Page 49

Leo eased Kat down from the counter, reluctant to break the contact even though they were officially no longer alone.

Right on cue, Gage filled the doorway blocking out the hall light.

His casual expression hardened as his gaze landed on Leo’s hand, resting possessively on Kat’s hip and his amiable smile tightened at the edges. Leo recognized the look. He’d worn it himself when sizing up potential threats.

But he didn’t loosen his grip on Kat. Instead, he pulled her a fraction closer, a claiming gesture he couldn’t have stopped even if he’d tried. This was Kat, in her space, and he belonged here with her. He wasn’t backing down from her brother’s territorial assessment.

“Afternoon, Viking,” Gage said, his tone deceptively light. “Making yourself at home, I see.”

The nickname grated, but Leo kept his voice neutral. “Gage.”

Tension radiated through his frame as he waited to see which way this would go.

“Be nice to each other,” Kat said, her command steely beneath the request. “Both of you.”

Gage’s grin flashed wide and innocent. “I’m always nice, Kit-Kat.”

The childhood nickname softened something in Kat’s posture. Family dynamics. Protective older brother who genuinely cared but had questionable methods.

Before Leo could decide whether to establish dominance or wait it out, a second figure pushed past Gage into the kitchen. Brock, carrying a newspaper, his weathered face breaking into a grin as he took in the domestic scene.

“Well, well,” Brock announced cheerfully, “look at this cozy little setup. I approve.”

Kat stepped forward to hug Brock who beamed briefly in her arms.

“Hang on,” he said, rummaging in his satchel. “Brought you something.”

From a padded cloth bundle, he revealed a tiny Royal Doulton figurine—a girl in a powder-blue bonnet holding a basket of flowers.

“This one’s called Spring Awakening,” Brock said, half-gruff, half-proud. “Rare find. Thought she might keep an eye on you while you’re off… finding yourself or whatever it is you’re doing.”

Kat blinked, caught somewhere between laughter and emotion. “You’re giving me one of your figurines?”

“I’m loaning her,” he corrected quickly. “Don’t get ideas.”

She cupped the delicate piece in her hands. “Thank you, Brock. She’s perfect.”

“Well, yes…” He rocked on his heels, pink spots high on his cheeks.

Brock. Speechless. Leo never thought he’d see the day.

“And who’s this little beauty?” Brock had spotted Oslo, who was now grooming with the focused attention of a professional.

Oslo bumped his head against Brock’s hand. “That’s it,” Brock crooned, his voice taking on a gentleness that reminded Leo why he trusted this man with his life. “You’re a proper little warrior, aren’t you? Been through the wars, but still fighting.”

The words hit close to home. Like Oslo, Leo had been through his own wars. But unlike the cat, he’d spent years believing he didn’t deserve the sanctuary Kat offered.

That was changing.

“Careful, Brock. Jeff might get jealous if he hears about this.” Gage settled against the doorframe, still watching Leo with calculating eyes.

“Ah. My Jeff’s not a jealous type.” Brock winked. He straightened and slapped a folded newspaper on the kitchen table. “You seen this?”

Leo read the headline over Kat’s shoulder. “MYSTERIOUS EXPLOSION AT COVERT LAB”. His jaw tightened with satisfaction. That would make Fox smile. Justice served with strategic demolition.

“Nightshade is destroyed,” Kat said. “Along with that god-awful hospital.”

“Amazing what a few strategically placed charges can accomplish when properly motivated individuals decide to clean house.” Brock rubbed his hands together.

The weight that had been pressing against Leo’s ribs for years eased.

It was over. Really, truly over. This time, he’d been fast enough. Smart enough. Strong enough. The children who might have been victims of Nightshade’s neural manipulation would grow up free, their minds their own.

The faces that had haunted his dreams—those young lives lost in Sangin—flickered through his memory. But now, the grief didn’t crush him. His chest didn’t constrict. His hands didn’t shake. The familiar weight that pressed against his ribs had lifted, replaced by something lighter.

Peace, maybe. Or at least the beginning of it.

He couldn’t bring those children back, couldn’t undo that impossible choice. But he’d helped ensure other children would never face the same fate.

Maybe that was enough. Maybe that was how redemption actually worked—not by erasing the past, but by choosing to do better in the present.

“Bit of hush hush housekeeping to catch you up on,” Brock said, his voice dropping to a more serious register.

“Most of the loose ends have been tied up. Officially, anyway. Korolov—you did the world a favor. Eldridge…” He shook his head, his eyes reflective.

“Sometimes we don’t get the full happy ending we wanted. ”

Gage’s attention shifted to the cardboard boxes near the entrance. “Moving in together already? That was fast.”

Heat crawled up Leo’s neck, but he kept his expression neutral. “Kat’s office supplies. From Vauxhall Cross.”

“Clearing out?” Brock’s expression sharpened. “New assignment?”

Kat went still beside him. Her fingers found his waist and heat spread from the point of contact up through his ribs.

“Not exactly.” Something in her tone made his pulse trip. “I’ve taken a sabbatical. Six months. No assignments. Just… time to figure out what I want.” Her gaze locked with Leo’s. “And right now, that’s you. If you’ll have me.”

His chest constricted, breath catching on words that felt too important to get wrong. Six months. With him. This brilliant, fierce woman choosing him over the career that had defined her entire adult life.

“Of course.” He drew her against him until he could feel her heartbeat through the thin fabric of her shirt. “Six months, six years—however long you want. You’re mine and I’m yours. That’s not changing.”

The certainty in his own voice surprised him. After years of believing he didn’t deserve happiness, here he was taking it with both hands.

“Six months is a long time, Kit-Kat,” Gage said, his voice gentler. “How well do you really know Viking here?”

Kat’s fingers curled into his side. Her steady breath undid something deep in his chest. He didn’t need a history lesson to know what she meant to him. He felt it in his bones— she was it .

The air thickened with expectation. He’d spent a lifetime trying to stay untouchable. But not here. Not with her.

“Well enough to know she’s safe with me,” Leo said, voice like granite. “Well enough to know I’d die before I let anyone hurt her. Including you if you try to undermine what’s between us.”

The temperature in the room dropped several degrees. Gage’s eyebrows shot up, but Leo wasn’t finished. This man needed to understand exactly what he was dealing with.

“I know you’re her brother and you’ve protected her your whole life. But she’s with me now, and I protect what’s precious to me.” Leo’s eyes never wavered from Gage’s face. “And I’m extremely good at protecting what I love.”

The words came from somewhere primal, a place that had nothing to do with operational training and everything to do with the way Kat had looked at him when she’d named the cat Oslo.

Like he was home.

Gage blinked, clearly recalibrating his assessment. A grudging smile tugged at his mouth. “That was refreshingly direct.” He pushed off the doorframe and extended his hand. “Well then. Welcome to the family, I suppose.”

Leo studied the offered hand for a heartbeat before reaching out to meet it. Their handshake was firm, direct—no power play, just mutual recognition of what they both wanted to protect.

“Thank you,” Leo said, meaning it more than Gage probably realized.

The weight of the moment settled in his chest. Her brother’s acceptance meant something he hadn’t expected to want. A place at her table, in her world, in the quiet spaces between missions where real life happened.

The moment stretched, awkward in its sincerity, until Oslo chose that precise instant to wind around Brock’s ankles with enough force to nearly topple the older man.

“Bloody hell,” Brock laughed, catching himself. “This one’s got opinions.”

“Actually, Gage, I have a favor to ask.” Kat shifted the conversation to safer ground. “Would you mind keeping Oslo while I’m away? I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone, and he’s just gotten settled here.”

“You want me to babysit your cat?” Gage asked.

“I want you to show you can be trusted with a living thing,” Kat corrected.

Something shifted in Gage’s expression as he crouched down to address Oslo directly. “What do you say, mate?” Gage murmured as the cat bumped his knuckles. “Think you can put up with me for a while?”

Kat’s face softened as Oslo’s purr rumbled louder. “I think you’ll both be just fine.”

“Right then,” Brock announced. “I should get back. Got a field marshal to check on, and he gets tetchy when I’m away too long.”

“I’ll drive you,” Gage stood. “My bike’s outside.”

They moved toward the door, Brock giving Oslo one final scratch while muttering something about a proper little soldier.

At the threshold, Gage turned back. “Remember, Viking.” He paused, finger tapping his temple. “If I find out you so much as raise your voice at her?—”

“Remote place. No phones. Big hole. Got it.” Leo nodded, recognizing the threat for what it was—a brother’s love expressed in the only way he knew how. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“See that you do.” Gage’s grin flashed bright and dangerous before he followed Brock into the hallway.

Their voices faded, leaving the house suddenly spacious and quiet. Leo turned to find Kat watching him with an expression he couldn’t quite read, but the weight of possibility hung between them.

“So,” he said, his voice rough. “Six months.”

“Six months,” she confirmed, stepping closer until he could feel her warmth. “Any suggestions for how I should spend them?”

His hands found her waist, pulling her against him with deliberate slowness.

The plans he’d been forming since Norway crystallized into certainty, but saying them aloud felt monumental.

The cabin had been his solitary refuge for years—the one place where Leo Bychkov the operative didn’t exist. Where he could just be Leonid, sitting by the water, letting the silence wash away the weight of the past.

“I might have a few ideas.” His thumb traced the curve of her lower lip. “I have a tiny cabin in the fjords. Private. No cell service for miles. Just us and the northern lights.”

He’d built the place as a fortress against connection, a space so private even his brothers had never seen it. Now he was offering it to her like a gift, wanting her footprints on his dock, her laughter echoing off his walls. “I’ve never wanted to share it with anyone before.”

The admission felt like stepping off a cliff. “I want to cook for you.” He smoothed the hair from her forehead. “Show you where I learned to fish. Wake up with you in the morning.”

The offer hung between them—not just places, but pieces of himself he’d never given anyone. The parts of his life he’d kept separate from the blood and violence. Parts that might be worthy of a woman like her.

“Six months might not be enough,” she whispered.

“Then we’ll take longer.”

When his lips met hers, the kiss tasted like a new beginning. Like the possibility that a man with his history might actually deserve a future this bright.

Her hands slid under his collar, pulling him closer, and he let himself fall into the certainty of her.

“Norway first,” she murmured against his mouth.

“Norway first,” he agreed, already planning how he’d show her the life he never thought he could share.

He drew back, a little breathless, and slipped a hand into his jacket pocket. “Okay, this might be overkill…”

Two airline tickets appeared between his fingers, and boyish excitement burned through him. “But I figured—after Norway, maybe the Maldives. Overwater villa. Private beach. Somewhere it doesn’t rain every bloody day.”

She laughed softly. “Leo, this is?—”

“Too much? Alright.” He grinned. “We’ll start smaller. Tonight. Waffles and ice cream.”

Oslo’s purr rumbled near their feet.

“Perfect,” she whispered.

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I hope you enjoyed Leo and Kat’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I’ve had this couple in my head since The Operative published in 2022!

I’m not gonna lie, this book was a journey and I loved every second of it, from the scenes that flowed to the ones I rewrote five, six or more times…

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