Page 24

“Why don’t we sit down and have a chat?” Rhae suggested. “Navy’s about ready for her bottle.”

As they all settled in the office for a talk, Denver cuddled Navy in his lap and smoothed his palm over her round head.

The look on his and Theo’s faces was so different from the expression on Justin’s face—that raw scorn—that Rhae’s mind kept returning to it.

It hadn’t just been Justin’s discomfort from being around a child.

It was total disdain.

Later, when she was alone, she would do some digging into the vet’s record. Something just wasn’t right.

And she wasn’t taking any chances.

* * * * *

Denver pushed open the door of the veterans’ building and held it for his brother. His kid brother, home after God knew how long.

The last Malone brother, returned to the fold.

The door closed behind them with a quiet whoosh , and they stood there for a long moment, side by side, looking out at the fields speckled with cattle and the occasional horseman checking the herd.

The scent of sawdust carried on the breeze, its source an old tree that had been struck by lightning and was taken down by some of the veterans who worked the ranch.

“Damn, I missed this view.” Theo tugged his cowboy hat lower to shade against the bright sun that danced off every surface, like diamonds so bright it pierced their eyes.

Denver nodded in agreement. But the peaceful scene didn’t totally wipe out the tension from that crease Rhae wore between her brows, put there by the newcomer to the program.

Theo tipped his head back and closed his eyes, breathing in the air. Denver let him have his moment. When he first returned to the ranch, he soaked up the atmosphere for days, but the newness never faded.

“I forgot how good it smells here.”

Denver grunted. “Beats sand and diesel fumes.”

Theo chuckled, then glanced over at him. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a kid?”

He stiffened, the weight of his words landing heavy in his chest. “I just found out too.”

“Wow.” Theo shook his head. “Wow.”

“I know.” Denver scrubbed a hand over his face. “I still can’t quite believe it.”

“She’s cute.”

“I know. Just like her momma.”

Theo gave him a side-eye that reminded him of so many times in their youth when they could say so much with a single look. “So you’re with Rhae?”

“We’re working things out.” His voice roughened. “I love her.”

“That’s all that matters.”

They crossed the gravel lot, their boots crunching in rhythm. The path leading to the main house curved around the barn, but Denver angled toward the side yard instead.

Theo lifted his jaw toward the single tire swing dangling from a rope tossed over a tree limb.

One of the last testaments that any of them had ever been kids.

Even in childhood, they all carried too much on their shoulders, each of them trying so hard to avoid their old man and protect the rest of the Malone pack too.

“You don’t want to head into the house yet? You avoiding Willow?” Theo’s voice rang with an edge of amusement.

“Thought you might help me with a chore.”

“Still passing your chores on to the rest of us. Just like old times.”

“You miss manual labor. Don’t lie.”

Denver led the way to a wood pile stacked near the fence line, an ax propped against the pile. A second splitting ax was already lodged in a stump, ready for someone who needed to blow off some steam. Which might be any of the Malones or veterans.

He pulled a pair of work gloves out of his back pocket and tossed them to Theo. His brother caught them easily in one broad hand.

Denver pulled out a backup pair from his coat pocket. “Thought we’d split some wood for the bonfire tonight.”

“What’s at stake?”

Denver chuckled. “You always were the most competitive of us all.”

“You mean the best.” He sidled up to the stump and pulled the ax from the wood.

They grinned at each other, the unspoken dare igniting them as easily as it did when they were kids racing horses bareback across the ridge.

Denver hefted a stump off the pile and dropped it across from Theo’s.

Each of them swung their ax, bringing them down a split-second apart.

For long minutes, there was only the thwack of the axes and grunts of effort.

The crack of logs breaking clean filled Denver’s soul with an unnamable satisfaction.

Stealing a peek at his brother’s face, he’d say Theo felt the same.

“C’mon, bro. My pile’s bigger than yours.” Theo twitched his head toward the wood.

“I’m pacing myself.”

“You’re swinging like an old man.”

Denver laughed. “Old man, huh?” He doubled his efforts, a challenge to his brother, who responded by doubling down on his own efforts.

They kept at it until the sun dipped lower in the sky, lengthening the shadows of the fence posts across the ground.

“So,” Denver paused to swipe the back of his hand over his forehead, “how’d you end up here? Medical leave?”

Theo’s expression closed a bit. “Something like that.”

Denver frowned. He knew that look on Theo’s face. He’d worn it not too long ago after his own shift from his SEAL team to being sent home to civilian life, back to the land of the living.

Theo lowered his ax and met Denver’s eyes. “They’re short-listing me.”

“For?”

“For Charlie team. To replace you.”

The words slammed into Denver. A leap of his heart followed at the mention of his brothers that nobody was supposed to know about, then transformed to a cold weight in the pit of his gut.

“Shit.” He leaned on the ax, trying to master his emotions. “If you know about Blackout, you know what it all means.”

Theo gave him a stiff nod.

“Who approached you?”

“Commander Barrett.”

The man who recruited Denver all those years ago. He’d been through so much in the name of freedom. Brothers lost. New brothers joining the team.

He cocked a brow at Theo. “Any idea what you want to do?”

“Thought I’d talk to you before I gave them an answer. I love the brothers I serve with now. I know how isolating Blackout will be.”

Denver wasn’t sure he knew the half of it, but he refrained from speaking.

“I love the rush. Being pushed to be better.”

He understood that too.

“I love making a difference…and Blackout is at the top of the game.”

“Better than protecting embassies?” He gave Theo a taunting smile. It had been a joke among the Malone brothers that Theo had even softer hands than Gray, who’d only flown jets in the military.

Theo let out a snort. “Asshole.”

“Are you asking my advice? Or seeking my blessing?”

He shrugged. “Dunno.”

“Well, I can’t sway you one way or another.

I loved Charlie team. I miss my brothers every goddamn day.

I won’t lie it’s been difficult, coming to terms with the fact that they can’t reach out to me very often, if ever again.

” He shifted his jaw, grinding his molars against the emotion rising inside him like a tide.

He went on, “But there are other ways to save people.”

Theo held his gaze, waiting to hear what those were.

“Look what our brothers have done. Oaks chased down a Russian trafficker to save Shiloh. Carson used every skill in the book to save Layne from her kidnapper. Colt has Aspen in his life because he was able to hunt down her stalker. And without Gray, Honor’s ex would have probably killed her.”

“And you? Will you join the security team?”

He didn’t hesitate to nod, something that surprised even him. Until this moment, he hadn’t fully committed to Black Heart Security. To his place here.

“Yeah, I’ll join them. I like the work. I doubt it comes with the same rush as an op, but there are people who need us. Private clients, people who need help. We’re still in the business of protecting people.”

Theo’s lips twisted at one corner. “Carson said you stormed in and demanded to reorganize the entire agency.”

Denver laughed. “I can whip them into shape.”

They sobered. Denver eyed his brother, thinking about losing him to Blackout. He loved Charlie. But the more selfish part of him wanted his brother in his life.

“You’re trying to talk me out of joining Blackout.”

He shook his head. “I’m just trying to make you see there’s a choice. You don’t have to keep climbing rank. You don’t have to switch to a bigger and better team.”

Theo eyed him. “Who said it’s bigger and better?”

He grunted. “Because it fucking is, and you know it too or you wouldn’t be standing here thinking about making the move.

Look, all I can say is that…I’m glad I got that last head injury.

I’ll gladly live with the headaches, the dizziness and the ringing in my ears as long as I can see Rhae smile at me, watch my daughter take her first steps… and hear her call me Daddy.”

His throat closed off then, tears burning the backs of his eyes.

Theo nodded to himself, head bowed.

“Think about what you really want in life. You can still have the glory without giving up your own dreams.”