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His arm came around her waist, pulling her into him. The kiss deepened, her fingers sliding into the collar of his jacket, finding the soft brush of hair at his nape.

And there it was—heat blooming in her chest, melting through the cold like sunrise.

When they broke apart, breathless, a wolf whistle cut through the dark.

“About bloody time!” Fox’s voice called from the cabin doorway. “Zak, pay up. Fifty quid like I said.”

Kat turned, brows raised. “You’ve been betting on us?”

Fox grinned like a fool. Zak shook his head with a small smile.

“For, oh, nine years and change,” Fox said breezily. “You broke him in Oslo. We’ve been mopping up ever since.”

Leo’s arm tightened at her waist. “Fox, if you enjoy chewing solid food…”

“What? She deserves the full tragic history. Every time you called, he’d pace like a damn tiger. Poor bastard’s absolutely hopeless.”

“I can still fire you,” Leo growled, but there was no heat in his voice.

The cabin door banged open. Griff emerged, face grim. “Ten minutes to approach, boss.”

The moment snapped back to mission-mode. Leo’s posture firmed, the commander replacing the man. “Gear up. Final checks. We go dark in five.”

The team melted back into the cabin, leaving them alone again.

Kat touched his arm. “For what it’s worth,” she said quietly, “I’ve been just as hopeless.”

He cupped her face, thumb tracing the curve of her cheek. “We’ll finish this. Together. And then...”

“And then,” she agreed, covering his hand with hers.

Navarro throttled down the engine. His voice carried from the wheelhouse.

“Current stronger tonight. Cannot get closer.” He pointed to the cliffs. “Rocks too dangerous.”

Leo nodded. “Then we go in from here.”

41

The full forceof the wind slammed into Leo as he stood on the deck, salt and cold biting at his exposed skin. The boat pitched beneath his boots. Ahead, the cliff loomed—black and craggy. Waves exploded white against its base like detonations.

He’d been on missions like this before. But this one was different.

Kat’s here.

And even though she was more than capable—hell, one of the sharpest operators he’d ever worked with—her presence gnawed at him. He understood her need to be here. MI6 had marked her as a traitor, painted her with a lie she couldn’t outrun. If they pulled this off, she could clear her name, and she deserved that chance.

But knowing all that didn’t quiet the voice in his head that screamed she shouldn’t be here. That he should’ve told her no. That he should’ve fought harder to keep her safe.

Because he loved her. And because part of him would always want to protect her, no matter how many times she proved she didn’t need it.

“There!” Navarro pointed to a narrow break in the rocks, half-lost in the moonlight. “Only place possible. But very dangerous.”

Leo raised his night-vision binoculars. The green-tinted image swept across the ridge.

No sentries. But if life had taught him anything, it was that quiet was just another kind of bait. “Thermal’s clean.”

“Too easy,” Fox muttered close by.