The Ranger's Chance: A Clean Army Ranger Romance Book One

by Bree Livingston

At the moment, she was making a sandwich for Noah. They’d ordered a grocery delivery not long after getting to the house. It was a good thing too because all of them had been hungry based on how they devoured half of it.

  He straightened and grumbled again. “I told Mason to get soda. The jerk is determined to make me be healthy.”

  “It wouldn’t hurt.”

  “Sure it would. It would hurt my taste buds.” Ryder smiled.

  Mia rolled her eyes as she finished making the sandwich. “Do you want me to make you a sandwich?”

  “Nah, I’m good.”

  “Okay, suit yourself.” She gathered up the sandwich ingredients and put them back. Grabbing the plate, she trotted to Noah’s room. She wasn’t sure he’d be hungry. He hadn’t had much of an appetite yet, but she figured she’d at least offer.

  Mia froze as she entered his room. The unmade bed was empty, the bathroom door was open, and Noah was nowhere in sight. “Noah?”

  No answer.

  She quickly ran back to the kitchen. “Ryder, Noah’s gone.”

  His eyes widened. “He wouldn’t.”

  “Wouldn’t what?”

  A string of curse words flowed from his lips, enough to make her blush. “We talked about the plan, but he was supposed to wait. What a hard-headed, stupid move.” He rubbed his forehead with his hand. “I’ve got to tell the guys. We have to get to him.”

  “What plan?”

  He caught her gaze, and she knew whatever plan it was, she wasn’t going to like it. “He’s using himself as bait so Harrison will let his guard down. That way, me, Elijah, and Mason can get the drop on him.”

  “Bait?” Tears stung her eyes. Noah wasn’t in any shape to be out of bed, much less using himself as a target. Putting himself in danger like that was stupid. She’d just told him she couldn’t live without him. It was just short of telling him she loved him…

  The thought rocked her back. She loved him. That word had never even been a thought where another man was concerned, but in just a short few days, Noah had blown in like a hardy Texas wind and changed everything.

  “Harrison will kill him.” She choked the words out.

  Nodding, Ryder hung his head. “Yeah, which means we need to hurry.”

  “And I’m helping.”

  “Mia.” The tone of his voice said he was going to argue.

  “I’m helping. All three of you are needed, which means I’d be in this house alone and unguarded anyway. There’s risk either way. If I go in as well, maybe it’ll be even more of a distraction.”

  And if Noah could be reckless, so could she. If anything, she wanted the chance to tell him how stupid he was and…she loved him and he’d better never do anything as foolish as this again.

  Ryder chewed the inside of his cheek. “All right. Let’s get the guys.”

  Chapter 24

  Noah wasn’t so stupid as to go straight to Harrison’s warehouse. His team needed time to realize he’d left the house, so he’d ducked into a coffee shop, taken some painkillers, and waited until they kicked in. Mason would have given him stronger stuff, but he needed his pain gone and his head clear.

  He was in no shape to even be thinking of confronting Harrison, but that was exactly the point. If Harrison was focused on him…maybe, just maybe, they’d have this guy once and for all. For Mia’s sake, it needed to work. And, selfishly, it needed to work for his sake too.

  Pam had given him the reins of Guardian, but the thought of living life without Mia crushed him. If she had to go into WITSEC, he was going too, which meant he’d either be turning down Pam’s offer or closing the group. Yes, it was selfish, and a lot of people might not get the help they needed, but he’d been playing over his conversation about Africa with Mia.

  Facing those painful memories was hard, but opening up and sharing them with her gave him new insight. He couldn’t change anything about the past. What was done was done, and if things had happened any other way, who was to say all the people they’d helped in the last few years would have had anyone to turn to?

  Now, as he stood in the shadows surrounding Harrison’s warehouse, he realized his choices had brought him here. Bringing down a man who helped the most disgusting human beings in the world ship human cargo all over the world. If that wasn’t a reason to let go of the past and look to the future, he didn’t know what was. Mia and his team might be mad because he didn’t wait until he was stronger, but he knew it wouldn’t have happened unless he made the move now.

  “Don’t move,” a gruff voice said from behind him as a gun cocked. “Put your hands up.”

  “I can do one or the other, but not both.”

  A sharp pain exploded at the back of his head, and he fell to the ground. It rattled through his body, and he cried out as his shoulder took the brunt of the fall. All he could see were stars, and a headache throbbed at the base of his skull.

  “How about neither.”

  “Don’t. Boss wants him alive,” another voice said. This one wasn’t as raspy as the first guy.

  Noah went still, hoping they’d think he’d passed out and wouldn’t hit him again. He only hoped the guys would show up before the real pounding began.

  * * *

  As hard as Mia’s knees were knocking, she was sure Harrison could hear her from the parking lot. She’d never been more terrified in her life, but she’d pushed down her fear and arrived at the warehouse in hopes that she could add to Noah’s distraction.

  She knocked, and a man she’d never seen before answered, his eyes raking up and down her body like he was putting a value on her. Involuntarily, she shivered at the thought. “I was hoping I could speak to Mr. Harrison.”

  The man lifted an eyebrow as he put his phone to his ear. “Chick here says she wants to speak to you. What should I do with her?”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Mia Milan.”

  The man’s eyes flicked to her face, and he held her gaze. “You got it, boss.”

  He grabbed her by the arm and yanked her into the building. “Boss said he’d be thrilled to speak to you.”

  He dragged her through the building to Mr. Harrison’s office. Just inside to the right was where his computer system was housed.

  The man pushed her inside. “Stay,” he said and shut the door.

  Her heart thundered against her ribs so hard that she was sure she’d drop of a heart attack any second. The guys would be coming to the rescue any moment, but that didn’t help her current state. Trapped in a building with a man who could kill her and wouldn’t even think twice about it.

  Minute after minute went by, and it felt like hours before Mr. Harrison strode through the door with a flourish. “Ms. Milan, how good it is to see you. I heard you’d been taken hostage.”

  “I kinda was. After you called, I was grabbed and taken to Orlando.”

  “How terrifying. How did you escape?”

  She chewed her lip. “We got back to Miami, and the room they locked me in was on the ground floor. They didn’t check the windows, so I left. I came straight here. I thought maybe you’d know what to do. I’ve never had anything like this happen in my life.”

  He perched on the lip of his desk and bobbed his head. “I see. You must be scared witless.”

  Her gaze dropped to the man’s bloody knuckles, and her stomach dropped. Was that Noah’s blood?

  She swallowed down the rising panic. “More than you know. They have my laptop, but don’t worry. I have a password on it that no one would ever be able to crack.” She smiled, trying to put a little confidence into it.

  Harrison pointed to the door. “Are you sure you aren’t here looking for this?”

  Just then, two men walked into the room, dragging Noah’s limp body in between them. Her breath caught in her throat as they dropped him to the floor where he remained motionless. The wound on his shoulder had obviously opened back up with the amount of blood soaking his shirt.

  “Noah,” she said as the lump in her throat doubled
in size. Swallowing down the fear building in her chest, she eyed Harrison. “I didn’t know who he was. He told me his name was Noah Wolandry.” She made a move to go to him, and Harrison’s men stopped her. “I really liked him. It’s hard to turn that off. Plus, I’ve never been one who liked seeing people hurt.”

  Harrison nodded to his men, and they stepped away.

  Mia took a few steps and kneeled next to him. She ran her hand over the side of his face, and Noah made the tiniest of sounds. Almost like a whimper. Turning him over, she steeled her features to keep Harrison from reading what she was really thinking.

  The man she loved had been brutally beaten. His eyes were swollen shut, his cheek was cut, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. What had he been thinking, putting himself in danger like this?

  “I don’t think you’ve been entirely honest with me, Ms. Milan. I think you like Noah Wolf, and once you found out who he worked for, you appreciated his noble cause. The one that involves putting me in jail.”

  “I like him, but I don’t know who he works for. I only met a couple of them briefly before they grabbed me.”

  In her head, she screamed, Come on, guys, hurry up!

  A man slid to a stop at the door. “We’ve got gunfire at the dock.”

  Harrison cursed and stood. “You three take care of that.” He walked around the desk and opened a drawer, and when he lifted his hand, he held a gun. “I’ve got these two covered.”

  The three men hurried out of the office. A moment later, loud bangs came from what sounded like all directions.

  Mr. Harrison stepped around his desk and stopped a foot away from Noah. “I’m trying to decide what to do with you, Ms. Milan. You stole something from me, and I don’t take kindly to thieves.”

  Without any kind of warning, Noah swept his feet around, catching Harrison on the legs and taking him to the floor.

  “Run, Mia,” Noah ground out as he struggled with Harrison.

  Mia jumped up as Harrison landed a hard kick to Noah’s ribs and scrambled away from him. He stood and aimed the gun at Noah, who stared up at him.

  A shot went off, and Noah froze. For a second, Mia’s heart stopped as her life flashed before her eyes. Life without Noah. No wedding rings. No children. No growing old together. It was the worst future she could imagine. In that second, whatever doubt, reservations, or residual hurt she felt was gone. She loved him, and she wanted him.

  Mia looked over her shoulder, and Mason stood in the doorway with a smoking gun aimed at Harrison. Nothing like what happened in the movies was real. First, no one ever warned her that her ears would ring. Second, Harrison didn’t clutch his chest. He just dropped to the floor. And three, nothing moved in slow motion.

  Noah tried to push off the ground and failed. “I can’t get up.”

  “And you shouldn’t try,” she said as she closed the small distance between them and knelt beside him. “This was the stupidest thing you could ever do. Do you understand that? If Mason hadn’t—”

  He pulled her down and cut her off with a kiss. “It was stupid and worth it.”

  She jerked away. “You could’ve been killed. You look half-dead as it is. What were you thinking?”

  “That I need to keep you and all his other victims safe. This is who I am—the one for the many, remember? Now, you want to tell me why you’re here?”

  She glared at him and scoffed. The one for the many. “You aren’t just a one. You’re my one. At least tell me next time. Yes, I’ll worry, but at least I’ll know. If you want me to respect who you are and what you do, then the road has to go both ways.”

  He took her hand. “You’re right, and that’s fair. You have my word that from this point forward, I’ll tell you everything.” He paused a moment. “I’m going back to my question. What are you doing here?”

  “They were either bringing me willingly or I was sneaking out. You aren’t the only one who gets to be stubborn. They figured the first option was the safest.”

  “You have no business being here. You could have been hurt.”

  “You don’t look like someone who should be giving advice on how to avoid danger.”

  He chuckled and it turned into a cough. “I look that bad, huh?”

  “Actually, after worrying I’d never see you again, you look fantastic.”

  His lips twitched up. “You always look great.”

  “Ryder said you were supposed to wait.” As hard as she tried, she couldn’t fight the tears pooling in her eyes.

  “Now was the time, Mia. I’m sorry I hurt you again,” he said, wiping her tears away, “but this is who I am. This is what I do. Can you handle that?”

  Could she? Now that she had firsthand knowledge of how dangerous his job was? How hard would it be to watch him leave and wonder if he’d ever come back? Did she love him enough to love all of him or just the parts that were convenient? Wasn’t his protective nature one of the reasons she loved him so much?

  He traced her lips with his thumb. “I don’t think I can stay awake much longer. Whether you can return the feelings or not, I need to tell you I’m in love with you.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. He loved her too.

  He moved his hand to hers. “I know you’re still hurt and upset, that what I do is scary and dangerous, but I’ll—”

  Now it was her turn to shut him up. She held his face and pressed her lips to his. “I’m in love with you too. I’ve never felt about anyone the way I feel about you. It’s terrifying, given what you do, but I don’t think I could ever love anyone as much as I love you.”

  “You’re not still mad?”

  She shook her head. “No, after seeing what this man was capable of, I understand with complete clarity why you did what you did.”

  “The only thing I lied about was my name. Just my last one.”

  “I know.”

  “Also, you should probably know I’m a billionaire. Well, my family is wealthy.”

  Mia narrowed her eyes, and then they widened. “Wolf Computer C & D Distribution?” He was a computer nerd’s dream. “Wow.”

  “I can get you a pretty good deal on a hard drive.”

  “I bet you can. That’s your family’s company?”

  He nodded.

  “And I thought you were my dream guy before.” She laughed.

  Mason strode through the door. “I’m glad you guys worked it out, but these guys need to get in here.”

  Two paramedics poured in through the door. “We need you to step back.”

  Mia moved to the side and stood next to Mason. Noah loved her, and she loved him. It didn’t matter how their relationship had started, just that it last as long as possible.

  Chapter 25

  A week later and surrounded by his entire family, Noah’s patience for the hospital stay was wearing thin. He was ready to get out. He’d promised Mia they’d finish her travel up the coast, and he was bound and determined to keep it.

  His entire family flew in when Ryder called them, all four siblings, Harley, and his mother. They now knew a little about his job and his time in captivity. His mother had reamed him a new one, twice, when she found out. The only saving grace he had was Mia. She’d softened the news quite a bit and had been embraced much like Harley was when Zach brought her home.

  “All this time my big brother was a hero. I’m still in shock,” Britney said. “But I should have known. You were always the one to come to someone’s rescue.”

  “Stop,” he said.

  She looked over her shoulder to where Mia and his mom were huddled together. “I love her. She’s awesome. So smart and sweet. If you don’t marry her, Mother will kill you.”

  Zoe, the oldest of all his siblings, shrugged. “Gotta say, I love her too.”

  Britney wasn’t far off. Their mom already had that grandchild spark in her eyes. Noah laughed. “Yeah, I have a feeling that’s exactly what would happen.”

  Zach stopped at the foot of his bed. “You know, we had a party when I wa
s rescued, and I’m thinking we need to do the same thing for you.”

  Julian snorted. “Oh, you’re done now.”

  “No, I’m good,” Noah replied.

  Britney brightened. Oh, crud. Party was her magic word. It was the windup key in the back of an animated toy. “That sounds great. Harley and I will take care of it.” She grinned.

  “Oh man. No.”

  “I’m sorry, but the word has been uttered,” she said and winked.

  Harley walked up behind Zach, wrapped her arms around his waist, and kissed him. “What word?” she asked Britney.

  “Party.”

  “Oh yeah, you’re doomed.” Harley laughed.

  Noah hung his head. “Do you think you guys could get me a minute alone with my girl?”

  Julian stood. “Guys, I think Noah’s needing to rest. Why don’t we go downstairs and invade the cafeteria?”

  His family began the slow process of shuffling out, and finally, he was left with Mia.

  “Your family is amazing. I love all of them,” she said.

  “They’re pretty great.”

  She stretched out next to him and laid her arm over his chest. “I’m also glad to be alone with you.” She tipped her face up and kissed him.

  He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. “How would you like to be a permanent member of the family?” he asked as he trailed kisses from her lips to her throat.

  Mia leaned back. “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  “Don’t you think we need a little more time?”

  “Marriage is a promise to love, honor, and cherish. I will do all three of those for you as long as I live.” He smiled. “Plus, now that you’re one of us, there’s no escaping.”

  She laughed. “How about you get well and then ask me?”

  “I’m asking now. When I get well, I’ll be sealing the deal.”

  “You don’t do anything half-hearted, do you?”

  He shook his head. “No. I never have. I love you, I want to be with you, and that will never change.”

  Mia held his gaze, and in the silence of the room, he was sure she could hear his heart pounding. If she said no today, he’d keep asking until she said yes.