Page 105 of Sully

Sure, things were new. But I already felt closer to these women than I felt to anyone, save for Courtney and Sully, in my whole life.

As much as a part of me was a little upset with Sully for abandoning me without warning, the other part was pleased to find that I could interact with the girls without relying on him like a human security blanket.

I stayed just like that, listening to the girls chat about everything from what they were going to do when they were free again to ranking all the hottest guys in Navesink Bank.

Their voices eventually became a lullaby that had me falling into an impossibly deep sleep.

And when I woke up, there he was.

Waiting for me.

“Ready to go home?” he asked, fingers brushing my hair behind my ear.

“With you?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Then yes.”

Forever and ever, if I had any say in the matter.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Sully

“You’re sure?” Fallon asked as I slipped a holster onto my ankle.

“Unless you’d rather keep them here,” I said.

“Callow has more experience. Dezi is wilder…”

“Callow and Dezi have women and kids at home.”

“You could take Croft too.”

“No. I don’t want to take two brothers,” I said, looking over at Rune, who was suiting up for the mission alongside Perish.

“Sull,” Fallon said, voice serious. “You’re talking like this is a suicide mission. I gotta know your head is in an alright place.”

“It’s not a great place,” I admitted, unbuttoning my Hawaiian shirt and setting it on the bar so I could slip a waist holster on as well. And, you know, not be seen from half a mile away.

“Why?” Fallon asked. “This man tried to kill you. Twice. He almost killed Bonnie…”

“Bonnie is the only reason I’m not just calling in the police with a tip about the bombs.”

“No, Sull,” Fallon said, shaking his head. “You’re also doing this because you have to. Because he’s putting your life and the lives of your brothers at risk. Because I am not going to let this fuck keep breathing and keep tormenting us. I’ve got women andchildren hiding up at Hailstorm. We’re doing round-the-clock full-staffed guard shifts not because of some threat from a rival organization, but because of some fucking guy with a grudge.”

“His brother died. Under my command.”

“Listen, I’m not gonna claim to know that life. But I do know a thing or two about the weight of leadership. I know what it means to have the lives of men you care about on your back. And what kind of damage there can be for making a bad decision.

“Every time I send you guys out on a drop, I know something could go sideways. Someone could die. And I can only imagine the weight you’ve been carrying about that last mission. But at the end of the day, that’s the life. Those are the risks.

“And it’s normal for the families left behind to grieve, to be upset, or even to be pissed the fuck off. It’s not normal for them to track someone down, terrorize them, and try to kill them.”

“I recognize that.”

“Then what’s the conflict?”

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