Page 30 of Stolen Hearts

“Then there was the horse,” Denver added. “Got kicked trying to untangle the reins. Same deal. Knocked out.”

Gray nodded slowly, expression tight.

“Thing is,” Denver continued, exhaling hard, “those weren’t the only times. There were more. Four more, maybe five. But there was no tree, no horse. Just missions. Combat. Explosions. One time in Italy…” His gaze fell on Rhae, sitting perfectly still with a sleeping Navy in her lap.

“I was missing for a while. Because I didn’t know who I was.”

“Jesus, Denver,” Carson hissed.

“I didn’t tell anyone. Didn’t want to be benched. Didn’t want to be weak.”

Carson’s jaw clenched. “You were active through that?”

Denver nodded. “Until I couldn’t. They pulled me. Medical discharge. It was official. But it can’t be public…because of what I was doing.”

His gaze shifted to Colt.

Colt met his eyes, jaw tight. “I know.”

Denver gave a subtle nod. “Colt caught wind that I was alive, after you all believed me long dead. He did some digging and found me.”

“Until a few weeks ago,” Denver said, looking around the room, “I was, to the civilian world, missing in action. Presumed dead. There’s not a lot of people who come back from that.” He tried to lighten it. “Me and Jesus have that in common, I guess.”

His half-assed joke earned a weak chuckle from Gray, who dropped his fist from his lips and rubbed his face.

Willow gave a quiet sniff. The sound haunted the hell out of Denver. Of all of his siblings, he knew that going into Blackout would cause Willow the most pain.

Rhae dipped her head, and he saw a tear drop onto the yellow blanket covering Navy.

Oaks tightened his grip on Shiloh’s hand, eyes wide. “You came for our wedding. It made that day so much more special to us.”

Everyone nodded. It was the day he couldn’t hide from his family anymore. The day he came back from the dead.

“We get it,” Carson said. “We knew something was going on. Military life…there are things you don’t talk about. We respected that.”

“Yeah,” Oaks agreed. “But it’s good to have you back.”

Willow exhaled sharply. “That’s all nice, but do you know how many secrets get kept around here in the name of military service? I’m great at keeping secrets. Excellent, actually. And I’m positive there’s at least one thing I know that not everyone inthis room is aware of. And quite honestly, it’s killing me. So…spit it out.”

Denver looked to Rhae, who sat quietly beside the fireplace, her hands resting on Navy. She gave a single nod, steady and strong.

“Rhae and I…we had a relationship. One we weren’t supposed to have. I wasn’t allowed to get close to anyone while I was in the special unit. But I did. And then I disappeared.”

He glanced at Rhae again, feeling fragments of his hardened exterior crumble away, exposing soft inner bits he never showed a single soul.

“And we had Navy.”

The room reacted in a ripple. Carson rubbed his throat like the words stuck there. Oaks stared, mouth open. Colt dropped his head forward, eyes shutting for a moment. Gray covered his mouth again, knuckles white.

“We’re uncles?” Oaks’s voice sounded like rough gravel.

Rhae gave a shy, teary smile. “Yeah. You are.”

Suddenly, the tension broke. The brothers leaned forward, all trying to talk at once. Carson asked about her birthday. Colt demanded that Willow share her phone’s album of Navy photos. Gray already pulled out his phone to add her birthday to the family calendar.

“You know we all think so highly of you, Rhae.” Shiloh smiled at Rhae and then at Denver. “Now that I know, I’m wondering why I never saw it before. Navy’s eyes… They’re Malone eyes.”

Honor shifted to the edge of the sofa, looking as if she was about to leap up and start hugging everyone. “I’m so thrilled to add you to our growing family!”

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