Page 16 of Maverick's Code

But it doesn't feel wrong. That's the thing that shakes me most. It feels like something clicking into place, something I didn't know was missing until I found it. Like finding a puzzle piece you didn't even realize was lost.

"You okay?" I murmur against her hair, pressing my lips to the back of her neck, tasting the salt of her skin.

She nods, turning slightly to look at me over her shoulder. Her eyes are soft and vulnerable in a way they weren't before.

"Better than okay."

I smile, about to say something equally sappy, when my phone blares from the pile of discarded clothes on the floor. We both jump, the spell broken as the real world comes crashing back.

"Shit," I mutter, reluctantly pulling away from her warmth to grab the device.

Hellfire's name flashes on the screen, and my stomach drops. The raid. I'd almost forgotten there was a world outside this room, outside the bubble we'd created.

Sadie sits up, wrapping her arms around herself as I answer the call. The sight of her - hair tumbling over her shoulders, bruises stark against her skin in the harsh fluorescent light - makes something protective and fierce rise in my chest, and I hope Jake and Marcus are anything but a sad memory of her past.

"Yeah?" I try to keep my voice steady, to not sound like a man who just had the most intense experience of his life.

"It's done," Hellfire's gruff voice comes through the speaker. There's something in his tone I haven't heard before - a finality, a heaviness. "They're both dead. Jake and Marcus."

I freeze, my eyes finding Sadie's. She's watching me intently, trying to read my expression.

"Both of them? You're sure?"

"Affirmative. Jake tried to use Marcus as a shield. Bad move. Bullet went through Marcus and into Jake." Hellfire's voice is clinical, detached. "Clean-up's underway. We found their stash - weapons, cash, and some interesting documents. Looks like Sadie's intel was solid."

I watch as Sadie registers the tension in my posture, the way my knuckles whiten around the phone.

"Any casualties on our side?"

"Crow took a graze to the shoulder. Butcher's got a nasty cut on his arm. Nothing serious." There's a pause. "How's our guest?"

I look at Sadie, naked and beautiful despite the bruises, her hair mussed from my hands, her lips swollen from my kisses. Evidence of what we've just done is written all over her, all over both of us.

"She's fine," I manage, my voice rougher than intended. "Safe."

"Good. Tell her it's over. Jake and Marcus won't hurt anyone ever again." Hellfire sighs, sounding suddenly tired. "We'll be back in thirty. Need to make sure the scene's clean."

"Understood," I reply, my mind racing. Thirty minutes. Time to get dressed, to compose ourselves, and to figure out what happens next.

The call ends, and for a moment, I just stand there, phone in hand, staring at Sadie.

"They're dead," I finally tell her, watching her face carefully for her reaction. "Both of them. Jake and Marcus."

Her reaction isn't what I expect. Instead of relief or satisfaction, her face crumples, and suddenly she's crying - deep, wrenching sobs that shake her entire frame. She lurches forward into my arms, and I catch her, holding her naked body against mine as she breaks down.

"I'm sorry," she gasps between sobs, her face pressed against my chest. "I can't remember the last time I cried. We will never talk about this moment ever again, but I just... I need this."

"It's okay," I murmur, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other wrapped securely around her waist. "Let it out. I've got you."

I don't try to shush her or tell her it's all going to be fine. I just hold her, letting her process whatever storm of emotions is tearing through her. Relief, grief, shock, maybe all of it at once. She's been through hell, and sometimes surviving is when it hits you hardest.

Her tears gradually slow, her breathing steadying against me. When she finally looks up, her eyes are red-rimmed but clearersomehow, like the tears washed away something that had been clouding them.

"What now?" she asks, her voice small but steady.

I brush a strand of damp hair from her cheek. "That's your choice. What do you want to do?"

She takes a deep breath, her gaze dropping for a moment before meeting mine again with surprising determination.

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