by Susan Stoker
“Good, isn’t it?” Skylar said from next to her.
Without even opening her eyes, Taylor nodded.
“Wait until you try his tamales. They’re even better than this.”
There was no way anything was better than this. She opened her eyes and glanced over at Eagle. He was watching her with a smile on his face. Deciding to concentrate on the joy of an amazing meal and the company of people who’d made her feel more welcome than anyone had in her entire life, Taylor forked another piece of lasagna into her mouth, her own small smile on her face.
Chapter Four
Eagle was having second and third thoughts about telling Taylor about Silverstone tonight. It was obvious how much Skylar’s gesture meant to her, and now, after eating dinner, she was relaxed and happy. He hated to do anything to make her feel differently.
But before he got any more attached to her, and she to his Silverstone Towing family, he needed to explain what he and his friends did.
This was a huge deal. Bull, Smoke, Gramps, and Eagle had made a pact not to tell anyone about their missions. Not unless they trusted them one hundred percent . . . and they thought there was a chance they might spend the rest of their lives with the other person. Hell, they hadn’t even told their families what they did. For all anyone knew, they were just the owners of Silverstone Towing. Period.
He felt in his gut that he and Taylor were on their way to being much more than friends. He was probably still jumping the gun in telling her everything, but Eagle felt a connection with her that he’d never felt with anyone before. Not even his friends. He had no idea if he and Taylor would ever have an intimate relationship, but he felt a deep compulsion to tell her.
And it scared the fuck out of him.
Because despite the fact that it had only been two weeks, she was important to him.
He wanted her in his life any way he could get her.
And telling her about Silverstone could ruin that.
But Eagle had never been one to shy away from tough things. Be they missions or discussions.
They were currently sitting on the couch upstairs. The television was on low, but no one was really watching it. Bull, Skylar, Smoke, and Gramps had all stayed to chat. And the drivers who were on duty had been coming and going depending on their callout schedule. They were all relaxed, and Eagle was thrilled to see how well Taylor got along with everyone. She and Skylar had talked about their jobs, and not once had the conversation lagged.
But it was time. Eagle needed to get the discussion with Taylor over with. He’d been stressing about it for too long.
Leaning over, he asked quietly, “You ready to talk?”
Taylor immediately nodded, and he wondered if she’d been as worried about what he wanted to tell her as he’d been.
“We’ll be back,” Eagle told his friends, not knowing if they’d be back to hang out or if it would only be to say goodbye as he took Taylor home.
Ignoring the looks his friends were giving him, Eagle steered Taylor toward the stairs. He liked touching her, but dropped his hand from her back as soon as they started down the steps.
They walked silently through the downstairs rec room toward the safe room once more. He unlocked it with his fingerprint and held the door open for Taylor. After entering, she stood uneasily in the middle of the room, as if not sure where to sit or what to do.
Eagle held out one of the chairs around the table for her, and she immediately sat. He took the one next to her and didn’t beat around the bush.
“I’ve told you that my friends and I were in the Army.”
Taylor nodded.
“We were Special Forces. Delta Force.”
She nodded again.
“Do you know what that is?”
She frowned at him. “Of course I do. I’m not an idiot.”
Eagle smiled a bit at that. “So, we were sent on highly classified missions all over the world. Some were hostage rescue, others were only to gather intel. Still others were to find and eliminate dangerous targets.”
Taylor nodded, not looking the least bit alarmed at what he was telling her so far.
So Eagle kept going. “What I’m about to tell you can’t go any further than this room,” he warned her.
“I won’t say anything to anyone,” Taylor said seriously. “Who would I tell, anyway?”
“Right. So, our last mission was to Pakistan. We were to find and take out Fazlur Barzan Khatun, the leader of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen terrorist group.”
Her eyes widened. “Holy crap, that was you?” she whispered.
Eagle nodded. “Yeah. Khatun and his organization had claimed responsibility for killing almost fifty American and British soldiers in Afghanistan the year before. He was proud of what his organization had done and vowed to continue the killing.”
Taylor put her hand on his arm. “It’s good that he’s dead, then,” she said simply.
Her words made Eagle hope that this talk might turn out all right. “Yeah, it is. During the mission, we interrupted a meeting Khatun was having. We lined up everyone who was in the room and discovered that another well-known and most-wanted terrorist was there too. Nabeel Ozair Mullah.”
“Holy crap!” Taylor gasped again.
“Yeah. He tried to pretend he wasn’t Mullah, but I knew who he was the second I laid eyes on him.”
“Because you’d seen his name and face before.”
Eagle couldn’t read her tone, but he nodded anyway. “Yes. I always study the FBI Most Wanted lists before every mission, just in case.”
Taylor hadn’t moved her hand from his arm, and she squeezed it gently. “That’s amazing,” she told him softly. “I mean, what an asset for your team and country.”
She looked a little sad, and that wasn’t what Eagle wanted. Not at all. “I’m not telling you this to make you feel bad,” he told her.
“I know you aren’t, and I’m okay,” she reassured him. “There are times, however, it’s really brought home to me how much of a disadvantage I have.”
“There’s more to life than being able to recognize terrorists,” Eagle told her.
“I know. But you obviously have the ability you do for a reason. A very good one.”
Eagle pressed his lips together for a moment. He’d always taken what he could do for granted. Had never really thought about it much . . . until he’d met Taylor and understood there were people who were exactly the opposite. He should’ve realized it way before now, but it just hadn’t occurred to him. He cleared his throat and continued.
“Anyway, we killed Mullah too. There was no way we could’ve left him there. The Mujahideen would’ve promoted him, and I honestly believe he was worse than Khatun. There was just something in his eyes that made it clear he hated everything about the Western world and wouldn’t be happy until he’d killed as many people as possible.”
“I do vaguely remember reading about all that,” Taylor said. “I mean, I’m not much of a news watcher, and I was in my early twenties, so it wasn’t exactly on my radar, but there was some sort of big kerfuffle about them both being killed, wasn’t there?”
Eagle snorted. “Yeah, there was a kerfuffle, all right,” he told her. “The bottom line was that the Army wasn’t happy with us for killing Mullah. Our only mission was to take out Khatun. We obviously weren’t supposed to be in Pakistan in the first place.”
“If you tell me you got in trouble for that, I’m gonna get mad,” Taylor said fiercely.
Eagle felt a warmth move over him. He was used to people thanking him for his service in the military, but hearing Taylor defending him and his team without hesitation felt good. He put his hand over hers on his arm and squeezed. “We were reprimanded. Our Delta team was disbanded, and we were going to be separated, sent to bases all over the States. Then, when our reenlistment dates came around, we were going to be barred from being in the Army any longer.”
“That’s bullshit!” Taylor blurted. “Seriously, they should’ve given you gu
ys medals, commendations. To kick you out of the Army is ridiculous! I mean, that’s like telling the fastest runner in the world he’s not allowed to compete anymore, that even though he could win the Olympics, he won’t be allowed. Or . . . telling a world-renowned brain surgeon that he can no longer do the complicated surgeries that would save people’s lives, that he could only open a family practice and treat people with the sniffles. Gah, I’m so pissed for you, Eagle!”
Eagle couldn’t help but smile. He loved how passionate Taylor was.
“Tell me you protested and they changed their minds,” she demanded.
Eagle shook his head. “We did, and they didn’t,” he said. But before she could break into another tirade, he went on. “The night we learned our fate, we were drowning our sorrows at a local bar, and a guy came in. Picture it—we were in a dive bar filled with dangerous-looking men, and in comes a Fed wearing a crisp white shirt and slacks, complete with spit-shined black shoes. But no one harassed the dude. He knew all about what had happened on our mission in Pakistan—and about the hearing we’d just had that day. And to know about both those things meant he had some serious connections.
“I’d never seen him before, which irritated me. I knew who a lot of the big players in the FBI were. I’d made a point to know. He said he worked for the FBI and Homeland Security and told us that he could get us out of our obligation to the Army the next day.”
“What was the catch?” Taylor asked, interrupting him.
Eagle snort-laughed again. He hadn’t thought he’d be laughing while telling this story. Not a chance. But Taylor had surprised him . . . in a good way. “That’s exactly what I asked,” he told her. “The guy somehow knew Smoke had inherited this garage from his uncle, along with a shit ton of money. He suggested we come here to Indianapolis and make a go of Silverstone . . . while still doing what we do best, with the help of the FBI and Homeland Security.”
When Taylor’s facial expression didn’t change, he went on. “We talked about it and knew we’d never be able to make an actual garage work, as none of us knew anything about cars. Smoke suggested we make it a towing operation. So we did. Silverstone Towing opened, and we got to stay together as a team. We work with the FBI and Homeland Security—unofficially, of course. We get to decide who to go after and when.”
There. He’d gotten it out. Taylor hadn’t gotten up and stormed out of the room. He was counting that as a good thing.
“And?” she asked.
“And what?” Eagle asked.
“That’s what you wanted to tell me?”
Eagle was confused. “Yeah.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” he asked.
“Yes.” Taylor shrugged.
“I don’t think you understand,” Eagle said. “My team and I use this room to research terrorists and drug dealers—the guys at the head of the organizations—serial killers and sex traffickers. We decide who we want to take out, and plan missions to do so. We’re assassins,” he said bluntly. None of them liked that term, but he needed to be absolutely clear with Taylor.
She leaned forward and met his gaze without flinching. “Good,” she stated. “Someone has to, and it’s obvious that you and your friends are very good at what you do. If you think I’m going to be upset that you’re ridding the world of horrible, awful people, you’re wrong. I know I’m not exactly worldly, but I remember reading after the fact about all the atrocities Khatun and Mullah had committed. They’d had no remorse for it, didn’t care that the people they’d killed had families who loved them and were devastated. As far as I’m concerned, they deserved to be assassinated. I’ve always been thankful for our military men and women, but I’m even more so now.”
Eagle closed his eyes and bowed his head. Every time he’d imagined telling Taylor what he did, he’d never thought this would be how she’d react. He’d thought she might be confused, worried, even disgusted, but immediately accepting? No.
“It’s dangerous, isn’t it?” she asked softly.
Eagle opened his eyes and looked at her. He nodded. He wouldn’t lie about it.
“Yeah, of course it is,” she muttered.
“I trust Bull, Smoke, and Gramps with my life,” he tried to reassure her.
“Does Skylar know?” she asked.
“Yes. Although she didn’t take it well at first,” Eagle said. “She had a hard time wrapping her mind around it. Bull wanted to tell her before we went on a mission because he didn’t want her thinking he was off cheating on her or something. She kinda freaked out, and Bull was a mess on that op. We thought it was over between them, because if Skylar couldn’t accept what he did, there wasn’t really any way for that relationship to work. But I guess she thought about it while he was gone and decided to discuss it with him some more. She loved him too much to just let him go without a longer conversation. Then she was kidnapped . . . and suddenly it didn’t matter anymore.”
Taylor nodded. “I can understand that. You said that I couldn’t tell anyone, and I completely understand, but can I . . . is it okay to talk to Skylar about it?”
“Yes,” Eagle said immediately.
She was quiet for a moment, then said, “I have a question, but I’m not sure how to ask.”
“You can ask me anything,” Eagle told her. “Anything.”
“Why did you tell me? I mean . . . I’m glad you did, but we aren’t . . . shoot.”
“We aren’t dating,” Eagle finished for her.
She nodded.
“Honestly? I like you, Taylor. I could be wrong, but I think we clicked. From the first time I saw you in that parking lot, something drew me to you. We aren’t dating . . . yet. I’m not saying we will for certain, but with the connection I feel with you? I wouldn’t be surprised if that happened. But it doesn’t have to. Even if we’re nothing but friends, I’ll feel lucky to have you in my life. I’m not explaining this very well . . .” He sighed, his voice trailing off.
“No, you are,” Taylor said. “I feel the same way. I don’t have a lot of friends—most can’t handle my condition—but when I’m around you, and when I talk to you, I don’t even think about it. And believe me, that’s saying something, because it pretty much dictates everything I do in my life. I like you too, Eagle. A lot. But it scares me to think about being anything more with you, because I don’t want to do something that will mess up our friendship. Talking to you in the evenings has been the highlight of the last two weeks.”
“Nothing is going to mess up our friendship,” Eagle vowed. “And everyone in your life who’s cut you out because of your condition is an idiot. That’s like not wanting to be friends with someone in a wheelchair, or someone who’s blind or has some other medical condition. None of those things are the fault of the person who has them. I accept you as you are, just as you accept me.”
A tear formed in Taylor’s eye and slipped down her face. Eagle brought his hand up to wipe it away with his thumb. “Those aren’t angry tears, right?” he asked with a small frown.
She shook her head. “No. I’m just . . . overwhelmed. My own mother rejected me when I couldn’t bond with her, and ever since I was old enough to understand what was wrong with me, I figured I’d be alone.”
“First of all, there’s nothing ‘wrong’ with you. Second, your mom was stupid. A mother is supposed to love her children unconditionally. There were lots of different things she could’ve done to help you, even at a young age, but she didn’t even try. Fuck her.”
Taylor’s lips quirked.
“The bottom line is that you’re amazing,” Eagle continued. “You’re smart, and you already have my friends and employees wrapped around your finger. Hell, Skylar didn’t even know you, and she wanted to help make your life easier with the name tags. You didn’t take offense, which you would’ve had every right to, and instead made her feel really good about trying to help you. I wanted you to know about Silverstone. Not Silverstone Towing—that’s a whole different thing. My team and I are proud of wh
at we do, and before you become too important to me to let go, I needed to tell you.”
“I’m honored,” Taylor told him.
Eagle took a deep breath and dropped his hand from her face. He wanted to pull her into a hug, but wasn’t sure if they were ready for that. He was encouraged by the fact that she hadn’t insisted they were only friends; it gave him hope for the future. For now, it felt good that they were on the same page. They’d take it one day at a time, and whatever happened between them would happen.
“You want to go back upstairs and see if anyone’s still here?” he asked.
“Actually, I want to play pinball,” she said with a small smile. “I used to be really good at it when I was a teenager. I spent a lot of time at the mall so I wouldn’t have to go back to my foster home, and I spent hours playing.”
“You had a bad foster experience?” Eagle asked, harsher than he’d meant to.
“Not really. It wasn’t bad . . . it just wasn’t good either. I was just there. I found it was easier not to try to get close to any of my foster parents or siblings. I knew they wouldn’t adopt me, I was just too weird.”
“You aren’t weird,” Eagle said, angry now. “Didn’t anyone try to understand your condition?”
Taylor shrugged.
He took that as a no. “Assholes,” he muttered, then stood. “If you want to play pinball, that’s what we’ll do. Get ready to lose, though,” he teased, trying to lighten the mood. “I’m the Silverstone champion.”
“It’s too bad your high score is going down, then,” Taylor teased right back.
“Whatever,” Eagle said.
“Wanna bet?”
Eagle stopped in his tracks and turned back to her. “Those are fightin’ words,” he told her with a grin.
“Bring it,” she countered.
Taylor couldn’t remember the last time she’d stayed out past midnight. It was now three in the morning, and she was lying in a recliner in the basement of Silverstone Towing, snuggled under one of the softest, fuzziest blankets she’d ever felt. Eagle was sleeping in another recliner across from her.