Page 38

ZEKE

“THIS PLACE IS amazing.” Savannah’s eyes are bright as she takes in the soaring ceilings of the building around us. “It’s still so crazy to me that they built a replica of the Parthenon here in Nashville.”

“It is pretty crazy.” I’m supposed to be looking at the gilded Athena soaring toward the ceiling in front of us, but I can’t take my eyes off my wife as she soaks it all up.

She is so fucking beautiful. Especially like this. Eyes lit with excitement. Cheeks still pink from the warm outside air. The soft curve of her belly where our baby is growing.

“I kinda wish I could have seen the one they put up for the centennial. I know it probably wasn’t as beautiful as this one, but it still would have been amazing to see.” Savannah links her hand with mine, leading me through the crowd of people as she takes everything in.

We spend a good chunk of time looking through the art gallery in the lower level and the special exhibit. Savannah has such a good time, I stop on our way out to purchase a membership so she can come whenever she wants. Our new home is only about an hour away, so it’s an easy drive to make whether I’m in town or not.

I’m sure Maddox or Sadie would be happy to tag along if she didn’t want to come alone. Hell, anyone from Shadow would bring her. Savannah has a fucking fan club ready and waiting to do her bidding.

Especially now that she’s pregnant.

“What now?” I fasten her into the passenger seat, letting my hand linger on the tiny swell behind the belt. “You hungry?”

“I’m always hungry.” She sighs. “But I’m supposed to watch Love is Blind with Sadie and Maddox tonight, and Maddox is all excited to make us dinner.”

I frown at her. “Maddox needs to get a girlfriend.”

Savannah leans forward, planting a kiss on my lips. “Don’t give him a hard time. He’s had a rough six months.”

“That’s the only reason I didn’t kick his ass when he ate all the cookies you made me.” Having my team live on the same street as us has taken some getting used to. Especially when they don’t hesitate to come over.

All. The. Fucking. Time.

“I’ll make you more cookies.” She kisses me again. “And if you’d clear him to work, maybe he’d be too busy to eat all your cookies.”

I sigh. “He’s got to pass the fitness test, Sweetheart. He knows that. If he can't, he's a liability.”

“Then find him something else to do.” She bats her eyes at me. “The poor man is bored out of his mind.”

I take a deep breath. “Fine.”

“Thank you.” Savannah beams at me like I just told her I’d buy her a kitten.

Which I have.

When I get behind the wheel and pull onto the highway, one of her hands held tight in mine, she’s still grinning at me like I just made all her dreams come.

We’re about halfway home when my phone rings. I connect it on the console and Christian’s voice echoes through the interior. “Hey. I just got a call from Audrey, the woman Savannah and her sister helped Lydia collect.”

I didn’t have much to do with that whole thing, but we found out after the fact that her ex was the one who gave Ivan’s brother the number to Christian and Lydia’s phone. Unfortunately, the guy’s a well-known politician, so I couldn’t make him disappear. “And?”

“And she wants to hire Alaskan Security. I guess some things have happened that make her nervous and she wants someone around to make her feel safe,” Christian explains. “I know you guys have a team that handles private protection, so I thought you might be able to put her in contact with them.”

I glance at Savannah and, as I expected, she’s smiling wide at me. “Is she still in this area?”

“As far as I know she’s just outside Memphis.” Christian pauses and I can hear Lydia’s voice in the background confirming his words.

I shake my head, worried I’m going to regret this. “I think I’ve got someone who can take her on. Let me check and I’ll call you back.”

As soon as I disconnect, Savannah asks, “Are you going to let Maddox do it?”

“I’m going to ask Maddox if he’d like to do it.” I choose my words carefully, because I don’t want her to think I’m saying something I’m not. “He might not be ready to step into personal protection right now though, so it’ll be up to him.”

I know Savannah feels responsible for what happened, and I don’t want her carrying any more of that burden than she already does. But Maddox was shot multiple times working as her bodyguard, and I won’t make him do it again if he’s not in a place to handle it.

Savannah nods, her smile slipping. “I get it.”

I reach out to smooth down her hair. “Don’t be sad. Maddox is good. Great even, since he gets to eat all my fucking cookies.”

“I know. I just feel bad.” She sniffs and blinks a few times. “And I feel bad that this is how Sadie felt over what happened to me and I didn’t really give her any grace about it.”

My hand moves to her face, thumb swiping at the single tear running over her cheek. "Do not feel bad for that, Sweetheart. You know damn well Sadie doesn't fault you for a single thing you had to do to get through what you went through."

Savannah's head tips back, eyes lifting to the roof as she wipes at them. "I know. I think it's just my hormones."

The reminder of the tiny life growing inside her has my hand dropping to rest against her stomach. She's early enough most people would never notice, but I know every inch of her body, so I've been able to witness all the subtle little changes in it. It's fucking amazing.

"As long as you make sure your sister knows I'm not the reason you're crying. Last time, I saw the murder in her eyes until you explained it was that commercial for fabric softener that had you so upset."

Savannah's face puckers, her chin quaking. "I forgot about that commercial."

Fuck me running. I need to learn when to keep my mouth shut.

I spend the rest of the trip trying to distract my wife from the memory of an advertisement involving a grandmother getting to see her first grandchild. I say more words than I've probably ever said in my whole life in an attempt to keep her from dwelling too hard on the fact that our children won't technically have grandparents.

It's something that could upset me if I thought about it too long. But anytime I try to go there, I remind myself that our children are going to have an entire street’s worth of uncles who will literally kill for them. That has to be worth something, right?

When we pull up into our driveway, Savannah's tears are dried, the smile back on her face as we get out. Like she does every time, Savannah sighs as we walk into our house.

The two-story structure is very different from the townhome she owned back in Fairbanks. The square footage is about the same, but that’s the only commonality, and it makes it easy to see why she struggled so much to make that place feel like home.

I drop my keys into the tray just inside the door as Savannah circles the butcher block topped kitchen island on her way to the refrigerator. She pulls out a sparkling water—her new favorite drink since she doesn't want to pour too much caffeine on our baby—and glides through the house, running her fingers across tables and couches, petting each one with fondness.

It's not a sentiment I necessarily share. I spent a lifetime living wherever I was. Bouncing from place to place. Sleeping in whatever bed was available. I didn't think much about having a home because it was an abstract idea to me. Something I almost didn't believe actually existed.

Then Savannah came into my life, and I realized that home meant different things to different people. To her, it was an actual place where she felt safe and protected and comfortable. A place she could decorate and put her personal touch on.

But that’s not what a home is for me. I love our house, don't get me wrong. It's cozy and filled with soft pillows and flowery curtains. It's got piles of comfortable plush blankets on the beds and sofas. The refrigerator is always full of good things to eat and the air smells sweet and fresh.

But if it was all gone in an instant, I would be fine. Because my home isn't a place. It's a person.

And I will slaughter anyone who tries to take her from me.

Thank you so much for reading Covert Operation! I hope you enjoyed Zeke and Savannah’s story.