Page 79 of Rescued Hearts

She started to shake her head, but he cut across her.

“You’re staying here. I’ll be back soon with Felicity.”

She stiffened, his words like a slap. “Like hell I am. I’m going with you.”

He exhaled sharply, raking a hand through his hair. “Honor—”

“No.” The word expelled with more force. She shook her head, and heat rose in her chest. “I’m not just going to sit here and wait while you go in there alone. That’s my sister, Gray.”

“And you are my world.” The words came out raw, almost guttural, and they stopped her cold.

Gray’s hands came to rest on her arms, firm but not rough, his thumbs brushing over the thin fabric of her jacket. His eyes burned into hers, dark with something too deep, too real, for her to argue against. “I can’t do what I need to do if I’m worried about you.” His voice cracked, just slightly, and he pulled in a sharp breath, steadying himself. “I love you, Honor. I can’t lose you.”

Her throat tightened.

“I get it,” she whispered, the fight draining out of her in painful waves.

Gray cupped her face, his callused fingers warm against her skin. “He’s not violent, but that doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous. He’s still desperate. And desperate men do stupid things.”

Honor nodded. “Okay. But he needs what’s inside the van. Or what we hope is still in the van, if I didn’t make all the diamonds into jewelry.”

She looked down at the ring still circling his ring finger. The wire she’d wrapped in haste fit him like…well, like it was made for him. In the center, the clear precious stone—or cheap glass gem?—glimmered in the light of the front porch where they stood.

Seeing the ring on Gray’s masculine finger made her heart soar with love.

She stole a look at his face. Shewasgetting her way on this.

“So what if I stay in the van? I’ll keep the doors locked, stay out of sight.”

He hesitated, conflict clear in his eyes. Finally, he exhaled through his nose, his grip on her tightening for just a second before he let her go.

“Fine.” He reached for his waistband and withdrew his weapon. He placed it in her hand. “But you keep this on you. Always.”

Honor rolled her eyes, but her insides jittered at the thought of packing heat. “I probably won’t need it.”

Gray’s expression darkened. “Let’s hope you don’t.”

“We researched him,” she reminded him. “He’s never been violent.”

“He’s never had his entire world fall apart before, either,” Gray countered. “Don’t worry about who he was, Honor. Worry about who he is now.”

She swallowed hard and nodded.

He got behind the wheel of her van. Colt took shotgun, and Gray instructed Honor to get in the back.

He needed every bit of focus he could get. She didn’t want to distract him from what he was doing. Getting her sister back safe and whole was the only thing that was important right now.

That and getting the Malone men home in once piece.

They zoomed through the night to meet Sully for the trade—a sister for a bunch of diamonds. There was no amount of diamonds on the planet worth Felicity’s life.

Honor gripped the edge of the built-in bed that took up the back of the van. Funny how earlier this evening, she and Gray were right here, in each other’s arms.

The faint glow of the lights on the dashboard illuminated Gray’s profile, carving the hard angles into shapes of ice. The rugged set of his jaw and the line bracketing his hard lips exposed the warrior inside him.

But he was far more than a fighter and a protector. He was so many things that she couldn’t put names on all of Gray Malone’s traits. He was a brother, a comrade to all those who had gone down with that ship in a tragedy that haunted not only Gray and the families of those people, but the entire country following the aftermath.

He was a friend and supporter to the men in the veterans program. A teddy bear with those ladies at the bookstore when he took her workshop. And the perfect boyfriend at the festival.

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