Page 32 of Hunted Hearts (Black Heart Security #6)

H e could have lost her.

Theo braced his hands on the conference table and leaned forward. Eyes closed, he exhaled heavily through his nose as the adrenaline of the past six hours pounded through his veins.

For a long time, he stood like that, trying to scrub the vision of Juliette held in that limousine. The fear burning in the depths of her beautiful eyes wasn’t something he’d forget soon, if ever.

His shoulders slumped, and his throat worked with emotion.

He was in love with her.

How it happened so fast was anyone’s guess, but that was the bald truth of things. And when she left, she’d take his heart with her, packed away in her suitcase alongside the designer gown she’d worn tonight.

Behind him came a soft footstep. He swallowed the lump in his throat and cleared it with a tearing noise.

“Theo?” Willow’s quiet tone was the only one he could stand to hear right now.

He turned to see his sister with Decker right behind her. Theo didn’t know much about the guy, only that he stood guard over his sister like a sentinel in worn jeans and flannel.

He met Decker’s gaze. “Thank you for what you did for our family.”

He dipped his head in a single nod. Mute, as he had been ever since Theo returned to the Black Heart.

When he turned to Willow, she stepped forward and rested her warm hand on Theo’s arm. “Aspen and Honor took Juliette to her room to get cleaned up.”

“Good.” The word seemed to echo with a hollowness that matched the one in his chest at the thought of what almost happened to her…of what would have happened to him if that were the case.

“Theo.” Willow’s gray eyes were so much more like his mother’s than the rest of theirs. Maybe it was her long, thick lashes that made him conjure his mother’s image in that moment, but he had to look away.

She pressed her fingertips into his forearm. “I know you think you failed, but—”

He shook his head and stepped away from her. “I did fail. If I’d stayed with Juliette, none of this would have happened.”

His sister shook her head, her long, messy braid swinging over her shoulder. “You were protecting her from a danger you thought was coming for her. You never could have known it would be inside her purse.”

He compressed his lips. “It had to be one of the VIPs who planted it. When they clustered around her to listen, the cams didn’t pick it up. We couldn’t see. ”

“I know.” Her eyes were filled with compassion and a knowing that made him tear his stare away a second time.

Silently, he dropped into a seat and leaned forward, head in his hands. He didn’t move as Willow picked up the remote and switched on all the monitors. Decker settled in the chair beside Theo. His solid presence was comfortable even if he didn’t speak. Maybe because he didn’t.

What was there to say?

At the sound of feet on the floor, he lifted his head.

Each of his brothers were there, filing in one by one.

Carson and Oaks, his oldest brothers who were always his protectors.

Colt, who cheered him on in everything he did from going out for football to bareback bronco events in the rodeo.

Closer to him in age, Gray and Denver were his playmates.

And Willow, the glue holding the whole family together. At first, the brothers made a pact to stay close for their baby sister’s sake, but somewhere along the way, she started holding them together.

He caught her gaze and held it for a beat, trying to convey everything he couldn’t say aloud.

Seeming to understand, she walked over and squeezed his shoulder before slipping into a seat beside Decker.

Theo took in how close the pair sat and wondered if something was going on between Willow and Decker. He didn’t get long to dwell on the matter before Carson pointed at the screens.

Each showed a different view.

“Special ops are taking down the people involved in the charity as we speak.”

Theo watched a man dart across the screen on foot. From three sides, men chased after him. One tackled him to the ground.

When he shifted his attention to the next screen, a special operative was restraining a guy dressed in a suit. And the third screen was a drone view of the front door of a mansion being kicked in. Men in full tactical gear rushed inside.

A bit of the worry in Theo released, and he pushed a breath out through his nose.

Theo glanced around the table, locking eyes with each of them. “Thank you. I mean it. I wouldn’t have made it this far without every single one of you.”

Denver leaned back in his chair, arms crossed but gaze steady. “We’ve always been a team.”

“A family,” Gray added quietly, the word anchoring the moment.

And Theo felt it—deep in his bones. He belonged here. Whatever cracks he carried, whatever weight he bore, his brothers would shoulder it with him. They had his six—always had—and he’d go to hell and back for them.

Carson cleared his throat. “We owe Decker our gratitude for protecting Willow and the ranch. Thank you.”

Decker nodded. “You’re welcome.”

His voice came out low and rough with disuse. Willow gave a small start at the sound of it, her gaze raking over his profile.

Theo saw that everyone was as worried about Decker as they were grateful. They all knew healing wasn’t linear and came with a lot of backslides, but Theo worried that he wouldn’t be able to deal with the pressures of civilian life if he left the therapy program.

At that moment, a light patter of footsteps broke into Theo’s thoughts. Before Juliette ever reached the doorway, he shoved away from the table and gained his feet.

Her gaze locked on him, raw and unguarded, her heart shining through her eyes.

It hit him like a bullet to the chest—his chest caught, his pulse kicked, and a jolt of something fierce and electric surged through him.

In that moment, there wasn’t a shred of doubt left. Juliette had played her way into his soul with every note, every glance, every brave choice.

And the next gift he gave her wouldn’t having wrapping paper or a bow. It would be a promise.

A ring.

Because she wasn’t just a woman he was protecting—she was the woman he couldn’t imagine life without.

* * * * *

Everyone was gathered around the table. The war room hummed with quiet energy, and screens flickered with scenes that she couldn’t begin to process.

None of it held her attention.

Not when Theo was standing across the room.

His gaze fixed on her, ever vigilant, always in control, even here in the heart of the storm they’d just survived.

Juliette watched him, her heart thudding softly in her chest.

There was no one else in the world she trusted more than this man. No one else she wanted at her side.

A ripple ran through the room like a soft lullaby after a night of chaos. But it was Theo’s voice that calmed Juliette’s heart.

“You’re safe now.”

The words came low, his eyes lined with exhaustion but his gaze unwavering. “Teams all over the world are moving in as we speak.”

Her attention shifted to the screens. What she saw was frightening but also filled her with a feeling of peace. Those criminals were getting what they deserved. So many children would be safe.

Theo took her hand in his rough clasp. “Every last person involved in running that…that so-called charity is being arrested or detained. No one is walking away.”

Her pulse hitched. He said she was safe. She was supposed to feel relief and freedom from her fears over the past weeks.

But all she felt was cold panic threading through her chest.

Safe meant she didn’t need a bodyguard anymore.

Safe meant Theo was no longer tied to her.

Safe meant goodbye.

She took a step back. Her lips parted, but no sound coming out. Her body felt weightless. Sometimes she felt it when she was deep in the music, one with the strings beneath her fingertips.

Now it felt like the world had just shifted beneath her feet. She wrapped her arms around herself and forced her lungs to work. “So what now?” she asked, her voice a whisper. “I just…go?”

Theo’s brows dipped. “What?”

“I mean, now that I’m not a target…”

His steps were swift. He closed the space between them, gripping her hands like he needed to anchor her in place. He bent over her, his scent flooding her nose.

“Juliette,” he said softly, his voice deep with something that made her stomach tumble. “You don’t have to go. I don’t want you to go.”

Her heart cracked wide open.

“I’m in love with you, Juliette,” he went on, stroking his thumb across the inside of her wrist. “I don’t know when it happened or how, exactly. Maybe it was when you ordered me earbuds so I couldn’t interrupt you with my loud music.”

A half-sob broke from her throat.

He went on, “Or when you were on that stage looking right at me and I forgot how to breathe.”

She was staring at him the same way now.

Like he was everything. Because he was.

“I don’t know what spell you put on me,” he whispered, his lips lifting slightly at the corners. “Maybe it’s your music. Maybe it’s the way you look at me like I’m a man worth trusting.” He drew in a breath, voice shaking now. “All I know is I love you.”

Her tears came fast and without warning.

Juliette surged forward, crashing into his chest with the force of all the feelings she’d bottled up since the moment he stepped into her life. “I love you too,” she choked, burying her face against his neck. “I tried not to. I told myself this was temporary, that I was just a mission…but I lied.”

His arms wrapped around her so tightly, it nearly hurt—but she never wanted to let go. Their kiss was a long, slow seal on everything they hadn’t been able to say before. He cupped her cheek, his mouth brushing hers over and over like he was trying to memorize the shape of her love.

When they finally broke apart, he laced his fingers with hers and gave her a smile that almost knocked her over.

Around them, applause broke out in thunder across the room.

“That paint’s really peeling off the walls now,” Denver joked.

“‘With love’s light wings did I o’er-perch these walls,’” three of his siblings recited in unison.

Theo and Juliette broke into laughter.

He gave Juliette’s hand a tug. “Come with me.”

She followed without question, their hands still joined as he led her through the quiet house, past the flickering fireplace and down the long hall to the one place that had already become sacred ground.

The library.

The moment they entered, her chest swelled. It smelled like aged paper, leather, a little dust…and him.

He didn’t speak, just walked straight to the shelves, scanning the titles until he pulled out something unexpected—a thin black computer tablet, tucked between two massive encyclopedias.

He returned to her, caught her hand again and guided her to the couch—the same one where he’d kissed her senseless not so long ago. Only now there was no war behind his eyes. Just love.

“Sit,” he said gently.

Juliette lowered herself onto the cushion and he handed her the tablet. Filled with confusion, she curled her fingers around the sides.

Theo leaned forward and tapped play on the screen.

Music filtered out, quiet at first and then growing in clarity.

Grainy black-and-white footage filled the screen.

She gasped.

The image wavered for a moment before steadying on a woman standing in the middle of a room filled with kids, her hair twisted in an elegant knot similar to the one Juliette sometimes wore, her chin poised as she lifted a familiar violin to her shoulder.

“My great-grandmother…” Juliette whispered, tears burning her eyes.

Theo didn’t speak, but she felt his focus on her as she watched the past unfold.

The woman’s fingers danced over the strings with a grace that pulled the air from Juliette’s lungs. It was the same posture, the same technique as her own. It was like watching a reflection in time.

“I found it in a historical archive out of Paris,” Theo said softly. “It took a few strings and a favor from a buddy, but…I wanted you to see this. She played with heart. Just like you.”

Juliette began crying in earnest now, her throat aching from the emotion that filled her. She swiped at her tears, but they kept falling.

“It’s the best gift I’ve ever received. Theo, I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Juliette. I wanted you to have this to remind you that you come from a line of women who changed the world with nothing but a bow and some strings. And you changed me too.”

She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and clinging like she never wanted to let go. Because she didn’t.

He hauled her into his lap, strong arms caging her in, and they kissed like it was the first and last time all rolled into one. It was hot and slow and reverent, his hand sliding under her sweater as if he needed to touch skin to prove to himself she was real.

When they broke apart, her forehead rested against his. Her voice was raw. “Wherever I go…you’ll come too?”

He smiled against her lips. “Always.”

“And my team? Can they come visit if I stay here?”

“Of course. We have more than enough horses to go around.”

She laughed, thinking about Chris on horseback. “Maybe we can skip the horses. But Theo, what are your plans?”

He caught a lock of her hair and rubbed it between this fingers and thumb. “Besides following you anywhere you want to go? I think my brothers need me. I want to join the security team.”

“They’re going to be very happy to add you. You’re great at it.” She cuddled closer.

“And I want to get more involved with the therapy program.”

“So do I. I thought my music…” She trailed off.

He nodded. “It’s a perfect idea, Juliette.”

The library faded into a soft blur around them, and all that remained was him.

His warmth.

His promise.

His love.

Later, she would pack her violin and her past, but leave behind her loneliness. Because here, she wasn’t just safe. She was wanted. She was loved.

And for the first time in her life, she didn’t have to pretend she wasn’t craving all of it—family, belonging, a man who would stand between her and the world without question.

As Theo kissed her again, the music from the tablet played on in the background, her great-grandmother’s song wrapping around them like a legacy of love.

And somewhere in the quiet space between their kisses, Juliette knew this was only the beginning.

READ THE NEXT BOOK IN THE BLACK HEART SECURITY SERIES

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