Page 72 of Impossible Love

I think I love her.

“You good, dude?” Declan jabs his elbow in my side.

“Fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

My brothers exchange glances. Evander produces an eye roll worthy of a junior high girl, and it looks ridiculous on his hard-core face.

“Kinda zoned out there,” Declan says.

Special K snorts. “He’s just pissed because Victoria prefers younger men.”

“Let’s move along,” Finn says.

Fatherhood has turned him into the diplomat of our family.

“So,” he continues. “Tell us about the contract negotiation.”

“All the deets,” Declan adds. “How’d she do?”

“She was spectacular.”

Evander’s left eyebrow arches so high it looks like a boomerang on his forehead.

“Hey, you’re the one who pushed for her to take over for you,” I remind him.

“I did.”

“So yeah, she was great. I just sat back and watched as she wrapped them around her pretty little finger and then went in for the kill.”

Evander laughs. “Sounds like an Animal Planet ‘Lions of the Serengeti’ episode.”

I shrug. “You’re not wrong.”

It’s pointless to try to hide from my family what’s going on. We’ve spent our whole lives learning each other’s tells, on the ranch and as SEALs. And right now, my brothers are staring at me, silent.

“You know what this reminds me of?” Special K asks.

I go ahead and step in it. Why not? “Do tell, Kevin.”

“That mission off the coast of Eritrea, when we boarded that tanker that was harboring terrorists.”

“Are you comparing Victoria to terrorists?”

Everyone laughs at my question.

“Touchy, touchy,” Declan mutters.

“I think what he’s saying,” Finn offers, “is that you were the point man as we boarded that ship, and the second we were all in position, you shot the principal target through the eyeball. Not a second wasted.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re committed, my dude,” Special K explains. “There’s no going back. You’re locked and loaded and the target’s in the cross-hairs.”

“What the fuck?”

Evander leans across the table. “Victoria, bruh. One of two things are true—you are about to take your shot, or you already have.”

Chapter 37

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