Chapter 17 #2
The women were waiting at the edge of the grass when they touched down. And they weren’t only hurling themselves into the arms of the men they loved—they were pulling Ellory in for hugs too.
Kennedy released her and Elin stepped in without a word.
Ash remained close to her but recognized that the women who cared about her needed to see with their own eyes that she was safe and whole.
When Opal spotted Ellory’s hands, the crease deepened between her eyes.
Archer stood slightly apart from Ellory, taking it all in, from the women to the warmth of the reunion. It was a lot to try to make sense of.
He’d be okay. Not tonight, but eventually.
As soon as they entered base, Ash took Ellory straight to her room and helped her shower and dress. Once she was warm in cozy sweats, he allowed himself a moment to let his guard relax.
“Christ, Ellory. Thank god we found you.”
She tipped her lips up to his, and he claimed them in a caress that formed a lump of emotion in his throat.
When they pulled apart, they were both unsteady.
He searched her face. “Four five nine.”
A smile ghosted at the edge of her lips. “Four five nine two.”
For a long beat, he struggled with what he knew he wanted to do and what he knew he had to.
He slanted a look at the bed. “As much as I’d love to curl up with you in my arms, I’m going to make sure you eat something first. Then…”
She grew even more serious. “Debrief.”
He compressed his lips and nodded. The meal was thrown together quickly. Before they took their seats, he drew Archer aside.
“I don’t want to overstep here, but I don’t know how long it’s been since you had a meal. We have a doctor on his way to check you and Ellory both out, and until then—”
The man’s stare settled on Ash, the same blue as his sister’s but full of shadows. “I’ll go easy on the food. This isn’t my first rodeo.”
Ash stared at him for a moment, then nodded. Ellory ate a little while favoring her thumbs.
As soon as Archer stood, so did Ellory. After pushing away from the table, Ash sent a pointed look at Izzy. She circled the table to his side.
“I need to join the team. Can you make sure she and her brother are seen by the doctor? Come get me if either of them needs to go to the hospital.”
Her warm brown eyes gleamed with concern. “Of course. I’ll take care of them, Ash.”
They all took their seats in the war room. No one immediately spoke as the magnitude of what they did tonight washed through them.
Con cleared his throat with a guttural noise that sounded like he was trying to dislodge some emotion from his throat.
Everyone looked at him.
“Cipher is dead.” The simple words struck all of them. Ash bowed his head and gave thanks that they’d made it out safe.
“The threat is over,” Con continued. “And even though there will always be another on the horizon, we made it through this one together. We had our share of trials…and we picked up a few extras along the way.”
A ripple of amusement threaded through the group.
He met Ash’s stare. “Ellory’s all right?”
“The doctor’s seeing her and Archer now.”
He gave a nod. “She’s strong. They both are. Before we debrief, I’d like to address Archer. He looks like he’s endured a lot. There’s a ranch in Wyoming, operated by Denver and his family.”
“The Black Heart Ranch,” Mason murmured.
Con nodded. “They work with veterans. Reintegration, recovery, getting men back to operational capacity. They’re a good family with a strong program.”
Ash felt his chest burn. “You’re sending him to a therapy program.”
“I’m suggesting it might be a good fit.”
Ash thought of Archer’s eyes, shadowed but no more than any of the men in this room. They all carried their ghosts.
“The choice is his, of course,” Con said. “Ash, you can present the idea to him. If he’s on board, we’ll set it up.”
He dipped his head in agreement.
The tension starting to bleed out of the room. Cipher was dead. The mission was done. Ash hadn’t lost his honor that day. He never had.
Most importantly, Ellory was alive.
Now, Ash didn’t feel like he was standing just outside the circle.
He’d let them see everything he was, even the broken part of him that would always carry Melina’s death. And they hadn’t turned away.
They’d closed ranks.
He wasn’t just grateful for the team in this room.
He was grateful he’d lived long enough to love Ellory.
And this time, he wasn’t going to lose.
* * * * *
Ellory stood at the edge of the airstrip and tried to pretend her throat wasn’t raw.
Archer crossed the expanse of yard behind the Blackout Charlie base, moving toward the chopper that was waiting for him. And for a second she forgot to breathe.
Three days ago, he’d been a gaunt ghost with hollow eyes and a body that looked borrowed from someone else. Now he looked…not whole, not healed, not untouched, but like a man who’d been allowed to remember he still belonged to the living.
His beard was trimmed, the heavy, wild growth reduced to a neat line along his jaw. He’d pulled his hair back off his face, and the clean plane of his cheeks made him look younger and older at the same time.
He wore fresh clothes that didn’t hang off him like a flag of surrender. He carried a small duffel like it weighed nothing, but Ellory saw the tension in the set of his shoulders and knew it would be a while before he lost it.
Then her gaze traveled higher and she stopped short.
Archer was wearing his hair…
In a man bun.
She stared, stunned into a silence that lasted a full beat too long.
His mouth twitched. “Don’t.”
“Oh, I’m going to.” Her voice broke into a laugh that tried to turn into a sob and failed at both. “I don’t know how to feel about the man bun.”
He lifted a hand as if he might rip it out, then thought better of it. “Me either. But it’s the best I can do without a barber.”
Ellory covered her mouth but the laugh escaped anyway. It felt good—too good—to laugh at him after everything. It felt like proof that he was real. That he was here, teasing her back, looking at her like he recognized her.
The wind from the blades was cold despite the warmer temperature. She folded her arms, careful of her healing thumbs.
Angelo came up behind her, close enough that his heat seeped into her back. He didn’t touch her at first, just stood there, an anchor she could lean on without admitting she needed it even though she wanted to turn to him and beg him to order Archer to stay longer.
When she turned, she caught him watching Archer with quiet focus, like he was assessing him in a new way.
Archer’s gaze flicked to Angelo. “You look like you’re about to tell me this is unacceptable.”
Angelo’s mouth curved. “I’m thinking you’re brave. Not for the bun. For agreeing to go. Okay, and for the bun too.”
Ellory’s smile wobbled, and Archer mirrored it.
He was trying, but it wasn’t perfect. He had a long road to travel, and she was glad he’d said yes to help—said yes to the ranch.
Tears stung behind her eyes. She blinked them back hard, refusing to fall apart on him like a woman in some movie.
“I’m worried about you,” she admitted.
His gaze softened. “I know.”
That quiet acceptance did more to steady her than any pep talk.
Angelo’s hand settled at her lower back, firm and warm. “He’s going to the best place he can be,” he said, voice low, meant for her.
Ellory let out a slow breath. “But he hates horses.”
Archer gave a short snort.
She stared out at the chopper waiting beyond them. It was oddly more normal to see a helicopter on the lawn of a mansion transformed into a ghost ops base than to say goodbye to her brother after searching for him for so long.
“What happens after this? After Wyoming. After the program.”
Archer’s jaw worked. The micro-movement told her he’d been chewing on that question in the private hours, when his body finally relaxed enough to let his mind roam. “I don’t know.”
Ellory’s stomach dipped. “That scares me.”
“It scares me too.” His tone was flat and honest.
Angelo’s fingers flexed at her back, as if he could keep her from tipping over with touch alone. “He’ll do whatever he wants.”
Ellory’s eyes burned again. “And if he wants to work?”
Angelo didn’t hesitate. “There are always spaces on other Blackout teams. If Archer wants to return to duty, doors exist for him.”
Archer studied him, suspicion and appreciation twining together in his expression. “You recruiting me already?”
Angelo huffed out a laugh. “Not my job anymore, but I have connections if you ever want to make a move.”
The engine noise rose slightly—someone was doing a final check. Her time with Archer was coming to a close. But not an end—a goodbye for now.
Ellory stepped forward and put both arms around her brother. She squeezed, hard enough that she felt his ribs under her palms, and then hated herself for noticing. He hugged her back with surprising strength, his hands firm and steady.
“I’m not letting go,” she whispered into his shoulder.
“I’m leaving anyway,” he murmured back.
She laughed, wet and shaky. “You’re a jerk.”
“Born that way.”
She pulled back and looked at his face, memorizing every angle. His blue eyes. His trimmed beard. The absurd bun that her other brothers would never let him live down if they saw it.
“Call me,” she said.
He lifted his jaw. “You won’t be able to shut me up.”
“Good.”
His gaze flicked to Angelo. Archer held out a hand. “Take care of my sister.”
Angelo clasped it. “That’s a vow I can make.”
They shook once.
Then Archer turned and walked toward the helicopter without looking back.
Ellory watched him disappear inside and the aircraft vibrate and liftoff into the pale blue New Jersey sky.
Only when it was gone did she issue a long, shuddering breath and felt her body slump.
Angelo slid his hand into hers. “You okay?”
Ellory nodded even though her throat still felt tight. “I had three days I didn’t think I’d ever get. It feels like a lifetime…and nothing at all.”
Angelo’s thumb brushed over the back of her hand. “And now he needs to heal.”
She looked up at him. “What happens after this? For him. For us.”
His gaze didn’t flinch away. “I don’t know what he’ll choose. I only know what I want.”
Her pulse jumped, accompanied by a flutter of need deep in her core that only seemed to increase each day she spent with her lover.
She slipped her arms around his neck. “What do you want?”
“I want you here.” He strummed the pad of his thumb over the crest of her cheek. “With us.”
Ellory’s breath caught and stuck. “Angelo…”
“We could use an accountant,” he continued, and she almost laughed at the blunt practicality of it until she saw the intensity in his eyes.
He went on, “You were a crucial asset in getting Cipher. There are more networks to uncover in the world.”
She stared at him. “You’re serious.”
“Dead serious.”
“You talked to Con about this?”
“He wanted me to pose the idea to you. What do you think? We could use your beautiful, brilliant brain.”
Emotion surged into her chest, too full, too fast. “So…what would I do?”
Angelo cupped her cheek, callused fingers gentle against her skin. “Work with Blackout teams. You’ll be protected. You’ll be part of it.”
Part of it.
The words landed like a blow. For so long she’d been outside every circle, useful but alone.
“We can keep honing your knife-throwing skills.”
Ellory swallowed. “And this is what you want?”
His gaze dropped to her mouth. “I want more than your skill set.”
Heat flashed through her, and he kissed her.
Not a careful kiss. It was hot and hungry. A kiss that told her he wasn’t offering a job. He was offering a life. With him.
When he pulled back, his forehead rested against hers for a beat. Their breathing was ragged.
“I love you,” he said.
No numbers.
No code.
No hiding.
Ellory’s eyes burned again, but this time she didn’t fight it. “I love you too,” she whispered.
A laugh trembled out of her, half sob, half joy. “I helped catch the bad guy. I found my brother.” Her chest felt like it would burst as she dragged in air that felt crisp and new. “I have more than I ever thought I’d have. What else could I want?”
Angelo’s mouth curved. One dark brow hiked upward. “I want more.”
Her heart slammed.
She kissed him again, harder, letting him taste her passion, and felt him respond instantly with a rumble in his throat that went straight through her.
“Come on,” Angelo murmured against her mouth.
When they turned back to go inside, she didn’t wait.
She led him down the hall to her room, her heart hammering with a different kind of urgency now, not fear, but hunger and relief and love that had nowhere else to go.
The second they reached her room and the door closed, she was on him—mouth on his, hands sliding over his shoulders, her body pressing into his like she needed proof he was real.
“I’ve wanted you,” she whispered between drugging kisses, breath catching. “So bad.”
Angelo’s answer vibrated against her mouth, rough and needy. He gripped her hips, pulling her closer, and Ellory felt heat steal through her.
She dragged his shirt up and off with impatient fingers and kissed the skin she uncovered, tasting salt and the faint trace of soap. She pushed at his belt, at the buttons, at anything between them, her mouth still on his because she couldn’t stop kissing him—never wanted to stop.
Angelo growled into her mouth when she slipped her hand around his stiff cock and felt him surge in her fingers. “My god, Trouble.”
Ellory pressed her forehead to his for a beat. “I love you.”
“I love you,” he rasped back. “Stay with me. Forever.”
She answered by pulling him down with her, the rest of the world dissolving as they fell into the bed and into each other.
After that, there was no need for words.
Later, when they were both spent, Ellory lay curled against Angelo’s side with the blanket pulled up around them.
Outside, the base moved on. More missions would come. She’d be staring at numbers until her eyes blurred. Threats would rise again, because the world never ran out of monsters.
But now, Cipher was dead.
Now Archer was headed toward help.
Now she wasn’t just The Accountant anymore.
Now she was right here.
With them.
With him.