Page 3 of Desperate Actions

Some say you never really leave the battlefield. I don’t know if that’s true, but I know this—violence doesn’t own me anymore.

I know how to temper my mind, how to separate the man I was from the man I need to be now.

Leaving Aella behind?

Staying away from her?

That was the hardest thing I ever did.

But now I’m back.

So is she.

And this time?

I’m going to claim what’s mine. She’s finally old enough, and I’ve had enough waiting.

For years, Aella was this ghost, my very own phantom limb, haunting my every thought. Taking up space rent free in the jumble of my mind.

The men who raised me, my father and uncles, had a history with obsessive behavior when it came to their wives, and I had a feeling I was cut from the same cloth.

It made sense, right?

Even now, those thoughts swirled around my head as I grip the leather armrest of my seat in the private jet.

The engine hums beneath me, my blood buzzing with something close to anticipation.

The girls—my sisters, cousins, honorary and not—are in the back, giggling over drinks, Aella tucked right in the middle of them.

We’re headed to Vegas of all places.

Of fucking course we are.

I wonder if I’ll make it through this weekend without starting a war with my own family.

See, I know her father. Hell, I even called him uncle when I was a kid.

We aren’t related, but I know how protective he is of his daughter.

I’ve been waiting for years for the opportunity to make Aella mine. Yeah, I tried to resist, but it’s no good.

I can’t hold back any longer.

See, Aella is my missing piece. My phantom limb.

But she’s not out of reach anymore.

And I don’t think I have it in me to walk away, even if I’m too fucked up for a woman like her.

Chapter 1-Sammy

Flying to Vegas is nothing new. We’ve done it as a group dozens of times over the years, though admittedly, I’ve been sort of absent as of late.

Working dark ops is dicey at the best of times, but I survived. And I have no intention of leaving again.

This time we are celebrating Aella’s graduation from grad school. She earned her MBA, and this trip is a to toast her success.

She’s always been brilliant, but I know how much harder it’s been for her.

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