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“There’s no help for it.” His voice came from behind her. “It just looks sexier now.”

She whipped a lipstick out of her purse and reapplied it in a swift sweep. Then she caught sight of the ring on her finger.

Staring down at it, she didn’t think her heart could get any fuller than it was right this moment. She looked up into his adoring gaze. The man who had given her Navy. A home. A life.

“I love you, Denver. Always have. Always will.”

He leaned in, pressing a tender kiss between her brows. “And I love you and Navy with all of my being.”

Together, they walked out to join the wedding party. Theo was holding Navy, her full, fancy dress swallowing his arm. When the baby saw her parents, she let out a squeal that made everyone around her laugh.

She really was everybody’s baby.

And Rhae was exactly where she belonged.

* * * * *

Denver stood just outside the tent, drink in hand, staring at the purple darkness creeping over the ranch. His tux jacket was unbuttoned, his bowtie abandoned in the depths of his pocket.

Next to Navy’s birth certificate.

His heart flexed. Every time he thought about Rhae’s surprise, his emotions engulfed him like a tide.

He brought the glass to his lips, the aroma of aged bourbon filling his nose and overpowering the scent of the steak that Mr. and Mrs. Carson Malone served at their wedding reception.

From across the yard, Rhae caught his eye.

His heart tumbled again. Christ, she was stunning in that dress. It hugged her body like a secret only he knew. When she lifted the champagne flute to him, beckoning him to come to her, her engagement ring flashed in the twinkling fairy lights strung across the lawn.

He started toward Rhae but only made it a few feet before Layne walked into his path, decked out like a model in her wedding finery.

“The DJ is setting up. Hope you’ve got your dancing shoes on. Carson’s making everyone dance.”

He hiked up a brow. “Carson? My brother Carson?”

“Uh-huh.” She grinned.

“The same man you just married?”

She grinned like the happiest woman on earth. “The same one.”

He gave her a flat look. “Then I guess I’m going to dance.”

She patted his arm. “See you on the dance floor, Denver.”

She bustled off in a swish of satin, her dress whispering around her as she entered the tent.

Rhae crossed the space to meet him. As he approached, he felt his cock thicken with desire. He couldn’t get the feel of her underneath him out of his head.

Eyes sparkling with love and the reflection of the lights, she tilted her face up to him. “Hey there, handsome.”

“Hi, gorgeous.”

She hooked her hand around his nape, drawing him down for a kiss. Their mouths scarcely brushed when the music started. A loud, thumping beat rolled from the speakers.

Denver groaned against Rhae’s mouth. “Oh, god. Not this song.”

“You all know what time it is!” the DJ shouted over the microphone.

“Cupid Shuffle” blasted across the tent. Groans and cheers broke out in equal measure.

Rhae was already laughing. She grabbed both of his hands and hauled him onto the wooden dance floor, the same one used at Oaks’s wedding. The Malones seemed to be handing it down from family wedding to wedding like an heirloom christening gown.

Rhae grabbed him. “Come on, SEAL. Let’s see what those hips can do.”

He dug in his heels. “I don’t even know the moves.”

“That’s the point!” She tugged him into the middle of the guests forming a dance line.

He caught sight of Carson and flipped him the bird. His brother only grinned and gave him a salute in return.

“Damn. I guess I’m doing this.” Denver moved in step to Rhae’s moves, half swaying, half lurching to the left, then to the right.

Someone shouted the steps like they were in bootcamp, which had Rhae howling with laughter every time Denver went the wrong way.

He leaned in as they stepped and turned. “Don’t worry—I’m going to get revenge.”

“On your brother for picking the music, or me?”

“Both of you. Only his punishment is going to be much, much, much different from yours.” His eyes hooded as he stared down at her.

She shot him a wink. “Sounds like sweet payback.”

When the chorus repeated for a third time—and Denver was sufficiently humiliated—he ducked out of the tent and made a beeline for the bar. With a fresh drink in hand, he battled to restore his dignity by leaning nonchalantly against the rustic wood bar and appeared masculine.

Theo appeared beside him with a smirk and a glass of bourbon. “Nice moves.”

“Shut up,” Denver said without heat.

Theo chuckled low and deep as he took a sip of the alcohol.

They watched Rhae dancing to a slow song with Navy, droopy from being passed around the family like a bouquet. The little girl had one hand tangled in her momma’s hair and the other clutching the strap of her dress.

A lump formed in Denver’s throat.

“What’d you decide about Blackout?” he asked, his voice low.

Theo glanced at him sideways. “You really asking? Or are you hoping I already made the smart choice?”

“There is no smart or dumb choice. Only a choice.”

Theo stared at his glass a moment. “How could I leave all this? Plus, you guys would be lost without me.”

Denver eyed him, then nodded slowly. “Agreed.”

Theo laughed. “Really? That easy?”

Denver sipped. “I’ll let you get a big head if it keeps you out of danger.”

There was silence for a beat, the kind that was laced with deep understanding—the kind you didn’t get outside of war zones, blood bonds and brotherhoods.

“I love this place, man,” Theo finally said, his voice quieter. “I didn’t think I would enjoy being back here. Not after all the bad memories our father built for us. But it feels…cleansed. It feels right.”

“It is.”

Willow appeared then, swaying to the music with a wine glass in hand. “Well, well. Look at the stoic warriors getting all sentimental.”

“You’re sentimental every time you walk past a bakery,” Theo shot back.

She grinned and smoothed a hand down her slender hip that wouldn’t hold an ounce of fat even if she ate everything a bakery had to offer. “I do love donuts. Now, Theo…” She turned toward him with a predatory twinkle in her eyes. “When are you getting married?”

He choked on his drink, violently sputtering bourbon. “Jesus, Willow!”

Denver tried not to laugh but failed.

“I don’t even have a woman,” Theo protested.

Willow waved him off. “Minor detail. Listen, when you do get one, I have a very specific order.”

“An order ?”

Willow began holding up fingers. “She has to be a country girl at heart. But also a fashionista. She should know how to two-step and how to thrift. Be able to ride a horse but also rock high heels. Bonus points if she can make killer cinnamon rolls and shoot a gun.”

Denver let out a low whistle. “You trying to find Theo a wife or describing yourself?”

“I’m rounding out the crew,” Willow said, dead serious. “I love every single one of my sisters-in-law, but I like to shake things up with variety.”

Theo looked helplessly at Denver. “Can she do this?”

“It’s Willow,” Denver replied. “The woman who thought the town of Willowbrook was named after her. She does what she wants.”

Willow raised her glass in triumph. “Exactly.”

They shared a laugh, and Denver let the warmth of it soak in. It had taken them a long time to get here—to this place where the ghosts were fewer and the laughter came easier.

He looked across the dance floor at the two most important people in his life. Rhae smiled at him easily, as if she could breathe without scanning every shadow. Navy’s head rested on her shoulder, her eyes shut, content in her mother’s arms.

Willow tilted her head at him, mischief returning. “So…when are you going to announce your engagement?”

Denver paused a beat. “What engagement?”

“Oh, please.” She rolled her eyes. “I put two and two together the first time I saw you and Navy side by side. I knew she was your daughter in that moment. And you think I didn’t notice Rhae’s wearing a ring ?”

Theo’s lips twitched and his attention bounced between Denver and Rhae. “Do tell, brother.”

Denver took another sip. “I’ll announce it when I’m ready.”

“Well, good,” Willow said with a sly smile. “Because that time is now.”

“What? No, Willow. It’s Carson and Layne’s day—”

She gave him a pointed stare. “Layne’s the one who suggested it, silly. Did you think most of your sisters-in-law didn’t already see that rock on her hand?”

Before he could process that thought, Willow had him by the arm, dragging him toward the DJ booth. The man behind the mic handed her the microphone like she was royalty, which—all of them had to face it—she kinda was in these parts.

Denver looked out across the crowd. The music cut. Everyone turned.

And then his eyes found Rhae.

She was still swaying with Navy, cradling her. She looked radiant and surprised, eyes meeting his with that spark—that flicker that had ruined him from the start.

“Denver has something he wants to say.” Willow handed him the mic and stepped back.

Denver curled his fingers around the mic and cleared his throat, feeling about twenty pairs of eyes on him. Friends. His family. His brothers. Rhae and Navy. His entire heart.

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” he began. “I didn’t want to take over Carson and Layne’s day.”

Laughter rippled through the crowd. The newlyweds drew closer to each other.

“But I also can’t keep this to myself anymore.”

He looked at Rhae. At Navy. At the ring on her hand that fit her like fate guided it all.

“I proposed,” he said simply.

Gasps, cheers.

“And she said yes.”

The applause was instant, deafening, joyous. Rhae’s eyes shimmered with tears, and even Navy cracked her sleepy eyes as if she knew this was something huge and she couldn’t miss it.

Denver handed the mic back and made his way toward his girls. People slapped his shoulders, his brothers pounded him on the back and his sisters-in-law hugged him, shouting out congratulations.

When he reached Rhae, she handed him Navy and threw her arms around his neck.

He bowed, his lips to her ear. “Willow made me do it.”

She laughed. “I know. But it was perfect.”

They kissed in the center of the crowd while Navy snuggled between them, the future wrapped up tight in their arms.

And in that moment, surrounded by everyone he loved, Denver realized something simple and profound.

He hadn’t just found peace.

He’d built it—with her.

He came home broken, but she gave him a reason to heal. And now, with their daughter in his arms and forever in his grasp, Denver Malone was finally whole.

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THEO MALONE’S STORY, HUNTED HEARTS