Page 123 of Rogue Mission

After a long silence, he says roughly, “I know what it’s like to miss the signs.”

Spence leans his elbows on the table. The lines around his mouth soften, but not with pity. “You think trusting yourself is dangerous. To her.”

“Yeah,” I admit, exhaling the word. “Aren’t we always going to be afraid of that?”

He glances toward the window. “You’ll die trying. Or you’ll win.”

There’s a blooming pain in my chest. Pressing the heel of my hand there does nothing.

“These last few days cut me to the bone. I have to be ready.”

“You will be.” Spence pockets the medal, tone dry. “We’re moving to my place. It’s rough, but very fucking secure. Bring in your team, or not. Two of us is enough. We’ll lure the fucker in and finish this for good.”

Rosalie bursts through the back door. A burst of light haloing her. The sight robs me of oxygen.

There’s laughter in her eyes as she hurries toward us, color bright on her cheeks.

She’s got an oak leaf in her hand, like a souvenir of their shooting session.

“I did it! Mr. Walton said I passed my first lesson.”

“I heard you out there,” I choke out, chest collapsed, throat raw. She’s so beautiful and special. I just can’t believe she’s real and this is my life.

I get a chance to do better. But everything could be taken away because of some greedy motherfucker.

“I loved it,” breathy, she says, “I need a lot of practice.”

She comes right to me when I open my arms. Curls up in my lap smiling.

With my eyes stinging, I look Spence over her head.

His response is a clipped nod. He knows. He gets it. How brittle I am right now.

He pushes back from the table, the aura surrounding him changes in front of me. As if I’m watching the sky clearing. The warrior I knew before is back.

“We mobilize in ten.” Standing up to his towering height, he adds, “Gonna go tell Walton how to reach me with any new intel.”

FORTY-FOUR

I could bounce a coin off of Justice’s tense muscles. All of the excitement vanishes as I turn in his lap so we’re eye-to-eye.

He’s in pain. That hurts me.

“How was your talk?” I smooth my hands up his shoulders, thumbs pressing into knots along his trapezius muscles.

Instead of answering, he leans in and catches my lip between his teeth. Giving me a quick nip, before shifting into an achingly slow kiss that melts the tightness in my spine.

For a few breaths I let myself believe in a reality where there’s no assassin, no missing people, no hiding.

Just his mouth, his steadiness, the promise in his hands bracketing my waist.

He breaks the kiss and tucks me close, his heartbeat a strong, a comforting drum against my side.

“We’re moving to a safer location,” he says, roughly, tension in every word. “I’m just keyed up.”

“Have you heard any updates from your team?”

He glances at the clock on the wall. A muscle ticks in his cheek. “Should be getting a call any time on the satellite phone.”