Page 157 of Storm Warning

Her lips curved. “No, I won’t forget. The answer to your question is yes, Andre Marsh. I will marry you as soon as we can arrange it.”

Andre’s hands gripped the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles and fingers turned white. “I should have waited until we were inside your house to ask you to marry me. I’m dying to kiss you, and I can’t do that while I’m driving.”

Riley laughed, joy bubbling inside her. “As soon as we get out of the SUV.”

“Nope. Inside the house, Riley. I won’t be able to concentrate properly if we’re outside where anyone can see us. I don’t want any distractions.”

For the rest of the drive to her home, she and Andre enjoyed spending time together. After days of constantly being in the company of their teammates, being together without the others was a novelty.

Long minutes later, Andre took the exit from the interstate to Hartman and headed toward Riley’s home.

When he parked in her driveway, Riley studied the exterior of her house. “We haven’t talked about our houses.”

Andre turned off the engine. “What about them?”

“We don’t need two houses after we’re married.”

He remained silent for a beat, then said, “You’re right. We don’t. You decide which one to sell. I don’t care in which house we live. However, my house is bigger. I also have every add-on to Fortress’ top of the line security system.”

Amused, she leaned over and brushed his lips with hers. “So do I. Iona insisted.”

“Good. Like I said, it’s your choice, but you don’t have to decide right this minute. Take your time. We’ll talk about it after our honeymoon.”

“Deal.”

Andre exited the SUV and came around to open Riley’s door. They unloaded her gear and went up the walkway to her porch.

He held out his hand. “Keys.”

Riley rolled her eyes. Really? She cleared her home every time she came back from a mission or a day of training. It was instinctive for her to be sure strangers had not invaded her home, that everything was as it should be.

This time, nothing was as it should be. Someone had broken into her house before Echo and Artemis left for Mexico again. Unless the crime scene team had taken pity on her, Riley’s home was a disaster zone.

Because Andre acted out of love, she handed him the keys to her place without protest and told him the code.

He unlocked the door and headed for the keypad on the wall but stopped halfway there, his expression grim.

For a split second, Riley wondered what was wrong, then realized her alarm didn’t beep. The crime scene team had set thealarm before they left her home. Brianna, one of the crime scene team members, sent her a message confirming that they had reset her alarm.

That could mean only one thing. Someone had broken into her home. Again. This was getting old. If a burglar could bypass her alarm system that easily, Riley would change systems and the company providing service. The only problem with that plan was that the Fortress security systems were the best in the business.

Andre slid her bag off his shoulder and set it by the door, motioning for Riley to do the same. He palmed his weapon and used hand signals to tell her to check the right side of the house while he checked the left.

She swept to the right and began checking every place that a human being could hide in her living room, kitchen, mudroom, laundry room, and garage. By the time she finished, Riley breathed a sigh of relief that no one was hiding in those rooms.

She returned to the living room, surprised Andre hadn’t returned from checking the bedroom, bathrooms, and office. Uneasiness coiled in her gut. Checking the left side of the house shouldn’t take Andre this long.

Tightening her grip on her Sig, Riley eased down the hall to the guest bathroom, clearing it. Returning to the hallway, she pressed her back to the wall and cleared the linen closet. Next, she turned toward the main bedroom. Lots of places for someone to lie in wait in that room.

She peered around the corner into her bedroom. Too dark to see anything. She felt along the wall until her fingers brushed the light switch. Riley turned on the overhead light. She blinked, remaining in place until her eyes had adjusted.

She slipped into the room and headed for the closet first. Weapon at the ready, she opened the door and swept the closet.

Nothing.

She repeated the process with her bathroom and under her bed.

Still nothing. No sign of Andre anywhere.