Page 100 of Stay for Me

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

“Denver, I—”

“Di, love you, and you know that, but right now, I need to have a talk with my cowboy, yeah?” the Hallow Ranch owner cut me off.

“Let’s get you to bed, Diana.”

My eyes drifted over to Mags.

No.

No, I didn’t want to go to bed. I wanted to finish our conversation. I wanted to hear what he had to say. Still, I kept my mouth closed, grinding my teeth as he walked past Denver to help me off the couch. I wasn’t going to say anything until he moved to lift me into his arms.

“I got it,” I protested. “I made it in here alright.”

His eyes met mine. “I know you did.”

I was in his arms in the next breath, mine latching around his neck. As he walked me back into the hall, I stared at Denver. He said nothing, moving back out onto the porch, moonlight filling the living room, his guarded eyes on me. Mags carried me into the bedroom, his steady breaths doing nothing to calm me down.

“What does he want to talk about?” I asked as he set me on the bed.

“Lie back,” he ordered, not answering my question.

“Mags,” I snapped, putting my hand on his arm.

He tensed, but only for a moment. Then, he was back to tucking me in, pulling the covers over me. “Need you to get some rest, Diana. That’s all you have to do.”

“I asked you a question,” I pressed, my voice cracking.

“And I need you to get some sleep,” he clipped, his eyes hard.

Before I could utter a reply, he was gone, closing the door behind him.

Chapter Twenty

Mags

Years Ago. Unknown Location.

“Youknowwhat?”Grayson,aka Bullet, rumbled from beside me.

I’d been sitting in this same position for the last six hours, my feet having gone numb three hours ago. I didn’t move my head, keeping my gun pointed at the window, my eye in the scope.

“What’s that, Bullet?” I asked, my voice low, trying not to wake the rest our our squadron.

“Someday, we’re going to be happy.”

My neck got tight, and it took everything in me not to look at him. “Who says we’re not happy?”

“Getting my face sliced open gave me a bit of perspective,” he said coolly, as if that wasn’t one of the worst days of both of our lives. Grayson wasn’t supposed to be here with me. He was supposed to be out, honorably discharged, starting the life he’d always wanted back home. Instead, he fought to come back here, telling our commanding officers the job wasn’t done, and truly, it wasn’t.

Now, the leader of the terrorist group who kidnapped him was within our reach, and I was going to be the one to send him straight to hell.

“Be happy when we get this fucker,” I muttered.

“And what about Ashley?” he prodded.

“What about her?”

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