"He was a good teacher," Damon said. "And he'd be proud of us for taking Vincent down." He put his arm around Sophie and gave her a hug. "To Alan," he said.
They toasted once more.
"Well, it's finally over," Diego said. "Reliving the scene tonight reminded me that Jamie's death really was an accident. Whatever he heard that day, whatever reason made him go back inside when the drill was already over, was just part of who Jamie was. He always pushed the envelope, and he always jumped when someone was in trouble. He was a hero. He was born one, and he died one."
"I think you're all heroes," Tara put in. "And I can see why you were some of the best trainees who ever went through Quantico."
As Tara finished speaking, the doorbell pealed. He got up to let Flynn in. The agent had texted him earlier that he'd be coming by so no one would get jumpy and shoot him.
"I hope you saved me some pizza," Flynn said with a grin. "I've worked up an appetite."
"There are still plenty of slices," he replied, waving him inside.
"Great." Flynn nodded to the others. "Before I eat, I have big news. Tracy got in touch with me."
"What?" Diego asked in surprise. "Seriously?"
"Yes. She wants a deal. Immunity for turning over everything she has on Vincent and his operations. She already sent over recordings that she made of some of their calls. The higher-ups are considering her offer."
"No way," Wyatt said furiously. "She is not getting immunity."
"I don't think she'll get immunity," Flynn said quickly. "But she may be able to reduce her sentence if she has what she says she has. Also, according to Tracy, she's one of Vincent's victims as well. He was blackmailing her."
"Who cares?" Diego asked. "She could have turned the tables on him by coming clean earlier. Now she knows she's cornered."
Flynn tipped his head. "Probably. At any rate, her information should be able to reveal Vincent's entire network. The bureau can clean house, start over." Flynn paused. "Diego, I have an offer for you. If you decide you'd like to stay in LA, my task force will be expanding in the next few months. We've been given additional funding to take on some interesting assignments. I'd like to have you on my team. In fact, I'd like to have all of you on my team. Damon and Parisa, that includes you. What do you say to bringing the band back together? I know I wasn't your original leader, but I do respect all of your skills. And I think I can offer you some fun challenges."
"I'll think about it," Diego said, wondering if Flynn's task force wasn't exactly the change he needed.
Damon and Parisa answered in a similar fashion, saying it was definitely something to think about. And then Flynn dove into the pizza, and their conversation turned to more personal topics and some surprising announcements. Sophie announced that she and Damon had snuck off a few weekends earlier and gotten married at Niagara Falls. With her parents both deceased, she'd decided she didn't want to have a big formal wedding. But the more exciting news was that they were going to have a baby in October, and she was planning to take a year off work.
There were congratulations all around, and now Diego knew why Damon had been more emotional than usual when he'd found out Sophie had been kidnapped. He'd been worrying about his wife, and his unborn child.
Wyatt also announced that he and Avery were setting the date for next Christmas. And with Bree and Nathan already set to wed in August, Diego thought it was going to be a busy year. Parisa and Jared also looked pretty cozy, too. He suspected they wouldn't be far behind in making it to the altar.
Which left him. He looked over at Tara's pretty face, hating the bruises that marred her beauty, but loving the fight and the fire still lingering in her gaze. She was not a woman who would ever quit, and hadn't that been exactly the kind of woman he'd been looking for his entire life?
"What?" she asked curiously, catching his gaze on her.
"I'll tell you later," he said, grabbing another piece of pizza.
The party finally ended around midnight. And he wasn't sorry to see his friends go; he wanted to spend time alone with Tara.
"That was fun," she said, as he settled back on the couch next to her. "I like all your friends. Actually, they feel like your family."
"They are my family." He turned to face her. "So are you, Tara."
"You think of me as family?" she asked tentatively.
"Also, as a friend." He paused, seeing the uncertainty in her eyes. "And as a lover."
The shadows lifted from her gaze. "I think of you the same way, Diego. I can't believe we've known each other for less than a week. It feels like a lifetime."
"It does. And I can't imagine waking up and not seeing your face."
"But that's going to happen soon, right? You have to go back to DC and I have to go back to San Clemente."
"What if I stayed in LA, worked for Flynn? Would that be close enough?"
"It would be even closer if I got a different job next year, somewhere around here."
"Would you want to do that?"
"Would you?" she countered.
He smiled. "Okay, I'll go first. I've fallen in love with you, Tara. I want to keep seeing you. I want us to have a relationship that goes the distance. I want that more than anything. I know I have a difficult job. I may travel. I may disappear for days at a time, but I will always come back to you."
Her gaze grew a little teary. "If you didn't, I would come and find you."
He laughed at that comment. "I don't doubt that for a second."
"I love you, too, Diego. And I would like the chance to see what could happen between us. I would probably worry like crazy about you when you do disappear, but having met your friends, your team, I would have confidence in your ability to get the job done and come back to me."
"I would do my best. And I would never leave again without you knowing how I feel. When you went missing today, I thought about how I'd been too scared to have the conversation I knew you wanted to have."
"No, you were right; it was too soon."
"It wasn't too soon. The first time I saw you in the church, I knew you were going to be important. I just had no idea how much you would come to mean to me."
"Thank goodness you saved my life so many times so we could find out. I wanted to save yours tonight. I was terrified you were going to go back into that building for me, because I knew that's what you would do. It's who you are. You risk your life for the people you love."
"So do you. We make a good pair."
"We do. I want you to meet my parents. I told my mother I met someone on vacation. She's dying to meet you. She wants me to invite you to dinner. She promised my dad would grill something special, while he's checking out your barbecue skills, of course."
"I'd like that. And I hope I can pass your dad's test."
Tara licked her lips. "But I still feel like I have to ask…"
"What? Ask me anything."
"A lot has happened. We found Mateo and Bethany, and hopefully they are going to be safe for a long time. Are our feelings colored by adrenaline and relief? Joy at being alive? Is this love we feel real?"
"I think it's real. In fact, I have absolutely no doubt how I feel about you, Tara. I always shielded myself from love, from relationships. I didn't know if I had it in me to give my heart to anyone. It was so painful when my family shattered. It was easier not to care, not to get in too deep, but with you there was no choice. We were in deep and fast and I found myself telling you things I'd never told anyone. You're an amazing woman, and I would count myself lucky to be with you."
"That's a really nice thing to say. Unlike you, I had great role models for love and marriage. My parents are awesome, and I was raised in a wonderful family, but the men I've met over the last decade have never measured up. I've never felt like I could count on them or that I could really be myself. I know I've been too cautious, too sheltered, too unadventurous, but going to Colombia changed all that. It made me realize I could be anything I wanted to be. Actually, it wasn't just Colombia that ma
de me feel that way. It was you, Diego. You had confidence in me. You saw my strength and my intelligence, and through your eyes, I saw myself."
"Then I have an idea. Why don't we tell each other how we feel every day for the next fifty or sixty years? And if at any point it doesn't still feel like love, we'll reassess."
"I could do that," she said, giving him a sweet, hot kiss that lighted the spark within him.
As he looked down into her beautiful, shining blue eyes that now glittered with happiness, he felt overwhelmed by emotion. "How did I get so lucky?"
"I was thinking the same thing," she said with a laugh. "And now, I really think we've done enough talking for tonight."
"See—we're always on the same page," he said, pulling her to her feet, and taking her into the bedroom.
Epilogue
Five months later
"Nathan and Bree chose a hellishly hot day for their wedding," Diego said, tugging at his tie, as they walked into the garden patio at the Drake Hotel in Santa Monica. The chairs were lined up for the small, intimate wedding.
"It's August in Southern California," Tara said with a laugh, loving how handsome Diego looked in his dark-gray suit. "And stop pulling on this," she said, fixing his tie.
He grinned back at her. "I've never been a fan of suits. I only wear them at work when I have to. Thankfully, that isn't often now that I'm working for Flynn."
Diego had officially made the move to Flynn's task force two weeks earlier, after wrapping up his previous position in DC and then helping the LA office compile multiple cases against Salazar cartel members. Mateo had been very helpful, providing an enormous amount of information to the bureau and other various government agencies.
The Salazar organization had been completely dismantled, their assets in the US frozen and their distribution network ripped apart. Fighting among family members had scaled to new heights with Juan Felipe and Santoro being killed by Caleb as punishment for them taking out Father Manuel, a fact that had come out during the course of the investigation. Shortly thereafter, Caleb had suffered a debilitating stroke. They might not get him out of Colombia, but his criminal days were done.
With trials still to get through, Mateo and Bethany were hidden away somewhere in the country, but according to what Diego had heard, they were remarkably happy in their new life. For Mateo, there was no pressure to live up to anyone's expectations, no name to honor, and for Bethany, it was a chance for her to start over with a clean slate, something she'd been wanting to do for a long time.
"There's Damon and Sophie," Diego said, drawing her attention to the now very pregnant Sophie.
They exchanged hugs, and then she said, "Sophie, you are glowing."
"And huge," Sophie said with a laugh, but there was pure joy in her eyes. "I can't believe I still have six weeks to go. By the way, we have news." She glanced over at Damon. "Or did you already tell Diego?"
"I did not," Damon said. "I thought we'd tell everyone today."
"Well, don't leave us hanging," Diego joked.
"I have decided not to join Flynn's task force," Damon said.
Diego frowned. "I thought this was going to be good news."
"It's pretty good," Damon said. "I'm being promoted to special agent in charge of the Los Angeles field office."
Diego grinned. "So, you're going to be our boss's boss."
"I'd like to think of it as being a great supporter for your activities."
"Well, I'm glad you're coming to LA. When are you moving?"
"We're closing on a house on Wednesday, and our things will be shipped out next weekend," Damon replied. "We want to get settled before the baby comes."
"I'm thrilled you're going to be in town," she told Sophie. "And, Damon, congratulations."
"Thanks," he said, pausing as they were joined by Parisa and Jared, Wyatt and Avery.
"How's everyone doing?" Wyatt asked.
"Damon has news," Diego said.
"Yeah, I already heard," Wyatt said. "Flynn told me earlier today that you're heading up the LA office. We're going to miss you on the task force, but it will be nice to have you as backup."
"I live to be your backup," Damon drawled.
Wyatt laughed. "Don't I know it."
"What about you, Parisa?" Tara asked. "Are you also coming to LA?"
"Not at the moment," Parisa replied. "But maybe in January. Jared has some Langley cases that he's involved in that preclude us moving out of DC right now. But down the road, I'm definitely interested. My mom and stepfather are actually moving to London, so I won't have any family ties in DC after Christmas."
"It would be good to have you on the team," Diego said.
"Hopefully, it will work out. We better sit down. Looks like the ceremony is getting ready to start."
They settled into their seats as Nathan stepped up to the front with another man, who Diego told her was Nathan's brother-in-law. And then the music started, and a little girl came down the aisle, wearing a pretty pink dress, a crown of flowers around her dark hair.
Bree had told them a week ago that she and her daughter's adopted parents had decided the time was right to tell Hayley that Bree was her biological mother. Hayley had been thrilled and had immediately asked if she could be the flower girl at Bree's wedding.
As the little girl reached the front and turned around, she gave the audience a big, happy smile, and Tara thought how much Hayley looked like Bree.
"At least Vincent did one thing right," Diego muttered. "He brought Hayley and Bree back together. Actually, he did three things—he led me to my mother's grave and he brought my brother into my life."
"Because he was hoping you'd kill each other," she said dryly.
"True. But it still got us together."
Avery walked down the aisle next as Bree's maid of honor. And then it was time for the bride. They rose to their feet. Bree gave them a smile as she walked by, her eyes brimming with happiness.
Tara had gotten to be pretty good friends with Bree and Avery over the last few weeks, since she'd moved from San Clemente to Santa Monica, and she now counted both of them as very good friends.
"Bree looks beautiful," she whispered to Diego, as they resumed their seats. "She and Nathan are really in love."
He took her hand in his and gave her a sexy smile. "So are we."
She smiled back at him. "Yes, we are." And then she sat back to listen to the minister.
The ceremony was friendly, intimate, with laughter and smiles. Afterward, the guests were treated to champagne and appetizers while the bride and groom took plenty of photos.
"Let's take a walk," Diego said. "The sun is setting over the ocean, and I know where there's a better view."
"All right," she said, curious if Diego wanted to get her alone for a kiss or really wanted her to see the sunset.
They walked around the edge of the building along a narrow path above the ocean.
"This is nice, isn't it?" he asked, an odd note in his voice.
"Yes. It's beautiful. But we live near the beach, and we see the ocean every day, so is there something else going on here?"
"Yes." He pulled out his phone.
She gave him a confused look. "Who are you calling?"
"Someone who wants to hear from you." He punched in a number, then handed her the phone.
"Diego, what's going—" She stopped abruptly as a familiar voice came on the line. "Oh, my God, is it really you?"
"It's me," Bethany replied. "How are you, Tara?"
"I'm great. How are you? I can't believe we're talking." She gave Diego a questioning look. He simply smiled and leaned against the nearby rail, looking out at the ocean. "I know I probably can't ask you anything, but are you happy?"
"More than I ever thought I could be. It was scary at first, but we're getting used to being new people, living in a new place. We've even made a few friends. I'm working for a party planner. We do birthday parties for kids. It's actually fun."
"You've always been great
at parties. What about Michael—Mateo—I don't know what you're calling him now."
"He's good. He has a job, too. It's nothing like what he was doing before, but he says it's honest work, and it feels right. I know you probably don't have the best impression of him, but he had to grow up and survive in the Salazar world. Now, he's finally free to be his own man, and I think he's flourishing. It's like a weight has been lifted off him. He's so much more relaxed. He's funny. He's creative. And he gets me."
"I'm so glad." She was very happy to hear that Michael was doing well, not only for Bethany's sake but also for Diego's."
"We've gotten super close, Tara. This is where I was meant to be. Michael really is my soulmate. I know you've never believed in soulmates..."
"I actually do believe in soulmates now."
"Because you're in love with Diego."
She could hear the laughter in Bethany's voice. "Yes. I'm in love. Diego and I moved in together a few weeks ago. I'm going to be teaching at a new high school in LA starting next month. My mom and dad love him, too. Diego lets my dad teach him about grilling meat, even though I'm sure he's perfectly capable of barbecuing steaks on his own."
"I'm not surprised your parents love him, because he's crazy about you. And that is what they've always wanted for you. Diego is a good guy. He set up this call, because he said you needed to hear my voice. It was incredibly thoughtful. I needed to hear your voice, too."
"I told him that the other day, but I didn't want to put anyone in danger."
"The marshal said it was okay. We're actually not in the town where we normally are right now. It's all good."
"I wish I could see you. I think about you all the time."
"I think about you, too. It's all going to work out, Tara. One day…"
"One day," she echoed, tears coming to her eyes. "Until then, be happy."
Dangerous Choice KO PL Page 26