49. Felicity
FELICITY
My blood turned to ice the second those headlights cut through the rain.
I knew those SUVs.
Lord help me?—
I knew them.
The lead vehicle fishtailed slightly as it came up the muddy drive before correcting hard.
Black Suburbans.
Armor-plated.
The exact same convoy that used to roll up to my father’s ranch in the middle of the night.
The same vehicles I watched from my bedroom window as a teenager while men in expensive boots disappeared into Dad’s office for hours.
Men he never let me meet.
Men who always smelled like smoke, whiskey, and danger.
“Oh God…” I whispered.
Hersh turned instantly. “Flick?”
I couldn’t breathe for a second.
Because suddenly I was nineteen again.
Standing halfway down the staircase while my father yelled at me to go back upstairs.
“Daddy—”
“NOW, Felicity!”
Not angry.
Terrified.
I’d never heard fear in his voice before that night.
And afterward…
he stopped letting me near the meetings completely.
Stopped inviting me to dinners.
Stopped bringing me into town.
Stopped letting me around the ranch staff unless absolutely necessary.
At the time, I thought he was ashamed of me somehow.
Or disappointed.
My throat tightened painfully.
No.
He was trying to save me.
Rook moved beside the darkened window carefully. “You recognize them.”
“Yes.”
The word barely came out.
Hersh was beside me instantly now.
One arm sliding protectively around my waist.
Grounding me before my knees could give out.
“Talk to me.”
I swallowed hard.
“That was my father’s security convoy.”
The room went dead silent again.
Wolf frowned. “Private security?”
I nodded shakily.
“He hired them years ago.” My eyes stayed locked on the headlights outside. “But after a while… Dad stopped letting me near them.”
Trigger’s expression shifted.
“Why?”
The answer hit me with brutal clarity now.
Because he knew.
My chest hurt so badly I could barely breathe.
“He didn’t want me around anyone connected to Mercer.”
Hersh went still beside me.
Not confused anymore.
Understanding.
Painful understanding.
I looked up at him slowly.
“All those years…” My voice cracked. “You thought my father hated you.”
Hersh’s jaw tightened.
“He did.”
“No.” Tears filled my eyes instantly. “He was afraid.”
The truth settled over both of us at the same time.
Dad didn’t separate us because Hersh wasn’t good enough.
He separated us because Hersh mattered too much.
Mercer could use him.
And eventually?—
he did.
Hersh looked away briefly, pain flashing across his face so fast it nearly broke me.
“Sixteen years,” he said quietly.
The grief in those two words.
I grabbed his hand instantly.
“He was trying to protect us.”
“No,” Hersh said darkly, eyes lifting toward the convoy outside. “He was trying to protect you.”
Thunder cracked violently overhead.
Outside, SUV doors opened one by one.
Dark figures stepped into the rain.
Armed.
Disciplined.
My stomach dropped.
Because I recognized one of them immediately.
Gray hair.
Tall build.
Black cowboy hat.
“Frank,” I whispered.
Rook’s head turned sharply. “You know him?”
Tears burned my eyes instantly.
“He used to bring me birthday gifts when I was younger.”
The room went deadly still.
Because somehow that made this worse.
So much worse.
Men I remembered from birthday parties…
cookouts…
Christmas dinners…
were now standing outside with assault rifles.
Shadow Division operators quietly spread through the farmhouse.
Weapons up.
Angles covered.
Rook’s voice turned ice cold. “Nobody fires unless I say so.”
Wolf checked his weapon. “You think they came peacefully?”
“No,” Rook answered immediately.
And somehow the certainty in his voice terrified me.
Frank stepped forward through the rain slowly.
Lightning flashed across his face.
Older now.
Harder.
But still recognizable.
Then he looked directly at the farmhouse window.
Like he knew I was standing there.
My pulse slammed violently.
And then?—
Frank raised both hands slowly into the air.
No weapon.
No threat posture.
Just rain pouring off him while the convoy idled behind him.
“He’s alone,” one of the Shadow Division operators murmured.
Rook narrowed his eyes.
“No,” he said quietly.
That chill hit me instantly.
Because I knew that tone.
Rook saw something dangerous.
Then Frank shouted through the storm:
“FELICITY!”
My heart nearly stopped.
“I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE!”
Hersh pulled me farther behind him automatically.
But I couldn’t stop staring.
Frank’s voice cracked through the rain again.
“YOUR FATHER TOLD ME IF ANYTHING EVER HAPPENED TO HIM?—”
He stopped suddenly.
Looked toward the tree line.
And every instinct in my body screamed wrong.
Rook saw it too.
His weapon came up instantly.
“DOWN!” he roared.
The first sniper shot exploded through the storm?—
and hit Frank directly in the chest.