Page 101 of Ricochet

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

The headache vibrating at the back of Colin’s skull got worse with each word Adelia uttered. Of course he was open to listening to her. But she had to give for him to get. That was how communication worked. Delta team gave him everything, and right now, she’d given him squat. “Those guys would die for me. I’d do the same for them.”

“Seems like you’d do the same for metoo,” Adelia said quietly.

“Correct.” Every day on the job came with the knowledge that it could be his last. He didn’t want to do die. But hell, if she’d understand that while he bled through bandages. “You wouldn’t understand. They’re my team.”

“That’s about all we can say to each other.”

The tension grew, and the miles ticked by as he did everything he knew to stay conscious and drive totheir location without letting on how bad off he felt.

Finally, dizzy and tired, Colin pulled into a nondescript driveway in a neighborhood that looked normal because itwasnormal. There were no signs that this house was an unused safe house or that in the last hour, the people who had descended upon it were highly skilled surgeons and medical staff.

“Here.” His vision blacked for too longas he shifted into park, slumping from the force of the lateral move.

“Colin?” She touched his shoulder. “Colin?”

He rolled from her touch and pushed away. “I’m fine.”

Her worry and hurt blanked. “You can be a member of more than one team.” Adelia pushed out her door.

He didn’t see her point. Then again, he was ready to collapse. Colin forced his door open and faltered as he stood.

Adeliaran to his side and held out her hand. His pride wanted him to stand up alone, whispering untruths as he struggled to stretch his limbs with unbalanced, wary moves.

She grabbed onto his arm, not waiting for his internal debate to decide, urging him toward the door. “You’re okay.”

But he stalled. “Adelia.” His balance hadn’t adjusted, and his vision spun like a night of drinking had gone toofar. “Wait.”

“You have to go inside.”

Now that he’d broken his concentration and cracked the adrenaline-fueled tunnel vision, he had to concentrate to find the words. “When I wake up, I want you to be there.”

Her fingers gripped his arm. “Why wouldn’t I be here?”

Colin stepped closer and studied her. “I’m crazy about you.”

“We need to go inside—”

“But you live by your survival instincts.Fight-or-flight. It’s been conditioned into you, and I don’t think you know it.”

Her eyelashes fluttered as though she’d never thought of that, and a tear threatened to spill free, but she wiped it away before it could slide down her cheek.

He’d shaken off the cold dread that had grasped him since the moment he set off to find her. The only shivers now were blood loss and seeping shock. “I careabout you in a way that I’m still grasping, and every time I think I’ve got you figured out, you blow me over. I just keep waiting.”

“For what?”

“Rock bottom—when I can look around and know it can’t get any stronger than this. That this is what it’s like to fall in love with a woman.”

Her lips parted—

The front door opened, and a man stepped out, motioning them inside as his eyes dropped toColin’s shirt. “Excuse me?”

Adelia pressed her lips together, but then said, “Coming.”

What good was a safe house if they busted their own location? Standing in the driveway and bleeding out for the neighbors to see might do the trick. Colin took Adelia’s hand and ignored his throbbing pain. They walked into the suburban single-family home as what had to be the cleanup crew arrived in the driveway.By the time Colin woke, the rental car would be gone. Hopefully, Adelia would not.

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