Page 91 of Operation Heartbeat

“I meant what I said back there. I want everyone to know that I’m in love with you.”

“Jesus, Sophie. I was so fucking scared I’d lost you. I can’t lose you.”

“I don’t want to be your coworker. I want to be your partner.”

“Professor, forget what I said before. I was stupid not to come right out and admit how I feel about you. I’m not going to let you go.”

“But the rules—”

“To hell with the rules. The other team broke them. I can too, goddammit.” He leaned in and very tenderly brushed his lips over hers. A rough shudder rolled through her. She wanted nothing more than to throw herself at him, to strip off her clothes and find the nearest bed. But she felt pretty battered.

When he lifted his head, their gazes held. After that, he did strip her and then himself so he could assist her in the shower. She let the warm water pour over her, easing some of her aches and pains.

After he helped her dry off and dress in one of his T-shirts and a pair of shorts that were much too big and hung halfwaydown her shins, he took her hands. He rubbed his thumbs over her knuckles.

“Think you can talk now? It’s important that it’s fresh in your mind.”

She nodded. “I’m ready.”

Just minutes later, Sophie was seated in the living room around the coffee table. Only this time, all the maps and devices had been removed. The men all gathered around, listening as she began to speak about what happened beginning with the moment that Con walked out of that hotel room.

When she got to the part where she was forced to speak to the man calling himself Cipher, she could have heard a pin drop for how silent the men were.

“Did you happen to see a contact name or number on the phone?” Con asked.

“I wasn’t holding the phone. I was tied up, remember? My captor held the phone to my ear.”

“Did you recognize the voice?”

“No. I’ve never heard it before.”

“Could you tell how old he was?”

She considered the question. “He wasn’t young or old. Everyone in the middle sounds the same. All I know is that this man is angry. I heard it in his voice. I sensed it when he talked. He has a drive for vengeance that he didn’t explain to me, but it’s got to be revealed in some of those photos and cryptograms. If you’ll just get me to a computer—”

Con gripped her hand. “No. That’s all we need for now.” He turned his head and looked at Henner sitting feet away. “Relay all that to Barrett. I’m taking Sophie to bed.”

EPILOGUE

Con never viewed any one place as a home base. He’d been stationed all around the world and fought in the farthest corners of almost every continent. But when he and the team, along with Sophie, rolled up to the expansive home down the Jersey shore, it felt shockingly like a homecoming.

Reaching over, he took Sophie’s hand. She looked at him, a soft smile gracing her full lips, and squeezed his hand.

Having her back on US soil sent a ripple of relief through him. But he knew it would only last until she finished working on those cryptograms. Even though they’d declared their love for each other, no plans were made. At the rate she could decipher those puzzles, he had weeks with her. A month, tops.

Then she’d return to Princeton, and he would go wherever he was sent.

The guys piled out of the two SUVs that had been waiting for them at the airstrip. He climbed out more slowly, reluctant to begin this chapter of his time with Sophie. The final chapter.

Yeah, he loved her. He wanted to spend his fucking life with her. He just couldn’t see how to make things work. Long-distance relationships never panned out. He knew plenty of military men who attempted it and failed. His life was even more difficult. Hell, according to every record the government had on file, he wasn’t even alive.

He reached through the door for Sophie’s hand. She slipped hers into his. The clasp of her smooth, cool fingers shouldn’t make a hard man like him feel so out of his element, but it did.

She planted her boots on the paved driveway and turned to face the mansion. “God, it’s good to see this place. Don’t you agree?”

Why was his chest suddenly tight?

“Yeah,” he said gruffly. “Come on. Let’s get you settled in.”

---