Page 129 of The Boss
“Quinn!” Luna shrieks.
Mac sighs, “Probably could have gotten some useful information out of him.”
Luna is panting looking from the dead man, hole between his eyes, and me, and back again.
“You…you killed him,” she says.
I shrug, “He touched you.” Her mouth falls open. I don’t have time to explain that my moral codes can all go fuck themselves the second she’s in danger. I scoop her up and hold her to my chest as I move to the Hummer. It’s beat up but it’s still the best vehicle option we have. I move quickly.
We need to regroup and get the hell out of here.
I get my radio out of my back pocket. “Any others? Who copies? Everyone report.” The first question was for Allie and her team. I know they can hear everything. Times like right now, I really wish that went both ways.
“You killed him,” Luna repeats. I look down at her and hum in agreement as I kiss her forehead. A chill runs through me. I never want to see enemy hands on her again. As I fold the two of us into the back of the Humvee she whispers, “What about your creed?”
“You’re my creed,Lasa.You come first.”
She fights a smile, “I don’t think Command would agree with that.”
“O would’ve done the same,” I say into her ear as I push a lock of black hair off of her face. She didn’t cut it.She didn’t leave me.
“He most certainly would not have done the same,” O’s voice answers in my tiny earpiece, and Luna’s too, I’m guessing. Her eyes go wide. He goes on, “Tad could have been useful for Remnant information as well as Russian intel. I would have been patient and smart.”
“Like in Bombay?” Allie cuts in, teasing.
O counters, “That was different.”
“It was not, clear these comms. We’ll meet you at the shack after nightfall,” Allie says. There’s a short beep and then welcome silence. For one second. Then the men are piling in and giving report. The radios are blaring too. We lost one young guy and have a ton of injuries.
“You have a rat problem,” Luna says over the noise.
“Aye,” I reply. “Mac, start bringing in Remnant sons, grandsons, nephews.”
“Yes, boss.”
I focus on my wife as Mac focuses on taming the shitshow around us.
“How’s the pain?” I ask her.
She winces, “They gave me a shot of something before we landed but it’s definitely wearing off.”
“Fuck, I’m sorry,” I say, kissing her once, harder than I mean to. She probably has a headache settling in. She hums into my mouth and I pull away. She reaches up to touch my bloody ear. “It’s nothing. Bullet grazed the side of my head, just a scratch.”
“Like Marlon,” she says absently as she inspects me. Her eyes search every pore of my skin as she turns my head. I feel like putty in her soft, small hands.
I feel the urge to fucking purr like a cat.
Damn, I love this woman.
“You’re staying,” I say, but it’s a question. I study her eyes, looking for the truth. Is she really here for good? Does she actually love me back?
“First they need to handle the immediate delivery of my best friend.”
I frown, “I guess I’ll always be second to Ellie.”
“You’re third. Obviously, I meant Marlon.” I laugh and she beams up at me. Then her smile turns mischievous when she adds, “I have a few other conditions.”
I chuckle, “Can’t wait to hear them.”
