Page 61 of Renegade (The Santini Assassins #2)

As the conversation continued, Greystone shifted toward Caroline. She was composed, her confidence and determination shining through. That was what he loved most about her. In many ways, she was his rock.

“Who’ll be the point-person for hunting them down?” the President asked.

“Theodore Santini,” Greystone replied.

The President got busy on his laptop. “I’ve got his file.” He regarded Evelyn. “Make sure Mr. Santini has what he needs to find them. The Haqazzii terror group will go into hiding for the next several months while they regroup and restrategize.”

“Understood,” Evelyn replied.

Then, the President shifted from Greystone to Caroline.

“Congratulations to you both. You two—along with the other three outstanding naval aviators—will be honored in a private ceremony at the White House. Being members of BLACK OPS is a privilege. Since your identities can never be revealed, the guest list will be short.”

“Of course,” Caroline replied.

“How are your nerves? Are they shot?” the President asked them.

Greystone chuckled. “No, sir. Aerial combat is what I’ve been trained to do… and I’ve been trained well.”

“It takes nerves of steel to command that aircraft while fighting for your life,” the President said. “What about you, Ms. Austin?”

“I’m relieved everyone is safe,” she replied. “I’m not gonna lie… when I saw Greystone’s jet take a nosedive, I was concerned.” Her gaze found Greystone’s. “But I was confident I could bring him back.”

They shared a smile before the President thanked them for their outstanding commitment to excellence. “Like I told Greystone, if you ever need anything, please contact Evelyn, and she’ll let me know. ”

“Thank you,” Caroline replied.

“We’re staying here tonight,” the President said, “and flying back in the morning. Greystone is leading us, along with his team and a squadron of F-16s.” He grew silent for a few beats and the lines between his brows deepened.

“The Haqazzii terror cell is one of the most dangerous in the world. They have unlimited financial resources and a lot of support from our global enemies. I won’t get much sleep until they’re caught.

I’m sure BLACK OPS is putting together a strategy to figure out where they’ve gone.

Let’s hope the team does this before they launch another full-scale attack. ”

The President stood. Greystone, Caroline, and Evelyn rose from their chairs. After he shook their hands, he said, “See you tomorrow. I’m looking forward to an uneventful flight home.”

After he left, Evelyn regarded them. “We’re working in building five. And we’re staying at the hotel on base. I’ll see you both in the morning.” With a relieved smile, she shut the door behind her.

Greystone pulled his woman into his arms, and the stress of the flight rolled off him. But, the terrorists had gotten away. Eleven monsters had vanished into thin air.

Let it go.

For the next twenty-four, he wasn’t thinking about the challenges that lie ahead. He would force himself to stay in the moment.

When she broke away, she peered up at him. “They got away.”

“We’ll find them,” he replied. “But not today, not tomorrow either.”

Rather than leave, he led her back to the table. “I want to talk to you about something.”

They sat side-by-side, and he took her hands in his. “I had this idea.”

“Okay. ”

“I was thinking that since we’re about an hour from Las Vegas, we could head over there, and get married, spend a few days there.”

“Elope?”

“Yeah.”

She kissed him. “I love that you want to marry me today, but I want our families at our wedding, and Sydney as my maid of honor. What about our friends and your brothers? Before we get married, we need to think about what’s next.

Are we staying with BLACK OPS? Is that even an option?

Are we going back to the CIA? What are your choices?

You love flying for the Navy, so how does that fit into all of this?

I have so many questions, but I don’t need them all answered today.

The one thing I do know is that you and me—we’re forever.

We’ve been each other’s person for a while, but in order for us to get here, we had to work together first. Trust is a big issue for you Grey, and you had to trust me first before we could fall in love. ”

She squeezed his hands, still clasped together.

“I see that now and I love how we became a couple.” She kissed his cheek.

“You’ve been asked by the President to lead us home.

That’s a huge honor, and I wouldn’t want you to give that up.

Plus, everyone’s going to feel much safer with you as our point man. ”

They shared one more tender kiss before they left the building. As they were making their way across the base, Greystone’s phone rang.

“It’s Teddy.” Greystone answered. “Hey, you’re on speaker and Caroline’s with me.”

“What the hell happened?” Teddy blurted. “The press found out that the President’s jet got hijacked. It’s all over the news and social media. Are you okay?”

“We’re good,” Greystone replied. “Are you hunting down the eleven?”

“They’ve gone dark,” Teddy replied. “We’re all here at the Black Site, and the team is with me. ”

“They’re saying the pilots were total heroes,” Hawk said, “but they can’t reveal their identities.”

“We were just doin’ our jobs,” Greystone replied. “I did run into a problem, but Caroline got me through it.”

“Nice job, Caroline,” Addison said. “We can’t wait to hear the deets. When are you coming back?”

“Tomorrow,” he said. “We fly home tomorrow.”

“Greystone is leading the squadron,” Caroline said with pride. “And there’s going to be a special White House ceremony to honor him and the other pilots. We want you guys there.”

“Caroline is also being honored,” Greystone added, “for her exceptional service during an emergency. She saved my life.”

As he thought about those words, they rang true for so many reasons.

“We wouldn’t miss it,” Dakota said. “We’re proud of you both. See you tomorrow.”

After Greystone ended the call, Caroline caressed his back. “You and me, we need to celebrate.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Definitely. Let’s go check into the hotel. Oh, wait, you’re hungry. Let’s get you something to eat.”

“I don’t need food,” he said. “I need my Bella.”

“You’ve got me,” she replied. “You’ve got me forever.”

In the privacy of their hotel room on base, Greystone loved his woman with his entire being. Beyond his gratitude that she’d plucked him from a near-death experience, he was relieved the Day of Destruction no longer hung heavy over them.

She was his everything and, as she surrendered to the pleasure, he let go, reveling in all that was Caroline.

“My Bella,” he murmured, as they snuggled close.

“You slayed it today, Rambo,” she whispered. “I have so much respect for what you do.”

“We make a great team. ”

“The best,” she replied. “The absolute best.”

CAROLINE

At seven in the morning, just before they left the hotel room, she kissed Grey goodbye. “Safe flight.”

He shot her a smile. “I got you all the way home.”

She handed him the charged comm, fully expecting pushback. To her surprise, he slid it into his ear.

“I hope you get some rest on the flight home, babe,” he said.

She fitted the comm into her ear. “That son of a bitch Muhammad Haqazzii is out there, along with his henchmen. I feel like we won the battle, but lost the war.”

“Nope. The war continues, one step at a time. Home first. We find out what the team knows, then we go from there.” He snaked his arms around her, pulled her close, and kissed her so damn good, he set her insides on fire.

“Whew, that was hot. I can’t wait to see what you’ve got for me when we land.” With a playful smile, she gave his muscular ass a squeeze before opening the door to their hotel room. “You ready to take us home, Commander Santini?”

“Yes, ma’am, I sure as hell am.”

THE FOLLOWING MORNING, the BLACK OPS team sat around the conference table at the Black Site, reviewing the footage.

A series of violent incidents had gone down in Boston over the past twenty-four hours, including a building explosion in the business district and a driver plowing into a group of pedestrians at a Memorial Day Parade.

“This is hard to watch,” Caroline said .

“It’s pissing me off pretty good,” Grey said. “Has anyone stepped forward to claim responsibility?”

“No,” Tank replied. “But I got a hit. It was posted in the same chat room the terror cell’s been using. My gut says it’s Muhammad Haqazzii, and he’s got himself a new partner.”

“Who?” Grey asked.

“An international sex trafficker and admitted misogynist.”

“Great work,” Caroline said. “We’ll need someone to head up there.”

“I’m gonna chase this one down,” Tank replied. “I need to see it through. And I’m gonna need a team.”

“We got you,” Caroline replied.

When the meeting ended, Dakota asked Caroline and Grey to hang back. “When’s the White House ceremony?”

“Nothing’s been scheduled yet,” Grey replied. “Evelyn said it’ll be a minute.”

“I wanted to thank you both for your excellent work on the Day of Destruction,” Dakota continued.

“We only accomplished half the job,” Grey pushed back.

“We brought you in to stop the destruction and you did that,” Dakota said.

“Yes, we went after the terrorists, but that wasn’t our primary objective.

Our main one was to ensure those eight buildings didn’t blow up and that innocents weren’t killed.

” Dakota smiled. “Mission accomplished. I want to talk about next steps for you both. You’ve got options.

” He shifted to Grey. “Your three-year stint with the CIA is up. They want to renew your contract. I spoke with your CO in Naval Aviation, Jamal Jefferson. He’d love to have you back. ”

Greystone nodded.

Caroline was holding her breath. She wasn’t sure what Dakota had in mind, but she’d already made up hers, though she hadn’t shared her thoughts with Grey. She wanted to see which way he was leaning, first.