Page 50 of Stitch & Steel
Edge hollered from a ridge. “We’re clear!”
I didn’t believe him.
The sun was melting into the horizon, turning the sky red and gold—like it was bleeding out too. The kind of sunset that should’ve belonged to a couple tangled in sheets, limbs sweaty, hearts steady.
Instead, I was crouched behind blood-stained steel, my Glock still hot, lungs burning.
And all I could think about… was Bella.
Not the cartel girl who’d tried to drag me behind the bar at the border pub last night. Not the Vegas-groomed sweetbutt flashing her tits in exchange for five minutes of protection. Not the skinny club girl who’d whispered she liked men with scars and pointed at my chest like a menu.
Nope.
Bella Grace.
Tough and stubborn. All flannel and fire. The girl who weeded gardens with dirt under her fingernails and still looked like heaven on earth.
She was probably curled up on the porch with Scout, her bare feet up on the railing, sipping sweet tea while the stars blinked on overhead. Maybe Gran was telling one of her stories. Maybe Bella was laughing—eyes crinkled, nose scrunched.
I missed her laugh like I missed sleep. Like I missedpeace.
“Logan!” Wrench dropped beside me, panting. “Intel was wrong. This crew wasn’t just mules. They were armed to the teeth. We almost walked into a f***in’ grave.”
“I noticed,” I muttered.
“You good?”
“I’m fine.”
Truth was, I wasn’t. Not in the ways that counted.
Every fight used to be just another tally on the board. A way to bleed out the rage. But now? Every time I pulled the trigger, all I could think about wasgetting home. To her.
To that wildflower girl who told me no the first time I offered her iced tea. To the same woman who kissed me like she meant it and made me feel like maybe I wasn’t just a war dog built for mayhem.
Bella changed the game.
She made me crave more than blood and bullets.
She made me want a future.
I wiped my face with a dirty bandana, stood, and scanned the ridge.
We were still breathing. Barely.
“Let’s clear the site,” I ordered, voice hoarse. “And get ready to ride out at dawn.”
Wrench frowned. “We staying the night?”
“Just long enough to refuel and reload.”
Because come morning, I’d be heading back to the only place that mattered.
Back to the mountains.
Back to the cabin.
Back toher.
