Page 81 of Not Ready

“No,” he says vehemently.

“And the other stuff you found…” My eyes pop open as I stare at his dark beard. “Is there anything I need to know? Something that would give me a benefit to be aware of?”

“I don’t think so. You already know he’s stalking you.”

I grimace at the word stalking, but that’s exactly what it is. “I think I’d like to not have to carry the burden of knowing the details.”

“Good,” he says, nodding against the top of my head. “Let me carry that for you.”

Wow, hearing him say that makes my heart flutter. It’s so strange to actually have other people I can count on. I haven’t had that since my mom died. Since before that, even. It makes me more emotional than I already was. My arms have been basically trapped between us, but I link them under his and hug him as well as I can.

“Thank you.”

“All right, let’s head upstairs.” He wraps his forearm under my ass and stands. “We’ll snuggle in your bed. Once Bishop gets back, he’ll be complaining that all he can smell is my armpit funk.” He chuckles. “You’ll have to point out which one is his favorite pillow.”

I snort a laugh.

But damn, I really do appreciate him trying to lighten the mood and take my mind off things.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Bishop

Why the hell does the drive home always feel like it takes twice as long as the drive to get wherever you’re going? I’m not at the level of feral I was when Vale first left DC, but my impulses need to put eyes on her.

It’s that simple.

I’m not going to relax until she’s in my arms. She’s probably going to be super pissed when she sees me, but I’m sure she’ll settle down pretty quickly.

I park my truck haphazardly in the driveway, noting Mercy’s car isn’t here. He’s likely still over at the Assurance building.

Our operation wasn’t the only one going down simultaneously. There are a couple others still playing out on the west coast.

Luckily, I’ve played my part, and I’m off for the next four months or so.

Which is highly unrealistic, but I’m not going away on any missions.

I’ll work in the office here if they need me.

I stomp up the steps into the house and aim for the stairs to head to the second floor.

Alvarez didn’t pop on any of the initial sweeps because he shaved his beard and his head. He knew he’d been spotted, and I’m a little worried about how he found out, but that’s a problem for another day.

I’m genuinely hoping the graze to my shoulder was so light that she didn’t pick it up in the bond.

It’s also close to four in the morning.

Hopefully, she’s asleep, and that muted any crossover.

I did promise I wouldn’t put myself in the line of fire, but that motherfucker was too close to my position to not take a crack at him.

The downside is that there will be no interrogating Dante Alvarez, which Ranger is going to be exceptionally pissed about. He had a nice spot picked out for him in his basement of wonders. It would’ve been nice to extract as much information as possible, but it was him or me.

I told Vale I’d make it back to her in one piece, and I was goddamn going to keep my word.

I take the stairs two at a time and aim for the primary bedroom. I had no choice but to shower before leaving Boston. It was the perfect opportunity to have one of the guys patch me up. Honestly, it’s a scratch, but I am worried it’ll upset her.

I yank my T-shirt off with a hand at the back of my neck, and my trapezius twinges painfully.

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