Page 120 of Chaos has a Name (An FBI Romance/Thriller #66)

“I already miss my kids,” he whispered, sobbing even harder. “Why do I have to be so broken? Why can’t I ever win a battle?” he asked.

Gene was about to answer him, but didn’t get the chance. Instead, they heard the front open, and both looked over.

That’s when Ethan saw something he never expected. Elizabeth was there, and she dropped her bag with her clothes in it.

After she came in, Chris and Callen came in right behind her.

They mimicked what she did.

They dropped their things too.

Unsure what was going to happen, Ethan stood. A little part of him wished they’d force him on that jet, and then, he’d have to accept it.

In that moment, he was so lost.

“I don’t understand.”

Elizabeth stood there.

“Security is heading to the house that Callen bought with the kids. We’re here with you.”

Still, he was confused.

So, Elizabeth explained.

“If you need to be here, EJ, then we’ll stay here. If you need the reservation to heal, then we’ll be here for you and with you. If this is the path you know is right, and I believe that you do know that in your heart, then we walk with you down it. We’re home.”

He knew how much she hated it here.

How much Chris and Callen did too.

“I can’t ask this of you. I can’t take this away from you for me.”

She was honest.

“You’re not asking. You’re not taking. We’re giving freely.

We would all rather be here with you than across the country without you.

We’re a family. This,” she said, pointing at the five of them, “It’s the foundation.

You and I aren’t what holds it together.

We are just two bricks. We ALL hold it together.

It’s all or nothing on this journey, and we’re an ‘all as one’ kind of people. ”

His heart skipped in his chest.

“I got you, Bro,” Callen said. “Dibs on the bigger half of the closet in the new place.”

Chris sighed.

“Just because I wear scrubs doesn’t mean I don’t have suits, CJ. If you get the closet, I get dibs on some garage space. I’m getting my car sent here. I like having date night with EJ in that car.”

Ethan’s heart skipped.

He didn’t know what to say.

Finally, she spoke.

“Over my goddamn dead body am I leaving my husband behind,” she said. “It is NEVER going to happen. I’m glad you were honest with us. Just remember, I’m still getting a goddamn beach vacation. After we get Wyler to his doctor, and get back.”

He couldn’t believe this.

Know who could?

Gene.

He wasn’t the least bit shocked, and this was exactly why he wanted Ethan to take this chance.

This family was built on love.

Because he needed it, Elizabeth moved closer.

As she did, Ethan saw the tenacity that was always there in her. Ethan wished he could be half as tenacious and as good a human being as she was.

Elizabeth had a superpower.

It was love.

She continued.

“If you need to be the Shaman, then I’m going to be the shaman’s wife.”

Beside her, Chris spoke up.

“And I’m going to be the shaman’s husband,” he said, holding up his finger with the ring Ethan slipped onto it a few years ago.

And then Callen followed suit.

“Then I’m going to be the shaman’s brother who just happens to be so much more handsome and not a big pussy when it comes to his needs.”

The tears slipped, and Ethan walked toward them. He honestly couldn’t carry this burden.

He simply didn’t have it since finding out what had happened in Philly.

Ethan Jackson Blackhawk needed his family to prop him up until he could heal.

With open arms, they surrounded him, and held him tight.

Because jobs were just jobs.

They could work out of FBI West so Ethan could finally understand that it wasn’t a burden when he needed something.

They were there to supply for those needs, and while being in Damascus sucked, being without him and Gene would suck even more.

They.

Were.

Home.

Oh, and for as long as it took Ethan to come back from this.

When the door opened again, in came another familiar face.

“Uh, who died?” Corbin asked, with his mother behind him as he saw the tears. “What did we miss?”

Elizabeth just laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

They all had forgot to tell him that they were going back to DC, and to meet them there. They’d been so busy, they’d inadvertently forgotten about the Prices.

Thank God for that.

Oh, well, the more the fucking merrier. Their family was going to have some fun here.

At least they’d be laughing.

And that was a good thing.

“You didn’t miss anything, Corbin. You’re just in time. Welcome to the crazy. We’re here to hold down the fort. Again. The Blackhawks are about to take the reservation by storm, and make Damascus our bitch—part two.”

And it was safe to say it would never be the same again.

Call it a hunch.

The ravens, the owl, the fox, and the wolf had come home to roost.

How the hell could this go wrong?

It looked as if they were going to find out, now that they were back to the Scene of the Crime.

Again.

* * * The Blackhawk Family * * *

Chief of Police’s

Office

Saturday Morning

She didn’t go to see them leave.

Elizabeth had mentioned to her via text that they were heading out by nine, and it was already nine thirty.

Instead, she went into work.

On her day off.

To forget.

It was Saturday, but being at home in the bed that she and Caspian shared was no lure now that he was on a jet heading home.

Yesterday, she’d not gotten to see him, and there was a reason for that.

She didn’t want to say goodbye and break.

Because she would.

By now, she was just a distant memory as he was somewhere over the middle of the country on his way back to the East Coast.

And it sucked.

He was all she was thinking about, and had been since he’d helped save her father, and disappeared from her life. What she did know was that life wasn’t fair.

Not.

At.

All.

Sitting in her chair, she put her feet up on her desk, and stared out the window.

God.

Why didn’t she beg him to stay?

Oh, she knew.

Because it was likely just some sex that he would forget. She was a simple Native woman, and a cop on a rundown reservation.

Why would he want anything with her?

He lived in a big city, and they had spectacular lives where they mattered.

She chased drunks.

That was all.

Rayna knew that when he said he’d come back on occasion, since they did, that this was going nowhere. That had been her big clue, so by not seeing him, she opted not to make a goddamn fool of herself.

Because she would have begged on her knees for him to stay.

And that was something that she’d never do for ANYONE but him.

By coming into work, she could believe she was busy, and just couldn’t get to him.

It was work’s fault.

NOT.

HERS.

When she heard someone clear their voice, she didn’t even look over at the masculine tone. She worked with a bunch of men.

She was accustomed to it.

“Just put the reports on the desk,” she said, sadly. “I’m busy.”

Caspian hoped that Elizabeth was right with what she’d said. It appeared he was about to find out.

“I hope you’re sad because of me, and not the reports,” Caspian said, standing there.

The second she heard his voice, she gasped.

Rayna dropped her feet so fast and turned that she nearly fell out of her chair.

“Cas?” she asked, standing up.

He was leaning against the door in jeans and a t-shirt. By God, she’d never seen anyone look that damn good in her whole life.

It was a punch to the chest.

“Hey, Chief.”

She didn’t understand.

“They went home. They left already. You should be in the air.”

He didn’t tell her why he was there. He didn’t tell her that had she not hid all day yesterday, she would have seen him, and he would have told her.

He decided to stay, even when the Blackhawks were going home.

“Did you miss me?”

She nodded.

“Did you want me to stay?” he asked.

Tears filled her eyes.

“Yes. I needed you to stay, but I had to let you go. I can’t leave here, or I would have gone with you. I would have gone had you asked me to. There’s nothing here without you.”

Caspian needed to hear that.

His heart definitely did.

“I’m here now, and for the record, I opted not to go back with them two days ago. They made up their minds this morning that they aren’t leaving either, but had you showed up to say goodbye, you would have known that.”

Oh, holy shit!

“Really?”

He simply nodded, and that was when he saw her intent. It was clearly revealed in her eyes.

They were, after all, a window to the soul.

“Caspian,” she said, racing to him, and jumping up to kiss him.

As she did, he held on.

When she broke the kiss, she stared into his eyes.

“How long are you staying?” she asked, framing his handsome face with her tan hands.

Oh, well, that’s just it.

No one knew.

“I’m going to say it’s for a while. Ethan has decided to take on being the Shaman, and the family is moving here for the long term. DC is on hold.”

She held his face in her hands and stared into the greenest eyes that held so much peace for her now that he was staying.

Because she didn’t want to let him out of her sight again, she went there.

“Need a place to stay?” she asked.

He grinned.

“Want to let a Marine sleep on your couch?” he asked, testing the waters.

She stared into his green eyes.

“No. I need a Marine to sleep with me. I need a Marine who would have stayed for me, and only me.”

“Well, lookie here, Chief. You seem to have found one. I’ll stay as long as you want me here.”

Oh, well, she knew that would be forever.

What she craved was time to get him to see that she was more than bedmate material.

Rayna wanted more.

She wanted all.

Oh, and she only wanted Caspian Carter, the Marine and the Archangel, Uriel.

“Then I hope you packed a big suitcase. I want you here forever.”

And Caspian knew, the next few months or years here were going to be…

Interesting.

Someone stole his heart.

And he’d finally found a woman he could build a life with that wouldn’t break his heart.

Rayna Running Wolf would be one hell of a chase, but it was a good thing that he loved a jaunty little run after who he suspected was the love of his life.

It began…now.