Page 10 of Stolen Hearts

“That’s not why they’re here. It’s all very professional—on the up and up.”

“Good to hear that. Good,” he said almost to himself, as if she’d soothed one of his concerns.

“How is Shiloh? I heard a horse stepped on her toe.”

Oaks’s gray eyes met hers again. “She’s lucky. She was wearing hard boots and it’s only bruised.”

“Thank goodness. I wouldn’t know what to do if that happened to me. I haven’t spent much time around horses. Tell her I asked about her.”

“I’ll do that. What about you, Rhae?”

She straightened her spine, breaths coming in shallow pants. “What about me?”

“Are you getting enough support? As a single mom.”

Air trickled out of her lungs, hot with relief that he only wanted to know about her state of mind as a single mother.

“I barely get to mother alone. Believe me, I have a lot of help.”

His eyes crinkled with his smile, knowing exactly what she meant. “That’s great. All the guys seem so attentive when it comes to the baby.”

“It’s been such a beautiful thing.” The passion she felt about the men being so involved—and enamored—with her daughter seeped into her voice.

He tapped away at the keys a little more and then pushed the laptop back. He stood, eyeing her. “You know, if you want to get Navy started on a pony, there’s one here that would be so gentle.”

“A pony! She can’t even walk yet!”

“Willow was about her age when she first sat a horse. We wouldn’t walk her on the pony. Just dip her feet in the cowgirl life.” With a smile, he stood.

“I’ll think about it. Thank you. And thank you for hooking me up with a VPN.”

“No problem.” He crouched next to Navy on the floor.

For a moment, Rhae’s heart felt like it stopped.

Looking between the former SEAL and her infant daughter, her eyes clouded over with thoughts of all that she and Navy were missing out on.

He cradled Navy’s head in his big hand, eyes creased at the corners with his smile. “Be good for your momma,” he told Navy, then pushed to his feet and threw her a wave on his way out the door.

Navy rolled onto her back to play with her feet. Rhae looked on, fingers pressed to her lips.

Her gaze drifted to the window, her hand falling away as she took in the wide-open stretch of land beyond the therapy building.

Here, she was safe. Off the grid, just like she’d planned. No bills in her name. No presence on the internet. She was a ghost with a pulse.

It was a life lived in shadows, but shadows kept her breathing, kept Navy safe. No one knew her past, and she intended to keep it that way.

Because the minute someone started asking questions, the shadows wouldn’t be enough to hide her anymore.

* * * * *

Denver stared at the laptop screen, his fingers hovering just above the keyboard.

He couldn’t even bring himself to type a single letter into that search bar. One press of a button could send him down a dark path of self-destruction.

He wasn’t just a Navy SEAL. He was goddamn Blackout. The special ops team made him a ghost. Confidence had been driven into his bones, unshakeable. But now? Now all he did was question things: his skills, his instincts, his own damn mind.

He didn’t know what would happen once he sank into the digital void and searched for traces of her.

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