Page 17

“Everly, I’ve got to go, or the guys are going to suffer because of me.” He took a hard breath, keeping his hands by his sides. “What do you have going on today?”

“What?”

“What is your schedule ?” he said through a suddenly clenched jaw like a man who was barely holding on.

She frowned in confusion. “I have to go over my notes for the Welcome, then check in with the hotel for the tribute for my husband, then meeting Madeline for?—”

“Cancel everything except the Welcome.”

“But people are depending on me. I always try to be the best I can be. Why is that so bad?” Everly snapped.

Zorro stepped in, crowding her gently against the wall. “Does that fulfill you at night, when loneliness creeps in?” His voice dropped low, husky, the kind of tone that tingled down her spine and stayed .

She lifted her chin, defiant. “You don’t get to judge me.”

He leaned in until his face was inches from hers. Those wicked angles no respectable doctor should notice, but she always did . Damn him.

He smiled. That smile. The bad-boy one she associated with wild men and automatic weapons.

“Does it fulfill you?” he murmured, sliding a finger along her bare collarbone.

“Does it touch your skin?” Her breath hitched.

She didn’t move. “Does it kiss your mouth?” he asked, his lips a breath from hers.

“Does it wrap around you…” His voice dropped to a dark hush, “until only one heartbeat remains?”

“Goddammit, Zorro! Get your ass in gear or Joker’s gonna have our tails in a sling!” Buck’s voice rang down the hallway.

Zorro held the moment a beat longer. Then he stepped back, and the loss of him made her knees threaten to buckle. Her hand came out instinctively, like she could catch the heat of him before it disappeared. But all she found was air.

That man was a dangerous fucking specimen, and she was going to kill Buck for ruining that moment.

Without even hesitating, her body burning to a crisp from the look in his eyes. “Yes,” she whispered. “I’ll cancel my afternoon…for you.”

“Zorro!”

He swore, took a heavy breath. “I’ll be looking for you come one o’clock.” Then he turned and sprinted down the hall.

It was long afterward that she got down to the lobby in her own running gear. She needed the exertion to get rid of this ache in her body. She stopped, seeing the team past the columns stretching out, causing a stir. Of course they were.

The hotel was so busy, she didn’t even register Bear until he and Flint were already on top of her.

Flint padded up beside him, his black coat sleek, those sharp, intelligent eyes locked onto Everly like he knew exactly how fragile she felt beneath the bravado.

He tilted his big head, looked up at her with solemn, liquid-dark sympathy, then let out a soft, mournful whine.

Like he was apologizing on behalf of all men everywhere.

Everly blinked. “Even the dog thinks I’ve lost all self-respect.”

Bear gave a low chuckle, the corner of his mouth twitching in what almost, almost , qualified as a smile. She bet he’d be devastating like Zorro if he ever let loose.

“No, Doc,” he said, voice calm, the kind that could settle storms. “He just thinks Zorro’s lucky.”

She swallowed, throat tight.

Then Bear added gently, “You okay?”

His eyes held none of the teasing. Just quiet presence.

She nodded, still handling that brutal banter. “More or less.”

Bear gave one slow nod. “That’s enough for now.”

“Come on, boy,” Bear said as he turned. “Let the girl breathe.”

Flint gave a soft chuff , then leaned in and pressed his forehead lightly to her thigh before trotting after his handler.

Just like that, they rejoined the team, leaving her standing with her heart bruised and melting at the same time.

They ran hard.

His mind drifted to last night after she’d typed, I think you’re beautiful, too.

How she had looked when she was bluffing Joker down.

He’d sat on the edge of his bed, phone still lit in his palm, chest aching, fingers frozen mid-reply.

He’d read the words again. Then again. Then dropped his head into his hands and whispered, “Jesus, Doc…” Just like that, sleep had never felt farther away.

The narrow streets near the beachside hotel opened into morning light, and the cadence of footfalls on pavement became its own drumbeat. Zorro deliberately kept his pace brutal or he was going to make a U-turn and go back to…oh, no. Don’t go there.

Then this morning…she’d opened the door wearing his shirt.

No underwear.

No shame.

His team had seen it. Catalogued it. Weaponized it.

Buck fell into step beside him for half a block, grinning. “So. Doc Sunshine wears your shirts now?”

Zorro didn’t answer.

Behind him, Blitz whistled. “Lift. Run. Shoot. Was that the game plan or just your morning cardio?”

D-Day let out a theatrical groan. “You coulda warned us, man. I needed sunglasses for that view. Glare off those legs nearly blinded me.”

Zorro’s jaw clenched.

He should’ve known D would be relentless.

After months of pushing him about Helen, maybe this was his payback.

But that wasn’t D’s style. He didn’t want to examine too closely what was at the heart of it.

Then he’d have to ask himself what had he done to deserve such men as these?

He was mouthy, pushy, and cared way too much. Was that enough?

It kept coming.

“I gotta ask,” D-Day said, not even pretending to breathe hard. “Was that a tactical maneuver? Or are you trying to brand her?”

“I didn’t sleep with her. Stop pushing.”

D-Day laughed softly. “Yeah, we’re not blind, and we can feel your howl in the fucking air. Snatch is snatch.”

“She’s not snatch! Fucking shut your mouth.”

Bear huffed out a breath. “Drew, that was poorly done. But I understand.” It was the gentlest rebuke Zorro had ever heard Bear give. Somehow, it hit harder than a shove. “Zorro means something to all of us. Each one of us has benefited from his skill, his dedication, and his unfailing devotion.

“She’s made no bones about the fact that she blames special operators for her husband’s death. She could be baiting you,” Blitz muttered.

Professor added, “She doesn’t trust us. Not really. You’re setting yourself up for heartache you don’t need.”

Zorro finally snapped. “All of you shut the hell up.”

D-Day grinned like he’d won something. “Aw, Z, don’t get testy now. Just making conversation.”

Buck offered, deadpan, “He’s got a point. You’ve been awfully smug about other people’s personal lives lately.”

“Oh, you wanna talk smug?” Zorro growled. “Each one of you took a risk, and each one of you got the shit kicked out of you. But you married the woman of your dreams, steadfast SEAL babes who fight for us as much as we fought for them.”

“That’s fair,” D-Day admitted. “But her? I don’t like it.”

Zorro stopped short, grabbing D-Day by the shoulder and shoving him hard.

D-Day didn’t even flinch. He shoved back harder.

Blitz hooted. “Oh shit. It’s on.”

“Settle down,” Joker called from ahead. But his tone lacked conviction.

Zorro’s breath came fast. “You don’t know shit about her, D.”

D-Day’s eyes narrowed. “I know she’s dangerous…for you.” He took a breath, his eyes tortured. “For the team.”

“She’s not dangerous,” Zorro snapped. “She’s complicated. She’s been through hell.”

D-Day stepped in, toe-to-toe. “You think what? You’re gonna save her?

That is so typical of you. You give everything, and you expect nothing in return.

” He stopped. His next words cost him. This wasn’t just frustration anymore.

It was fear . The sharp ache of watching someone he loved stand where he'd once stood, on the edge of sacrifice with no hand to hold. When he spoke again, his voice was lower. Rougher. “You think that makes you strong…” He swallowed. “It doesn’t. It makes you bleed out slowly and alone. I did that. I almost didn’t come back. ”

Zorro froze. Around them, the silence shifted .

Every teammate went still, like some primal instinct told them not to break what was unfolding.

Not to touch this moment while it burned.

D-Day’s jaw worked once. “I’m not gonna watch you do it, too.

Cut her loose. She’s grief and guilt and twisted with unprocessed rage. ”

Joker said nothing. Just watched. Goddamn it, D-Day. Why couldn’t he have just confronted him in private, man-to-man, where it belonged? Now their CO’s eyes were on them, and Joker’s mind was always three steps ahead. Which meant they were going to sweat.

Hard. Until the message was delivered, absorbed, and lived .

“She’s mine ,” Zorro said, voice raw. “You know that gut-deep feeling you had with Helen? The one you kept locked up. The drinking, the sleepless nights, the agony.” He poked him in the chest. “The one you didn’t tell us about because she was Buck’s sister?

That’s complicated. That was fucked up. I’m not going to make you all goddamn guess what’s going on with me.

I don’t lock things down. I can’t. It’s not in my nature.

But don’t”—he jabbed a finger—“don’t treat our Doc Sunshine like she’s a threat to me. She’s not.”

“We’re not going to apologize for having your back, even in this, Z. We’re not.”

He looked at Professor. “Julia?” Then at Gator, Blitz, Buck. “Izzy, Bree, Maritza?”

“Pippa…” Joker growled. The looks on their faces made his chest tight.

“Times that all by ten. She’s in my blood, my bones.

” He took a hard breath. “I know I’m mouthy and pushy, but it’s because I care about you guys.

I’m your guardian angel in battle, and that doesn’t change when the bullets stop flying.

Body, head, heart. It all matters. It’s who I am.

From the moment I saw her face, I was gone.

” He set his hands on his hips. “She might hurt me bad. I know that. I accept it, but she’ll be worth it.

Every fucking cut to my heart.” His shoulders shifted.

“She let me in just a little and I am on fire with just that much. I have to go all in.”

All this time…since Niamey, she’d been putting up roadblocks, sparring, and he didn’t have a clue, a defense mechanism for a woman who’d been emotionally starved and didn’t even know it?

“All in all the time,” Buck’s drawl rumbled softly.

That quieted everything.

Even D-Day.

Even the gulls overhead.

Joker let it ride for one more breath. “Enough.”

Zorro and D-Day broke apart on command, tension still vibrating between them like a live wire.

Zorro was about to fall into step with the team, adrenaline still sizzling through his veins, when Bear moved up beside him.

The others were already jogging ahead, D-Day shouting something obscene about "shirtless flirtation and national security breaches," but Bear didn’t laugh. Didn’t smirk. Just gave him a long, steady look.

Flint sat at his side, ears alert, watching Zorro like he was being weighed.

Bear’s voice was quiet, low enough not to carry, but firm enough to land. “She's not a battle, brother.”

Zorro’s jaw flexed, breath still harsh in his chest.

Bear didn’t look away. “She’s a war .” Then, softer, just for him, “ Kola, pace yourself.”

Zorro stilled.

Lakota. Friend.

It was the same word Bear had murmured in that echoing hallway weeks ago, after Everly had spun out, breathless and shaking in the wake of a grief she hadn’t dared name. Back when Bear had watched the way Zorro looked at her, even then.

This was a reminder. A quiet vow of I see her. I see you. Don’t fuck this up.

Zorro gave a slow nod. Not a promise. Not yet. But an understanding.

Bear moved past him without another word.

Zorro stood there, breath burning in his chest, and finally understood what Bear meant, not just about Everly, but about himself .

He ran harder than he needed for the rest of the run.