Page 61 of How Much For A Broken Heart?

“I am?”

He sighed. “You know you are.” I grinned at him and got a quirk of a smile in return. “Despite the fact he shot you in the back and wrecked your knee, I won’t let your team down, and I’ll help to bring Amos in as peacefully as we can.”

“Okay then.”

“There’s something else.” He rolled onto his side, situating himself and seemed almost reluctant to let go of my hand, only to cradle my face with the other. “You make me feel things I’d forgotten, like wanting something for myself, and more importantly, wanting things for Annie, like maybe when I’m done, Annie and I could be something y’know? Not be her daddy if she didn’t want it, but I could look out for her, or get the house next door to wherever she was happy and…”

“Why wouldn’t she want you to be her new daddy?”

“I’ve done things…” he said in a low tone. “I’m not a good man.”

“For her or for me or for yourself?”

He frowned, thumbed my cheekbone, then leaned down and kissed me—deep, searching kisses that could get out of control if we weren’t a thin wall away from the rest of the team, and they weren’t due to move out in a little less than four hours under the cover of darkness.

When he pulled back, he smiled, and this time, it wasn’t a quirky offhand thing, it was full and wide and beautiful.

Dimples. Full-on dimples.

I was so lost.

Chapter Twenty-Two

AUGUST

Ryder and I were up and ready for the two a.m. departure, and we were joined by the rest of the team in the large hallway of the safe house, Kai and Zach heading down the stairs in the middle of an argument.

“… so, fuck you and the horse you rode in on,” Kai snapped.

“He’s my brother?—”

“And that’s your son!”

“I’m not having this discussion with you.” Zach’s voice was more of a grumble than actual words, and with Ethan waiting, arms crossed over his chest, they stopped.

“Asshole,” Kai muttered.

“Asshole,” Zach repeated under his breath, just as low.

One raised eyebrow from Ethan, and we all fell silent. “Sunrise zero-five-thirty, I want us in place. Comm check.” I answered the voice in my ear—Sierra five firm and in control—and then, we split up and headed out.

Ryder and I were quiet, each step placed to avoid any unnecessary noise. We wore black tactical clothing that blended with the darkness, and our night vision goggles allowed us to navigate the terrain with clarity despite the moonlight casting elongated shadows. The terrain was challenging, with rocks and dense wooded areas requiring us to scramble and maneuver with caution.

We kept a close eye on our surroundings, scanning for any signs of surveillance. Aria’s voice would break the silence every thirty minutes, a reassuring reminder that we weren’t alone. The air had a chill to it, a reminder that it was May in Montana, and the nights could be unforgiving.

As we moved through the landscape, the sounds of nocturnal creatures surrounded us—crickets chirping, the occasional hoot of an owl, and rustling in the underbrush that made us alert. Overhead, clouds scudded across the moon, plunging us into moments of complete darkness.

Our destination lay about a mile north of the collection of buildings we were surveilling, well outside the perimeter fence. We reached our marker just after four in the morning.

We took up our positions, alternating our roles to provide feedback to Aria at the safe house. The night was alive with movement in and around the buildings, even at this late hour. The darkness provided cover, but we caught glimpses of activity.

“There,” I whispered to Ryder, pointing to the lone floodlight with two bulbs out. It cast uneven light on the area, creating pockets of shadows we could use to our advantage.

As we observed, a large truck arrived, parking behind the largest of the structures we’d called the barn, and a few minutes later, another one departed, its headlights briefly illuminating our surroundings. I tracked its path as it headed toward the main road. What was on there?

Guns? Drugs? People?

Maybe all of the above?

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