Page 42

Axel

“ I swear, Marley, you’ve got two brain cells left and they’re both fighting for custody of your common sense.”

Frasier snorted beside me in the truck, clearly trying not to laugh. Marley, who was wedged in the backseat between a duffel bag and an empty takeout box, crossed her arms and rolled her eyes so hard I could hear it.

“For the last time,” she huffed, “I didn’t mean to get myself kidnapped. It just… happened.”

“ ‘It just happened’ is something you say when you spill coffee, not when you walk into a cartel-controlled zone pretending to be a documentarian with a fake name and a GoPro taped under your hoodie!”

“It wasn’t taped , it was clipped,” she muttered.

“I cannot believe this is what I came back to,” I muttered right back, shooting a look at Frasier like do you hear this??

Frasier wisely said nothing. That man knew better than to get between a pissed-off SEAL and a woman with a death wish.

Marley wasn’t fazed. “You and Lark are the same. Drama magnets. If I’m getting a lecture, you better be preparing one for her too.”

“Oh, believe me,” I said, gripping the wheel tighter. “Lark’s gonna get an earful the second I walk through that door. She’s next on the ‘What The Hell Were You Thinking?’ Tour.”

Marley leaned forward. “Can you make merch for that? Like, shirts or something? I want one.”

I stared at her in the rearview mirror. “Do you want to be grounded?”

“You can’t ground me.”

“I will invent adult grounding.”

She made a face. “What does that even mean?”

“No caffeine, no phone, no internet, and forced cuddle sessions with a judgmental golden doodle named Hank.”

“Fine. I’ll behave.”

“Too late. You're officially on my ‘watch her like a hawk’ list.”

Frasier finally cracked. “That’s a long list, man. Lark, Marley… your blood pressure’s gonna kill you before anything else does.”

“I’m trying to keep them alive , Frasier. I’m not out here collecting women like Pokémon cards just to let them self-destruct in peace.”

Marley laughed so hard she snorted. “ Did you just compare us to Pokémon? ”

“You’re damn right I did. And you’re one of the shiny ones. Rare. Dangerous. Hard to catch. And constantly jumping into traffic.”

We pulled onto the gravel road leading up the mountain, the familiar crunch beneath the tires calming me more than I cared to admit.

My heart had been tight the whole mission, not because of the cartel. Not even because of Marley. But because I’d left Lark behind, and I didn’t like being separated from her for even a second.

Especially not now.

Especially not after everything.

Frasier pulled out his phone as we hit the driveway. “You can let me out here.”

“Okay,” I said, already throwing the truck into park.

“Right now, I need to see my girl and make sure she hasn’t climbed onto the roof chasing a raccoon.”

“You need to make her stop chasing twisters,” Marley said.

The front door creaked open before I even knocked.

Lark stood there in one of my old T-shirts, her hair up in that messy bun I loved, her arms crossed like she was trying not to look as relieved as she felt.

“You smell like diesel fuel and frustration,” she said.

“You look like trouble,” I shot back.

“Welcome home, soldier.” Her voice cracked just a little.

And then she threw herself into my arms.

I caught her with a grunt and buried my face in her neck.

Home.

“I brought Marley,” I murmured against her skin.

“I saw. She waved from the backseat like a hostage.”

“She’s grounded.”

“She’s 29.”

“She’s still grounded.”

Lark laughed, tugging me inside. “You gonna ground me too?”

“Damn right I am.”

“Oh, no.” She widened her eyes in mock horror. “What’s my punishment?”

I kicked the door shut and pulled her against me. “You don’t even want to know.”

“Try me.”