Chapter 29
Owen stared through the scope of the sniper rifle, studying everyone in the area. So far, none looked like a threat to Natalie, but he knew from experience that it could change in a heartbeat.
Before he’d returned to Texas, he couldn’t think of doing anything besides being a SEAL. Now, he was seriously considering resigning so he could be with Natalie.
They belonged together. No one could touch his heart and soul the way she did so effortlessly.
He always assumed he’d retire from the military, but Natalie had him rethinking everything. He was tired of being alone. Though he never liked to talk about it, he was lonely. It hit him particularly hard at times, and when that happened, his mind always pulled up memories of Natalie.
For so long, he’d lied to himself that the loneliness didn’t matter. But it did. Coming face-to-face with Natalie again had proven that.
She made him feel again. His love for her that he’d buried deep down so long ago had rushed to the surface, consuming him. It demanded he feel it, that he open himself up to it.
Now that he had, there was no turning away. Looking back now, he wondered how he’d ever left her.
As the time approached for Irina to appear, the more vigilant he became. He tried to calm his racing heart. Not even during his first mission or first kill had he felt so apprehensive. The reason sat in a chair, pretending to drink a latte.
It always came back to Natalie. No wonder everyone called him a fool. He was the biggest one of them all to leave something as precious as her behind.
He’d always thought his life was fulfilling, even if it was dangerous. Maybe it was because he was back at the ranch. It might even be because Orrin had been kidnapped. Perhaps it was because Natalie needed him.
Whatever the reason, his bleak future of endless missions with no one to come home to seemed desolate and grim now.
What he wanted—what he yearned for—was Natalie.
If something didn’t change, he knew exactly what his future held for him.
And he refused to be like his father and end up alone.