Page 168 of Mission Shift

Daria leaned forward as the limo pulled away from the FBO, her hand absently resting on the head of the massive dog stretched across the floor between us. Handsome looked completely at ease, his eyes half-shut, his tail thumping now and then. He hadn’t flinched once during the flight. Figured. If anyone on that jet had nerves of steel, it was him.

I watched Daria stroke his ears. “You think you might change his name?”

She smirked but didn’t look at me. “I don’t know. Killer? Slaughter? Slayer?”

“Jesus. You trying to get him arrested at a dog park? Although, he did already steal the butcher’s steak. I think we’re already there.”

She chuckled, her gaze finally meeting mine. “I still likeHandsome.”

I groaned. “It’s not a name; it’s a compliment.”

“That’s why it works.” She bent down, scratched under his jaw, and whispered, “You hear that? You’re too pretty to be named anything awful.”

Handsome huffed through his nose and licked her knee. I gave up. Handsome it was.

By the time we turned onto the long, tree-lined driveway that led to Atticus and Samantha’s place, my chest was tight in a way that wasn’t about nerves. It was something heavier. I hadn’t seen my brothers in months—Conan, not since the Fourth of July, and Atticus, not since we’d left for New York to find Angel. After that, there had been several weeks of travel and then time spent in Kyiv before everything went sideways in Ukraine.

The limo driver pressed the button on the security box at the gate, and we waited. A few moments later, the iron bars swung open, revealing the house at the end of the long driveway. Dusk had settled over the property, the trees casting deep shadows. The last of the light clung to the sky, a faint violet glow behind the silhouette of the pines. The porch lights flicked on, washing the front steps in a soft golden hue. The bay behind the house shimmered in the dimming light, still and glassy. It looked peaceful. It looked like home.

Daria sat forward, taking in the woods, the water, and the house tucked back among it all. “This is beautiful.”

“Yeah.” I rested my hand on hers. “Feels like I’ve been gone for years.”

She glanced over at me thoughtfully.

“I don’t think I’m the same person anymore,” I said. “Not after everything I saw. What they did to those people. What they did to you.”

Daria didn’t flinch. She never did when I brought up the ugly truth about things.

I added, “It’s not enough just to survive it. I want to do something that matters too. I want to support whatever you think would make a difference.”

She gave my fingers a squeeze. “We will. Once we’re settled, we’ll figure it out. But first things first—you’ve got a family to see again and a wedding to attend.”

I smiled. “You’re not nervous to meet everyone?”

She tilted her head. “Depends. What did you tell them about me?”

I exhaled and tried not to wince. “That I was bringing home…a friend.”

“Afriend?” Her brow shot up, and she folded her arms tight across her chest.

“I know how it sounds,” I said, dragging a hand through my hair. “But keep in mind, I haven’t exactly had a lot of time to talk to them, given the circumstances. And it’s not the kind of thing you can just drop over the phone—‘Hey, after I got kidnapped in a war zone, I married a Russian FSB lieutenant colonel turned Ukrainian double agentwithout even so much as giving you a heads up. Oh, and by the way, she’s also the daughter of one of the most powerful mafia bosses in the world—who just so happens to be a rival of the Volkovi Notchi.’Not exactly a five-minute conversation.”

Her grin deepened. I could tell she was enjoying this.

“And now,” I added, “we get to break the news about Viktor’s death and Valentina’s disappearance. It’s gonna be a hell of a family reunion.”

She laughed under her breath. “Guess our marriage will be the least of their concerns.”

“Exactly,” I said, smirking. “Us getting married is basically theleastdramatic thing that’s happened.”

I twisted to face her better, placing my elbow on the back of the seat.

I kissed the top of her head. “Now that we’re back to reality, I don’t think it has to change us. I don’t want to go back to my old life. I want to start a new one with you.”

She blinked up at me and smiled. “I love you, Braxton.”

The limo slowed to a stop at the foot of the front porch steps. Handsome whined, his ears perking up.

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