Chapter 74 Carter
Carter
The cabin buzzed with quiet preparation, the kind that came before every mission—gear checks, weapons cleaned, comms tested. I’d been through this ritual a hundred times, but tonight felt different.
Because this wasn’t just another op. This was the fight to erase Harper’s name from every list, to make sure she never had to hear her life measured in contracts again.
I checked the slide on my pistol, chambered a round, then set it back in its holster with deliberate care.
My movements were steady, but my mind wasn’t.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her—Harper in that warehouse, Harper waiting at the cabin window, Harper whispering I love you against my chest.
That was the fuel driving me now.
River moved around the table, crisp and controlled. “We hit the south side first. Gideon pulls power again, Cyclone covers our exit. Carter—you’re point.”
“Understood.” My voice came out flat, clipped, but there was no mistaking the edge beneath it.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Harper watching. She sat curled in my flannel still, but her chin was high, her eyes steady. Brave. Fierce. She wasn’t begging me to stay. She wasn’t looking at me like I was about to vanish.
She was looking at me like we were in this together.
And that did something to me I couldn’t put into words.
I crossed the room, crouching so we were eye to eye. “I don’t know how long this will take. But I’ll come back to you.”
Her hand slipped into mine, warm and certain. “You’d better,” she whispered, a hint of fire under the fear.
I pressed a kiss to her knuckles, my chest tightening. “You’re my reason to end this fast.”
When I stood again, the soldier was back in place. Armor locked, mission clear.
But beneath it all, the man—the one who loved her more than his own life—was the one pulling the trigger tonight.
And God help anyone who stood in my way.