Chapter Forty-Three
Helios
The second we were at cruising altitude, Ares called me out. “You’ve never told anyone about the island.”
I glanced back toward the cabin. Haven was looking out the window. “I know.”
“You threatened bodily harm if I ever divulged its existence.”
I remembered. A day after I bought the place, wanting to make sure I’d buried it in enough fucking shell corporations, I broke down and asked Ares to check my shit hacking skills.
He’d checked.
And immediately found the seven-hundred-acre island with a fifty-seven-hundred-foot asphalt airstrip that I’d bought at the rock-bottom price of eighty mil because it’d been hit by a hurricane the season before.
Ares fixed my shit hacks, and I began fixing the island. There was debris everywhere, but the house, guesthouse, boat ramp, airstrip, hangar, and dock were all intact. Place just needed the electrical restored, clean up, and some modifications.
When I’d initially heard about the island, then did a low flyover? Fuck. I’d headed back to Miami and bought it that day, structures unseen, because the fucking fantasy had hit.
Me and Haven.
Our own damn island.
Since then, I’d paid the place off, cleaned up the roads, and made sure all the infrastructure was solid.
Took me six years of sweat equity on short layovers before and after assignments so Haven wouldn’t ask where the fuck I was.
I’d also enlisted Ares’s help on two separate weekends to set up a whole-island security system and build out the panic bunker.
Felt like it’d taken for-fucking-ever, but in the end, I’d done it.
The island had been ready since June, right in time for hurricane season.
My stupid ass had been waiting for November to bring her here.
Now I was flying her in to use the place as a damn safe house. Cypher, Nix, Chaos, and Saint would all know about it, and the few times I’d barged in supplies and paid locals a small fucking fortune to keep my identity secret seemed like fate flipping me the finger.
I half lied to Ares. “It was the safest place to bring her.” It was the only place I wanted to bring her.
“Are you going to tell her?”
I knew what Ares was asking. Every other time we’d put Haven in a safe house, it’d been our place in the Everglades or a Paragon Ops location.
If I didn’t say dick, maybe she’d make the assumption this was another Paragon Ops place.
But Nix sure as fuck didn’t have any islands he used as safe houses, and I wasn’t that damn magnanimous to give Nix credit for the place.
“Don’t know yet when I’m gonna tell her.” I’d wanted it to only be me and her, make it fucking special when I brought her here. Now, I was focused on other shit. Like putting a hundred fucking rounds in the goddamn Vulture. “I haven’t heard back from Cypher. We need al-Hashimi’s location.”
“I texted him before we departed Opa Locka.” Ares glanced at his cell. “He’s working on it.”
I looked at my watch. “We should’ve had intel by now.”
“Al-Hashimi knows how to hide.” Ares checked our heading. “Cypher will find him, though.”
Just then, my burner vibrated. Shoving my headset off one ear, I took the call. “Cypher.”
“Got a location, but al-Hashimi has friends.”
Of course the motherfucker did. “How many and who?”
“Eight. Russian hired guns. They’re camped out on a rented yacht in the Miami Beach Marina. Nix is heading there now. Secure Feralyn, then head back. Any changes, I’ll call in a sitrep.”
“Copy that.”
“Later.” Cypher hung up.
I glanced at Ares. “Fucker’s at the Miami Beach Marina with eight Russian friends on a rented boat.”
Ares stated the obvious. “High traffic. Heavy potential for civilian casualties.”
“Nothing we haven’t dealt with before.” I lowered the landing gear and reduced speed as the sun crested the horizon. “Final approach. Radio Chaos.”
“Copy.” Ares tuned in to an unauthorized frequency. “Three-hundred-E, come in.”
Chaos’s voice came through the headset. “Go ahead.”
“Final approach. Keep to our six. Two-minute lag for touchdown,” Ares radioed back.
“Roger that,” Chaos replied.
Seventeen minutes later, we were on the ground, and I’d handed the controls over to Ares. He was taxiing us to the hangar, the Phenom was behind us, and Saint was on the apron, standing in front of his helo.
Stepping out of the cockpit, I gave Ares orders. “You and Chaos, stay with the planes. I’m running her and Saint up to the house.”
“Copy. Are we taking both planes back or leaving one for Saint?”
I’d wanted us protected while flying out here, but heading back together would get us on the ground faster with only one plane in the landing queue. And if Saint needed speed or longer range for an exfil, the Phenom was it. “Tell Chaos he’s coming with us.” I headed to Haven.
She looked out the window as I unbuckled her seat belt. “Where are we?”
I gave her as much as I was willing to right now. “The Bahamian house.”
“It’s beautiful.”
She was fucking beautiful. “Glad you like it. Come on.” Taking her hand, I steadied her as Ares brought the plane to a stop. Then I shouldered her go bag and opened the airstairs.
Saint met us on the apron. “Helios. Feralyn.” The motherfucker leaned in to hug Haven.
“Hello, Saint.” Haven hugged the prick back.
“Good to see you, despite the circumstances.” Saint smiled at her.
Fuck me, and fuck this. “Landcruiser’s in the hangar. Let’s go.”
The prick about-faced, hit the hangar before me, and slid open the door.
My hand landed on the back of Haven’s neck, and I questioned every-damn-thing as I took a fucking breath.
Haven looked up at me. “Helios?”
“Yeah?” Jesus fucking Christ. The sunrise on her face. Standing on my island. And I was goddamn leaving her here. With another fucking man.
She whispered. “Are we okay?”
I focused the hell up. “All good. You’re safe.” I jerked my chin toward the SUV. “Come on. Taking you to the house.” I ushered her into the front passenger seat, tossed her bag in the back, then headed for the driver’s side.
Saint intercepted me. “Island secure?”
“Yeah.” Fuck, I needed to get my head on straight.
Grabbing my cell, I pulled up the files I needed.
“Sending you the blueprints for the house and schematics for the full-island security measures now. We’ve got a two-mile drive to the house.
Fucking study those plans, fast. Everything you need is in the garage and panic bunker.
Both built like a bomb shelter. Kitchen’s stocked.
Security code is for both house and perimeter.
Encrypted Wi-Fi code’s separate. Use it for any communication.
” I recited the codes to him, making a mental note to change them the second this was over.
“Copy.” Saint reached for the back door.
I gave him one goddamn warning. “Don’t let her out of your sight.”
“I know who we’re dealing with. Nothing’s going to happen to her.”
Who the hell we were dealing with didn’t fucking matter.
“I don’t care if you’re her goddamn protection detail for a visit with the Pope.
You guard her with your fucking life, or I’ll eliminate yours.
Same warning if you leak one fucking detail about this island to anyone—Nix, Cypher, and Chaos included. ”
“Casual warning amongst friends?” the smarmy prick asked in that calm-as-shit spook tone of his.
“No. It’s a fucking promise.” And we weren’t friends.
“Noted.” He got in the SUV.
I got behind the wheel and drove to the house.
Neither of them said a word as I pulled up to the front door. Saint, I didn’t care about. But her silence was fucking bothering me.
Leaving the engine running, I gripped her thigh. “Coming to get you. Wait.” Releasing her leg, I threw Saint a glance. “On me.”
“Copy.”
Both me and Saint got out. Holding her bag, he hovered while I opened her door, then he fell in on our six as we walked up the front steps.
Using the exterior keypad, I entered the code and swung the door in, but I’d already made a decision.
I didn’t walk the fuck in with her. I was gonna save that.
Looking down at my Haven, I aimed to reassure her. “You’re safe. Everything’s gonna be fine, and this’ll be over before you know it. You got the burner if you need me.”
“Can I come back to the airstrip?” She dropped her voice to that submissive tone that fucking did me in. “To watch you take off?”
“Safer here,” I argued, but I knew this wasn’t about watching the damn takeoff. She wanted a few more minutes with me, and fuck if I didn’t want the same damn thing.
She begged. “Please?”
Fucking hell.
Saint, the prick, tossed her go bag inside, then pulled the front door shut. “I’ll bring her right back.” Turning his back on us, fucking purposely, he retreated to the SUV, and I hated him a little less.
Pulling Haven into my arms, I gave her a quick but hard hug. Then I repeated my promise. “Coming back to you, Haven.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.