Page 17 of Hunted Hearts (Black Heart Security #6)

T he scent of fresh paint hung in the air as Theo followed Denver to the west-facing side of the ranch house. Over the years the small structure that was the Malones’ summer home had been added on to, but a lot of changes had been made to accommodate Black Heart Security.

The spaces that Willow made warm and cozy fell away, turning into something starker, more modern. It felt like a completely different world. One side of the house buzzed with the activity of a dozen people who lived here and the other side possessed the quiet purpose of a command center.

“When did all this start?”

Denver tossed a look at Theo over his shoulder. “When we left for Tahoe, Carson gave me the nod to make changes around here.”

His voice carried the air of command that made leaders. Theo had heard that tone from his older brother his entire life, but now he heard it as a team member taking point on an op.

“Looks like you didn’t waste any time.” He swung his head toward the door to Carson’s private office—small, all with dark wood, just the way he preferred it—to a set of new glass double doors opposite.

Denver pushed the door inward, and Theo trailed behind him into the new space.

He issued a low whistle. “Looks like Carson also gave you a hefty budget. You practically recreated a war room, brother.”

He could see by the tilt of Denver’s jaw that he’d been going for exactly that.

“Figured it’s time you got a closer look, considering you’re practically on the payroll these days.”

Theo arched a brow but said nothing, his gaze drifting over the clean lines and subtle upgrades. The room hummed with tech.

The space had been transformed from the bare-bones setup Theo remembered when he first returned to the ranch into something that looked ready for any briefing with a high-ranking general.

A long walnut table was wired with discreet data ports.

Dual screens were mounted on one wall for live intel feeds, and along the far wall, there was a display case of the latest security gadgets.

His boots thudded lightly on the floor as he drifted over to pick up a drone no bigger than his fist. He set it down with care before inspecting some tracking devices thin as credit cards.

When he spotted a familiar piece of equipment, he twisted to look at Denver. “How’d you get your hands on these?”

Encrypted comms systems, military-issue.

Denver only offered a crooked grin in response. “I have sources. Legal ones, of course.”

He huffed a laugh. “Of course.”

Denver stood back, letting him take it all in. “You need to know what we’re working with now. Not just boots on the ground, but eyes in the sky, ears everywhere. Clients want more than muscle—they want someone who can stop a threat before it gets to their doorstep.”

Theo’s gaze lingered on a sleek tablet resting on the table, its screen glowing with a live satellite overlay of the surrounding area. His brothers had made the Black Heart into a tight machine, but this…this was next level.

A quiet hum stirred in his chest—not excitement, not yet, but something close.

Without glancing at his brother, he said, “Almost seems like you’re trying to recruit me.”

When he didn’t respond, Theo turned to look at him. “Or you’re worried if you don’t anchor me here, I’m going to run off and join Blackout Charlie.”

Denver’s lips pulled tighter. “I got word from my team.”

Theo arched a brow. “You’re still in touch with them?”

He rolled his shoulders in an awkward shrug. “I have ways.”

“Is that way your hacking genius?”

His corner of his mouth quirked into a smirk. “Maybe.”

Theo leaned against the corner of the table and folded his arms. “What did you do?”

“I might have programmed in a back door so I can keep an eye on them.” His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as though it was suddenly constricted. “Charlie is my second family. It was hard as hell walking away from them.”

Theo could count on two fingers how many times he’d seen Denver get emotional. One when they lost their mother. The other whenever he looked at his baby daughter.

“If I can’t be there to watch their sixes, the least I can do is watch out for them this way.”

Theo nodded, thoughts lingering on his own SEAL team. “So why are you sharing all this with me?”

“Because Charlie just completed an op.”

His chest tightened.

Denver wordlessly pulled out his phone. He held it up to show Theo the screen. Photos of children, huddled together on a dock, in some cases clinging to each other. Several had blankets draped over their shoulders.

Theo’s gaze cut over the background of what could only be a harbor. He could practically smell that photo.

“What am I looking at?”

“These kids are Romanian.”

He waited for more.

“Look closer. What do you see?”

He took the phone from his brother and held it close, scouring the photo. For a beat, he paused on the kids’ faces. Fear glowed in their eyes, and he couldn’t look for long. He dragged his gaze over their clothes.

Not ragged, but not clean either.

A couple older kids stood on the edge of the group, clutching plastic bags. Using his finger and thumb, he zoomed the photo to get a better look at the bags.

Then he saw it.

The logo.

“Oh my god.” His words emitted as a hot rasp propelled like a red-hot coal through his throat. “It’s the logo of Juliette’s charity.”

Denver was watching him. “Only these kids aren’t in Eastern Europe. They were picked up here in the US. They were being trafficked.”

“And Charlie found them because of the intel I was passed. The note.” Realization washed over him with a pull of a tidal wave, the certainty what he said was true.

He met Denver’s serious gaze.

Now emotion thickened his throat. What he had done, taking that note and getting it into the hands of the right people, had mattered. At the time, it hadn’t seemed like much, but the expressions on those kids’ faces didn’t lie.

“Hell,” he gritted out, thrusting the phone at Denver. “If I’d shared the intel with you instead, Charlie team could have reached the kids so much sooner. How many were already lost? Sold? Fuck!”

Denver set the phone on the table. “You followed protocol, Theo. You had a chain of command—one I wasn’t in. If you could have even found me.”

His jaw popped from clenching it so tight. “It’s time to bring in our brothers.”

After a brief nod, he strode out of the room. Theo’s mind whirled as he listened to his brother’s footsteps fade down the hallway, then the faint rumble of voices as he gathered the Black Heart team, maybe for the very first conference in this room.

The logo. The charity.

Juliette.

His heart flexed as her name filled his mind. Unable to remain still, he took off, pacing around the room in prowling strides. He passed the case full of gadgets but didn’t really see them.

He was suddenly back in Turkey with that note in his hand.

He was seeing Juliette trying to run into that burning dressing room.

All the pieces were beginning to fit together. The charity was trying to fly under the radar to continue their dark transactions…and she was fucking it up for them by drawing them into the spotlight with her.

My god. She’s been in danger because of this all this time.

Carson walked in first, with Colt looking like he just rolled out of bed. Gray entered a minute later, dusty from working around the ranch.

Theo kept his gaze on the doorway, every muscle in his shoulders drawn tight as Oaks finally stepped in. The low, deliberate thud of his boots against the hardwood echoed louder than it should’ve, like the house itself was waiting.

“Sorry it took me a bit to break away.” Oaks’s deep voice rumbled through the tension in the room. “I was over in the therapy building. One of the guys…” He stopped, jaw flexing. His eyes flicked down for a second, as if the words he was reaching for might be easier to find on the floor.

He didn’t have to finish. Every man in that room had been there—seen someone crack, fall apart or hang by a thread after carrying too much for too long. Several of them nodded in quiet acknowledgment of battles they’d all fought in one way or another.

But the heaviness in Oaks’s tone hit Theo harder than he expected. Not because of the pause. But because of what it reminded him of—what they were all skirting around.

Theo’s hands curled into fists against his thighs. He didn’t know if he had the guts to voice the words he needed to say.

Everyone stared at him, the silence in the room loaded.

As he began to speak, it felt like a confession pressing against his ribs. Short blasts tumbled out. “Those kids…the ones the trafficking note pointed to…the note I handed over to the right people so the system could handle it…”

They were alive, yes, picked up in some port and given blankets and the promise of safety. But now? They were scattered into foster care. Processed, then forgotten.

“Fuck!” He sliced his fingers through his hair.

The weight of it clawed at his gut. The rest of the words tumbled out in rapid succession, tripping over themselves at times.

“I should’ve stopped this from happening, should’ve found a-a…better solution. Something . Anything but letting the machine chew them up and spit them into the kind of life that can break them all over again!”

Colt’s voice broke through the static in his head, measured and low. “See how that feels, brother? Imagine what this is gonna do to Juliette when she hears it. There’s no way she’s part of this intentionally.”

Theo’s head came up at that, his jaw locking. “No. Of course she isn’t involved with their crime. She doesn’t have a damn clue, and that’s going to be the hardest part for her to process.”

The idea of her finding out, of her thinking even for a second that she’d been hurting the same people she was trying to save, made his chest ache with something he didn’t want to name.

“We’ll have to pull her in,” Oaks said quietly, finally finding his voice again. “She needs to hear it from us, not from a headline or some rumor.”