Page 64 of Knuckles & Knives

“He didn’t do it for you,” I point out gently.

“No, but the result was the same.” Kieran’s eyes meet mine. “He saved the woman I love.”

“Kieran—”

“I know it’s complicated,” he says quickly. “I know it’s messy and unconventional and probably insane, but I needed you to know. Before we go to war together, before everything changes again, I needed you to know that whatever happens, I love you.”

I stare at him, this dangerous, beautiful man who just threw away his birthright for me, who’s planning to destroy his own family to keep me safe. The smart thing would be to tell him it’s too soon, too complicated, too dangerous to put labels on what’s happening between us.

Instead, I rise up on my toes and kiss him again, pouring everything I can’t quite say yet into the contact.

“Get some sleep,” I whisper against his lips. “Tomorrow, we start planning your uncle’s destruction.”

“Sweet dreams to you too,” he murmurs back, but his eyes are already hardening with deadly purpose.

I’m halfway back to the facility when my phone buzzes with a text from Dom.

Where are you?

On my way back. How are you feeling?

Better. Awake. Want to see you.

My heart does something complicated in my chest. Dom, who took a bullet for me without hesitation. Kieran, who just betrayed his family for me. Axel, who hasn’t left the facility since the attack. Marcus, who’s been coordinating our response with deadly efficiency.

Four men, each offering me something different but essential. Four pieces of a puzzle that somehow fit together to make me whole.

When I slip back into Dom’s room, he’s sitting up in bed, looking significantly stronger than when I left. Axel is awake too, perched on the edge of his chair like he’s ready to spring into action at any moment.

“Where did you go?” Dom asks, his dark eyes searching my face.

“To get some answers.” I hold up the flash drive Kieran gave me and sit on the edge of Dom’s bed, careful not to jostle his injured shoulder. “Kieran betrayed his family for us. His uncle Richard hired the mercenaries, and Kieran’s ready to help us destroy him for it.”

Dom studies my face for a long moment. “You believe him?”

“I do.” I touch the flash drive. “Marcus can verify everything on here.”

“Where is Marcus?” Dom asks.

“Coordinating security rotations and monitoring communications,” Axel answers. “He’s been running on about three hours of sleep and pure determination.”

“Get him,” Dom says. “We need to plan this properly. And, Axel, call the doctor. I want to know how mobile I’m going to be in the next forty-eight hours.”

“Dom, you can’t possibly be thinking of?—”

“The man who shot me is Richard Sterling’s hired gun,” Dom interrupts, his voice carrying that dangerous edge I know so well. “I’m not missing his takedown because of a flesh wound.”

I look at this stubborn, protective man who nearly died for me, and fierce possessiveness surges through my chest. “Okay. But we do this smart, we do this careful, and we do it together.”

“Agreed,” Dom agrees, his hand finding mine.

“Together,” Axel echoes, his wild energy focused into deadly purpose.

When Marcus arrives and we start going through Kieran’s intelligence, when we begin planning Richard Sterling’s destruction with methodical precision, I can’t help but think about what Kieran said at the pier.

I love you.

The words echo in my mind as we work, as dangerous and intoxicating as everything else about this life we’ve built together. Love in our world isn’t soft or safe—it’s sharp-edged and blood-bought and willing to kill for what it protects.