Page 4 of Twister

“Rosa Montoya. I work with Astraea.”

“Thank you for coming, and—” she said grudgingly, waving her hand around. “—for the help.”

“I wanted to mention to you that if you need additional help, my sister Maria would be available for housework, cooking, and being here for the boys.”

Quinn took a hard breath, her chin lifting, showing him that gutsy, defiant spirit that never failed to impress him. His jaw tightened in growing aggravation. All of a sudden, he was having a hard time not getting tied up in knots on so many levels. His chest felt tight. She said, “Can I speak with you privately?”

“We should get going,” Easy said, walking up to her and, without asking, hugging her tightly. “I’m glad you’re okay.” One by one, they all hugged her.

When it was Twister’s turn, he said, “I’ll wait for you outside, Dagger.” Then he looked pointedly at Quinn. “Get some rest, lady.”

After the door closed behind them, he said, “There’s fresh coffee in the pot.”

He expected she was going to dress him down. He was ready for it, and he was going to counter her every step of the way.

Squaring her shoulders, she lifted her chin and marched over to the cupboard, yanked a mug off a shelf, slammed it on the counter, and slopped coffee into it.

He always believed that a good offense was better than a defense. When she opened her mouth, he said, “Sit down, Quinn.”

He hadn’t ever used that tone with her, and her head came up and she looked at him as if he’d slapped her. Her eyes flashed hot, but he gave her a warning look. “Quinn,” he said, then pulled out a chair. Sit.”

She mustered some attitude and gave him a sour look, but she did sit down, plunking her mug on the table.

“I can save you some breath. I don’t need your help.”

He laughed without mirth.

“What’s so funny?”

“You. You’re being unnecessarily stubborn. This house was a wreck, and you scared the hell out of your sons and me and the guys for good measure. Running yourself ragged isn’t doing any good for anyone. Not you, not your kids. Take Maria’s offer, unless you need finan?—”

“No,” she snapped. “I have plenty of money.”

“Maria doesn’t have any ties to Brian’s death.”

She gasped softly, her hands curling around the mug, and her reaction tore through him.

“She’s a lovely, capable, and compassionate woman. She’s bored out of her skull. Her son, Hugo, is in high school and self-sufficient.”

He watched her try to recover, not wanting to give an inch. Clearly struggling with a whole bunch of emotions, she tipped her head back, wrestling with her choices. Dagger watched her, his gut in a knot, waiting for her answer. “Okay, you made your point. Leave me Maria’s number.”

Satisfied, he turned and started for the door, feelings of genuine affection and respect rolling through him. By the time he hit the front door, he was floored, and as he stepped out onto the porch, the realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

He had feelings for Quinn—strong and unbreakable feelings of attraction that went beyond the platonic.

Oh fuck, he couldn’t be falling for his brother’s wife.

Somewhere over theSouth China Sea

High Altitude, Low Opening. Insertion and extraction.

The A part of the SEAL acronym stood for air—their bread and butter.

“ETA ten minutes.”

Twister nodded and checked his watch, then his oxygen, the familiar feel of his throat mic snug. He pulled the thermal hood down over his head, the throat mic and the mask, shifting the oval eye holes into place before tucking the free edge in the high neck of his black jumpsuit.

Two days after their intervention with Brian’s widow, they’d been tagged with a mission off the coast of China. The USwanted to see what was going on with a buildup of warships. It was purely surveillance, but if they were caught in Chinese territorial waters or on Chinese soil, it would be a huge international incident and grounds for war. So, the simple thing was…don’t get caught.

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