Page 21 of Oliver

I swallowed hard. “Tell me about your son. About Olly.”

That surprised him. His face softened. “He’s a wild little thing. Obsessed with dinosaurs and baseball. Smart. Sweet. Gets in trouble for talking too much in class.”

I smiled. “He sounds amazing.”

“He is.” His voice dipped lower. “He’s why I don’t stay away for more than a couple of weeks. I couldn’t keep going overseas and miss him growing up.”

“And Dana, tell me about his mommy?”

“She was already sick when she brought him to me. She didn’t want him to see her die. She knew I’d protect him.” He paused. “I brought her to my house so she had someone with her when she died. Not because we were still in love, but because noone should have to die alone. Plus, she was able to have Olly with her for a couple more months.”

My throat tightened. “You really are a protector, aren’t you?”

He held my gaze. “Only for the ones who matter.”

The words settled in my chest like something solid. Something dangerous. Something I wanted in my life.

I had to be careful; if I wasn’t careful, I could fall for this man and his beautiful eyes. His kind heart, even though he could kill someone at the blink of an eye. But only if he had to.

I could fall hard for this man, who was my protector.

11

Oliver

River was already waiting when I got to the war room, as we nicknamed it. Sean had just finished putting it all together. It was his idea to call it the war room.

Screens lined the walls—security footage, satellite maps, encrypted communications. Cyclone was hunched over a laptop, and Tag stood at the window, arms crossed, watching the street below.

“She’s remembering,” I said.

River looked up. “What did she see?”

“A burner phone at her training facility. A video on it. It looked like a military operation, possibly an arms exchange. She didn’t recognize the men, but she caught enough to trigger the takedown.”

Cyclone cursed under his breath. “They pulled her for aglimpse?”

“Means whatever she saw was real,” River said grimly.

“And dangerous,” I added. She might remember more. Should we call in the government?

“Not until we find out who’s involved.”

“Does she remember faces?” Cyclone asked.

“Not yet. Just that one of them had a scar above his brow, and we found out that someone deleted security footage from the gym the day she vanished.”

River rubbed his jaw. “Alright. Let’s start cross-checking military personnel and known arms traffickers with that detail. And bring in Jason Blake.”

“Already called him,” I said. “He’s flying in now.”

Cyclone whistled. “That’s going to be a tense reunion.”

Jason Blake was a legend. Former Tier One SEAL. Built like a warhammer. Rumor was, he’d once taken down a drug cartel compound with a busted radio and a pocketknife.

He was also Emery’s father.

And the second he found out someone had touched his daughter, I was willing to bet hell wouldn’t be hot enough for whoever was responsible.

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