Page 93 of Dangerous Devotion

She offered him a smile that was much brighter than any he’d seen since he blew the fucking door off that storage unit to get to her. He was only glad that because she’d been sitting so far back against the wall so when the metal peeled back like a can of sardines, she wasn’t hit by any shrapnel.

Suddenly, the entryway of the mansion flooded with his teammates. They were all there, bumping knuckles with Cobra and Mason and talking over each other.

Like old times. Everything was the same.

Except it wasn’t. Henner was different.

When Con emerged from the group and headed toward Henner, he reached out and slipped an arm around May, anchoring her to his side.

Con gave them a single look that took in everything about the moment and the gesture. He studied Henner.

“See you got more than you bargained for.”

“You could say that.”

Con smirked as if he’d known what would happen all along.

At that moment, Sophie rushed over to welcome them, hugging May and then Henner.

She fussed over May for a minute, then May turned to him. “I’m going to take my bag upstairs and get cleaned up.”

He nodded and let her take a step away. Catching her by the hand, he pulled her back to press a gentle kiss to her lips.

She softened at the caress and melted into him for a moment before she withdrew and went off with Sophie.

Henner faced his CO once more, waiting for it.

“So, Chickie. What do we have in common?”

Henner cocked his brow. “Besides being reckless and breaking rules?”

He chuckled. “I prefer determined and finding loopholes.” He clapped Henner on the back, and they moved off with the group, talking and laughing over who was firing up the outdoor pizza oven.

They gathered in the kitchen, and one of the guys started pulling food from the fridge to make pizzas.

When they grabbed items and carried them to the outdoor kitchen, Henner found himself alone with Cobra.

The way his friend stood at the expansive window, staring out at the manicured lawn, sent a flicker of worry through him.

Slowly, he edged up to him, careful not to move too fast and set him off in case he was having one of his moments. The ones where he relived the moments after Commander Barrett sat him down and told him that the Echo team had died…and theonly reason Cobra lived was because he was sidelined due to an injury.

The man didn’t move as Henner stepped up beside him. Together, they stared at the manicured lawn that shouldn’t be part of a military base and shockingly was.

“You doin’ okay, man?” Henner asked finally.

He didn’t react to the question at first. Not even blinking. After a long minute, he rubbed a finger over his upper lip. “What Simpson did…”

Henner looked at him harder. “It wasn’t easy to see. We all need to talk to someone about it.”

“Yeah. It was probably his only option, you know? Cipher would have killed him.”

“You’re right. He would have.”

“It won’t be easy on his family.”

“No.” His stomach clenched to think of how Simpson’s family had to live with his choices now.

“I never want to end up that way.” He turned to Henner, eyes focusing at last. “I was spared that day Echo went down in that chopper crash for a reason. When I heard, I swore I wasn’t going to waste my skills. I was going to find the bastard who was responsible for their deaths.”

---