Jack had to take the shot. It was risky, because Metaxas was hiding behind Gina, but he had to peek around her head from time to time to see them. And that’s when Jack had to fire, in that split second that Metaxas was visible. If this were a distance shot, he’d have to fire before Metaxas moved. But it wasn’t, and the bullet would travel faster than the man could duck.
“We can make a deal, Stavros,” Jack said. “Take it easy and listen to what I have to say.”
The man snorted. “I’m not dealing with you. I have friends here, powerful friends, and you’re going to regret this—”
Stavros moved, his head barely peeking around Gina’s—
And Jack took the shot. Over Gina’s shoulder, so close to her neck she would have powder burns, so close that if she moved at all, the bullet would hit her too.
But she didn’t, and Metaxas dropped. At the same time, Brandy pivoted into the room and fired at the man who’d been hiding. He fell with a thump and Jack lowered the light so Gina wouldn’t be blinded by it as he rushed into the room to take her and Eli into his arms.
She was cold and shivering, and Eli was sobbing. But he couldn’t let them go. He buried his head against her neck.
“I’m sorry, babe, so sorry I had to do that.”
“I… I…” She sucked in a breath and he steered her over to the couch and sat her down on it. She shifted Eli and he lay down on the cushions and threw a fit.
Richie, Big Mac, and Iceman came into the room, guns drawn.
“Hostages rescued. Target neutralized,” Matt said into his mic.
Mendez would get that report in short order. The lights flickered and popped back on, and Jack moved to shield Gina from seeing Stavros on the floor, his head lying in a pool of blood.
Gina looked up, her eyes glassy. “You came for me. I knew you would.”
Jack sank down on one knee and slid his hand against her cheek, cupping her beautiful face. Her skin was soft, and his was callused. But she didn’t flinch. “I’ll always come for you, babe. Always.”
“I know you will.”
He’d almost lost her. “But do you know why?”
Her gaze dropped from his. Her body was still trembling, but he knew she was trying hard to regulate it. “No.” Her voice was barely a whisper.
Maybe he shouldn’t say this now, with the guys here and two dead men on the floor, but he couldn’t hold it back any longer. He’d almost lost her, and that changed a man’s perspective. “Because I love you, Gina. I love you. Even if you lose all your money and grow a wart on your nose, I love you. And I love Eli, too. You got that?”
Her head snapped up, her eyes wide. “Do you really mean it?”
It killed him that she could even ask, but he knew why she did. She’d given him every chance and he’d told her he didn’t know how he felt. Well, that was bullshit. He knew exactly how he felt.
“Yeah, I mean it. In fact, I’m refusing to marry you until you make me sign a prenup. I get nothing if I don’t love you forever.”
“You want to marry me? I thought you were still mad at me.” And then she tilted her head to look at him sideways, her forehead scrunching up. “Jack, did you get hit on the head?”
Someone snorted, and he turned to glare at them. He was putting his heart on the line here, and they were all watching. Nosy bastards.
“Well, as a matter of fact, I did,” he said, fingering the knot on his head. “But that’s not the reason I want to marry you. I want to marry you because you and Eli belong with me. Because I love you both and I’m not letting you go ever again. Yeah, I was pissed, but I’m over it. The future is the important thing here, not the past. I wasn’t ready, but now I am. For you. For Eli. For us.”
Eli burrowed into her side, sniffling as his fit petered out, and she put her arm around him, running it up and down his little back. She was perfect. Eli was perfect. He’d gotten so lucky when he’d rescued her the first time. So damn lucky.
A single tear spilled down Gina’s cheek as she put her free hand on his wrist where he was still cupping her face. She leaned forward and pressed her mouth lightly to his. “I love you too, Jack. And you can have everything you want, but I refuse to make you sign an agreement. We’ll just have to trust each other, okay?”
“Gina, I don’t want anyone ever saying—”
She put a finger over his lips. “Shh. I trust you, Jack. Always.”
“And I trust you,” he said when she finally let him speak.
“Then kiss me to seal the deal.”
*
When the guys took Gina outside, she saw they had Cassie with a group of men they’d disarmed and made kneel with their hands over their heads. Cassie didn’t look up as they passed by, but Gina trembled with fury. She’d trusted Cassie, liked her, but Cassie was a Metaxas and she’d lied, threatened Gina, and stole her baby.
Gina’s blood pulsed hotly through her veins. She wanted to punch something, preferably Cassie. She ground to a halt and stood there breathing hard.
“Babe?”
She looked up at Jack. He was watching her carefully, his eyes vivid blue against the greasepaint on his face.
“I can’t let her get away with this.”
“She won’t.”
Eli held on to Gina’s neck tightly.
“Not good enough.” She turned and marched over to where Cassie knelt. “Eli is not a Metaxas. You wasted your time because he belongs to that man right there.” She nodded toward Jack. “Three years ago, he saved my life… and Eli is the result. You were just too stupid to see it. Remember that when you’re in prison—you did it for nothing.”
Cassie looked up, fear and uncertainty in her eyes. Gina almost took a step back, the transformation was so shocking. “He made me do it, Gina. I had to or he would have hurt me. Hurt my family. Please, please don’t do this to me. I’m sorry. I would have never hurt Eli. I love him.”
Gina lashed out and slapped the other woman hard across the face, causing Cassie’s head to snap back and her eyes to blaze with fresh hatred. “How dare you? You can’t manipulate me anymore, so don’t even try. I trusted you, but never again. You can rot in prison for all I care.”
She turned and went back to Jack, who was frowning. Cassie started screaming, calling Gina every name she could think of, but Gina didn’t turn around again. She was done feeling sorry for Cassie.
Jack put his hand on her back, his touch comforting and firm. She needed that right now. He didn’t say anything, just ushered her away from the scene. Once again, he was there for her, giving her precisely what she needed.
When the door had burst open, she hadn’t been able to see who it was because of the bright light shining on her, but she’d known in her gut that it was Jack.
And she’d been right. He’d dropped Stavros with deadly accuracy, though for as long as she lived she was never going to forget the hot whoosh of that bullet as it passed by her cheek. He’d shot Stavros, and he’d freed her and Eli. She loved him so much.
“There’s going to be paperwork and reports tonight,” he said when they stopped by the van that had arrived. “I don’t know how long it will take.”
“I want to go with you, Jack.”
“You can’t, babe. But you can go stay with Evie, if that’s okay. After that, I’ll take you back to the hotel.”
She shook her head. “I’ll go to Evie’s, but then I want to go home with you. Your home, Jack.”
“You know it’s not much to look at.”
“Home is where you are. Don’t you get that by now?”
His smile made her heart break. “Yeah, I get it.”
She hefted Eli up. He was getting heavier the longer she held him.
“Let me take him.” Jack took their son, and Eli put his head on his father’s shoulder as if being held by a greasepainted, dark-clothed man bristling with weaponry and high-tech military equipment was a normal, everyday occurrence.
“I’m sorry for what I said earlier,” Gina told him. “Befo
re I ran away.”
“It’s already forgotten, Gina. I was a dick to you, and you were hurt.” He blew out a breath. “But I’ll make it clear here and now that there is no choice but you. If I have to give something up, it’s not going to be you.”
She stepped in and slid her arm around him. “I don’t want you to give anything up. I want you to be happy.”
“So long as I have you, that’s enough.”
They were soon separated. Mendez arrived and sent a HOT support member to take Gina and Eli to Matt and Evie’s place. Evie hugged her, and they took Eli to the guest bed and placed him there. Then, because Gina was too keyed up to sleep, they went back into the kitchen and shared some wine and girl talk. Gina liked the other woman so much. She’d never felt comfortable sharing things with other women, but she found herself telling Evie things that surprised her.
Hours later, when Gina had fallen asleep beside Eli, Jack came and got her. He took her and a sleeping Eli back to his apartment, where he carried Eli inside and laid him on the couch. Gina tucked a blanket around him and sank onto the floor to push his golden curls off his face. When she looked up at Jack, he was watching them both with such an intense expression on his face that her heart melted.
“I want you very much right now,” he said, “but if you want to take him to bed with us, we will.”
She stood and put her hand on his cheek. “I never want to let him out of my sight again, quite honestly. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost him.”
Jack kissed her forehead. “You don’t have to worry about that. He’s safe. You’re both safe. No one is coming for you ever again.”
“I know.” She looked down at Eli. He’d flopped onto his back and was completely out. Her heart filled with love. And with the certainty that Jack was right. They were safe here with him, and no one would harm them. She put her hand into Jack’s and he led her into his room.
He undressed her carefully, kissing his way over her body, his fingers following his mouth and making her ache and tremble and want. By the time he was inside her, his body rocking into hers slowly and deliciously, she was a mess of emotion and desire.
“Jack,” she gasped as he moved. “I love you so much, so much…”
“Yes,” he said, his mouth on her throat, “need you… love you… only you…”
She sobbed when she came, and he buried his mouth against her neck, groaning her name as he followed her over the edge.
She was almost shy when he levered off her and pulled her against him. They’d done this before, and yet it was so new and raw now, and she kept waiting for it to hurt somehow.
“I’m leaving HOT,” he said quietly after a few moments, and she pushed herself up to stare down at him, not quite certain she’d heard him right.
“What? Why?”
“It won’t happen immediately. I’m still enlisted, and I have a few months to go yet. But I’m not re-upping. I got a better offer.”
She blinked. “I… okay. Where?”
He frowned. “Don’t tell me you forgot. A million dollars to guard a delicious pop star? How could a guy say no, especially when the perks are so good?”
“Oh, that offer.”
“Aw, fuck, am I too late? Did you fill the position already?”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “No, of course not. But are you sure, Jack? Really sure?” Because if he was unhappy leaving his team for her, she wouldn’t be able to stand it.
“I love what I do, but nothing says I can’t start my own security firm. Maybe I will.” He shrugged. “Sometimes the military is a bit confining. If I ran my own team, I could do things my way.”
She sank down on him again, pillowing her head against his chest. “Is that something you’ve thought of?”
He twisted a finger in her hair. “Hell, I think we’ve all thought of it. Mendez worked long and hard to get us where we are now, but even here we have limitations. Oh, the funding is top-notch, but the red tape can sometimes be pretty tangled.”
“Who would you get to join you?”
“Some of the guys would come on board, I think. I’d find others.”
“But you have a while to think about it.”
“Yeah.”
She found herself tracing her fingers over the ink on his side, following the loops and dips of Hayley’s name.
“Does that bother you?” he asked after a few moments and she realized that he knew what she was doing.
“No.” She could say that truthfully now. It had bothered her, but now that she knew he loved her, it didn’t. Because Hayley was a part of him, and she accepted that. She tilted her head back to look up at him. “Would you think I was crazy if I said I sometimes think she sent you to me?”
He was quiet when he spoke. “No, I wouldn’t.”
She bent and kissed the name on his skin. “I thought she was keeping you from loving me, but I don’t think that anymore.”
“I was scared, babe. Still am, but you’re worth the risk.”
She crawled up his body until she could press her lips to his. “So are you.”
His fingers tangled in her hair, his tongue plunging into her mouth. It didn’t take long for them to get hot again, and then she sank down on him and rode him until their bodies were slick with sweat and the pleasure was so intense she didn’t ever want it to end.
“Goddamn,” he said when it was over and she collapsed against him. “I think I died and went to heaven.”
“Mmm, not yet,” she said. “Soon, though, if we keep this up.”
“Yeah, but what a way to go.”
“I think that’s going to be the title of my next song.”
“What is?”
“What a way to go. I’ll extol the virtues of your penis, of course, and then the whole world will be singing about you.”
He snorted. “Sounds like a hit.”
“It will be.”
He pushed her hair back and looked at her, his brows drawn low. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Maybe I’m not. The world should know about your penis, Jack. It’s my solemn duty as an artist to make art when I’m inspired.”
He stared at her for a full minute. And then he laughed. “It’s going to be interesting with you, isn’t it?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said, grinning. “You just wait and see…”
EPILOGUE
TWO MONTHS LATER…
Eastern Shore, Maryland
Jack kissed his bride while everyone clapped and cheered. He didn’t want to let her go, but they were pulled apart when everyone rushed forward to congratulate them. He caught Gina’s eyes over the crowd and nearly laughed at her shrug. Yeah, he wanted to be alone with her, but they’d invited their friends—Mendez and the team, and Barry and his boyfriend—and they couldn’t disappear.
He let his gaze wander over the grounds of the house they’d bought. It was close to Waterman’s Cove, but not too close, and of course it was big and expensive. Which really meant that Gina had bought it, but that didn’t bother him in the least since she’d refused to buy a thing until he’d agreed it was perfect.
Which he would have done several houses ago if he’d known that’s what she was waiting for. But, really, this one was perfect, so maybe it was a good thing he hadn’t caught on.
Eli had been the ring bearer, and he’d done a good job of it. He was sitting in the grass, staining his white shorts and playing with the tiny dog Barry had carried in with a big pink bow around its neck. Jack had glared and told Barry he was taking the dog back out again when he left. Barry had shrugged, and Gina’d laughed.
Jesus, he was going to be walking a tiny dog on a pink leash before this was all over with. Someone handed Jack a beer and he took it. He didn’t want to think about walking a pocket dog right now.
“Man, you are one lucky dude,” Flash said.
Brandy nodded. “If only I’d taken the route through the forest that night. I could be the one with a sugar mama!”
Jack p
unched him in the arm, but it wasn’t a serious blow. “You wouldn’t have stood a chance with her, so forget it.”
A few feet away, the women were laughing and talking. The rest of the guys walked over to where Jack and the others stood. Even Mendez had let down the formality for a change, though none would dare to call him anything but sir.
It had been a helluva couple of months since they’d rescued Gina and killed Stavros. Mendez had been pissed that night because he’d put out a call to all the intelligence services for information on Metaxas after the mission to rescue Eli. If Metaxas was alive, they should have known about it. But someone up the chain had countermanded that order, and he’d only learned about Metaxas being alive and in DC that night. It had almost been too late, and Jack was still fucking pissed that someone had put Gina in danger like that.
If he ever found out who it was, he’d consider putting a bullet in their brain as well. But so far, the identity of that person remained hidden behind red tape. It had put a damper on Mendez’s attitude for a while now. Stavros Metaxas had been an arms dealer, but he’d hidden that business behind a legitimate shipping business, just as his brother had done. And he’d made friends in Washington, though right now no one was admitting to that friendship. And why would they? The man had been in the midst of a red-hot deal to sell arms to terrorists.
“There’s intel from Qu’rim,” Mendez said, and everyone perked up. “Someone’s pulling the strings in the Freedom Force again.”
“Fuck,” Kev said, shooting a glance toward his wife, who was laughing with the other women. After all Lucky had gone through to put an end to those fuckers, Jack didn’t blame him. “Y’all should have let me kill the motherfucker when we had the chance.”
“It’s not Al Ahmad. He’s on a rock with no comm in or out that’s not monitored. It’s someone else.” Mendez took a sip of his beer. “Nothing major yet, but I think we aren’t quite done with them after all.”
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