Page 41 of Desperate Crimes (Mergers & Acquisitions #6)

C lean-up takes hours.

Obviously, I mean, it’s a lot.

Blood. Fire.

Shell casings.

Dead bodies and broken chains of command.

And through it all— she’s with me .

Leanna doesn’t flinch.

Not once.

My little wife stands beside me in her camo gear like a goddamn queen.

My queen.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.

She came for me .

She tracked me down, crossed a border, walked into a fucking war zone—and shot a man through the heart like she was born with a rifle in her hand.

Dead fucking center .

No hesitation.

Christ, I’m in love with her.

And I’m furious.

That she put herself in danger. That she risked everything .

But mostly, I’m stunned.

I underestimated her.

And I’m never making that mistake again.

Relief courses through me every time I look at her, and for the first time in nearly eight weeks, I can breathe again.

Eventually, we make it to the fallback compound—bare bones, off-grid, surrounded by trees and dirt and stone.

There’s an outdoor shower rigged with cold water and a slab of concrete for a floor.

I strip down and step under, letting the freezing cascade pound the blood and grime off me.

Every ache, every bruise, every broken rib—I take it.

Because I earned it.

And because I survived to come back to her.

When I emerge, dripping and clean in nothing but camo pants and a faded black T-shirt, she gasps.

“You’re hurt.”

“Only a little,” I lie, stepping into her space, taking her hand.

I kiss the inside of her wrist, slow and reverent. “You should see the other guys.”

Her eyes shimmer. But she doesn’t cry.

Not yet.

There’s still business to handle.

Her father. My father. And me.

We sit down with the local government officials and the remnants of the militia— ours , now.

Bought and paid for with blood and fury and hard negotiation.

The mines are back on track.

The Volkov-Fury merger will go through.

The final piece?

Guaranteeing Caas will never touch this land again.

And he won’t .

Because now I know the truth.

He was behind it .

The attack. The capture. The torture.

Everything .

He wanted me out of the picture. But he failed.

And now?

He’s going to burn.

But later. After.

After I see to her .

The moment we’re wheels-up, Leanna takes my hand and pulls me through the narrow cabin of the private jet.

Past the pilots.

Past the security detail.

One looks too long. His gaze lingers on my wife, and I almost lose my mind.

“Turn the fuck around or I’ll have your eyes,” I snarl.

But Leanna keeps going, so I go with her. I don’t take time to teach this fuck any manners.

I just go as she drags me past our fathers, and into the tiny bedroom at the back of the plane.

She doesn’t say a word.

She doesn’t have to.

I let her lead.

Because all I want— all I’ve wanted for weeks —is to hold her.

I lie back on the bed, pain lancing through my ribs, but I don’t care.

I open my arms and she climbs in, curling against me like she’s trying to disappear into my skin.

And then she breaks .

Silent tears first.

Then ragged breaths.

Then sobs that shake her whole body.

I wrap myself around her and hold on like she’s oxygen and I’ve been drowning.

I kiss her hair, her temple, her cheek, her lips. I whisper against her skin.

“I love you.”

A beat.

A gasp.

A shudder that fucking wrecks me.

And then I say it again.

“I love you, Wife.”

Over and over.

“I love you, Princess.”

Until her sobs quiet.

Until her breathing matches mine.

Until there’s nothing left in the world but us .