her ability to express herself, her power to go after what she wanted… her mom.
She didn’t have words big enough to thank him for those things.
They were about an hour outside of Charlie base when Sinner broke the comfortable silence that had stretched between them for miles.
“I have more news.”
Opal’s head snapped toward him, her eyes widening as her heart kicked up a notch. More news could mean anything, and her brain immediately started sorting through possibilities—good ones, bad ones, catastrophic ones that would rip away everything she’d just gotten back.
“Your transfer came through.” His voice was casual, but she caught the hint of satisfaction underneath. “You’re part of Blackout Charlie—if you choose to be.”
The words hit her like a physical blow, knocking the air from her lungs. She stared at him, trying to process what he’d just said, to make sense of it through the rush of emotions flooding her system.
“I’m—what?” Her voice came out strangled. “How is that even possible? The FBI doesn’t just let people transfer to ghost ops teams.”
“Con pulled some strings. Called in some favors. Made it clear that you’d proven yourself valuable and that Charlie wants you.” He glanced at her, his brown eyes warm. “And I wasn’t taking no for an answer.”
Excitement surged through her, bright and fierce and almost painful in its intensity. She could stay. She could be part of this team, this family that had somehow claimed her as one of their own despite all her rough edges and trust issues.
But reality crashed down on top of the excitement.
Her expression must have changed because Sinner’s brow furrowed. “What’s wrong?”
“Blackout has to leave everything behind.” The words came out careful, like she was testing thin ice.
“That’s the whole point, right? You die to the world.
No family. No contacts. I just got my mother back.
I can’t—” Her throat closed, and she had to swallow hard before she could continue.
“I don’t want to hurt her that way. Is it possible… can I have both?”
He reached across the console and took her hand, his fingers warm and solid around hers.
“You have clearance on that too. Your mother knows you work for the government in a classified capacity. She doesn’t need to know the specifics, and she won’t ask.
You can stay in contact with her—carefully, only through secure channels—but you can stay in contact. ”
Opal stared at him, stunned into silence. Her mind struggled to catch up with what he was telling her, with the magnitude of what he’d arranged for her without her even asking.
“You did this,” she said finally, her voice thick with awe. “You made sure I could have everything.”
“You deserve everything, Opal.” He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “And I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure you get it.”
Her eyes burned, and she blinked hard against the tears threatening to spill over. “Thank you. For all of it. For my mom, for the transfer, for—” She gestured helplessly. “For seeing me.”
“Always, sweetheart.” His thumb stroked over the back of her hand. “So, I have a question. Do you want to go back to the base tonight?”
She tilted her head, studying him. “What are my options?”
“Well, normally the team has pizza together after an op, and we missed out on that.”
She thought of the women involved in Blackout and how they included her with so much ease. It was going to take time for her to feel she fit in with them…but she would try.
His mouth quirked. “Or we could stay at a fancy hotel with a huge bathtub, since that extended stay didn’t have one.”
Opal considered for approximately half a second. “Didn’t we just have pizza twice last week? I’ve had a lot of pizza lately.”
He flashed a grin that made her heart flood with love. “Hotel it is.”
She squeezed his arm. Then on impulse, cupped his jaw, turning his head so she could kiss him.
The sweet caress was all too brief, but filled with the promise of the passion to come. Her insides stirred with want so sharp that she had to press her thighs together to keep from throwing herself at him.
This was her life now. Not the lonely, isolated existence she’d convinced herself was all she could have. Not the endless string of missions where she was just a tool to be deployed and discarded. This was real—messy and complicated and terrifying in all the best ways.
She had a true partner in all things that she loved with everything inside her. A team. A future that stretched out ahead of her like that open road, full of possibilities she’d never let herself imagine before.
Cipher was still out there, and Blackout had more battles ahead. She did too…but she wasn’t facing it alone anymore.
She had Sinner beside her, solid and steady and absolutely hers. She had a team that had claimed her as family. She had a mother who loved her despite all the years and distance between them.
And she had herself—stronger than she’d ever been, braver than she’d ever thought possible, finally willing to reach for the happiness she’d spent her whole life running from.
The road stretched ahead, endless and full of promise, and for the first time in her life, Opal wasn’t afraid of where it might lead.