Page 31 of Danger Close
“Baby, Iamthe firefight.”There was no missing the confidence in the man’s tone.
“Okay, so this sounds like a plan coming together,” Bateman said from the corner, arms folded.“This isn’t a snatch-and-run.We do this smart.We do it fast.We do it clean.”
Ezra’s voice was quiet steel.“We’re not leaving her behind.”
He looked at Ricky—and it was like staring into open flame.Grief, guilt, rage.All of it wrapped in those dark, defiant eyes.
And under it, something else.Something just for him.
“This isn’t just about intel anymore,” Marsh said.“It’s about Van.His legacy.It’s about all of us.”
Ricky nodded, his voice soft but certain.“It’s family.We bring her home.”
Bateman stood up.“Kai, you, Marsh, Hogan, and I need to work out the logistics of what we need to do.Dale?”
“Sir?”Dale asked.You can take the man out of the military, but you can’t take the military out of the man.
“You’re on gear—get everything ready.If I know Marsh, he already has the list together and will flick it to your phone.”He glanced at Marsh and got a nod.“And you two,” Bateman waved his hand between Ricky and Ezra.“You two need to sort whatever shit out that exists between you.This op is too fucking important for you two to be caught in a fucking pissing contest.”
No one argued.
****
Ezra had to get outof that room.He shoved back from the table hard enough to rattle a coffee mug and stalked out of the conference room like the air was choking him.
Ricky was on his heels instantly.
“Ezra!”he called, tone sharp.“Come on—don’t do this again.”
Ezra didn’t stop.Not until he reached the door to the lounge of Ricky’s suite.
He slammed the door open and stepped inside.
Ricky followed and kicked it shut behind him.
Ezra turned on him, eyes already glowing with fury and something dangerously close to heartbreak.“Why does it have to be you?”
Ricky blinked.“Because I can do it.Because I know how to get in and out without getting caught.Because I’ve done this before, and it’s not about proving anything—”
“No!”Ezra snapped.“It’s about you walking into something I can’t protect you from.And if something happens to you—if they take you—I won’t get that chance again.”
Ricky’s breath caught.“Ezra—”
“I don’t want you hurt, damn it!”Ezra shouted.“I don’t want you bleeding for someone else’s ghosts.I don’t want you dying for mine.”
Ricky moved closer, voice lower now, intense.“This is what I do.It’s what I’ve always done.And this mission isn’t yours to gatekeep.We all lost Van.We all want his daughter safe.You don’t get to make this just about you.”
Ezra didn’t answer.His jaw worked, eyes dark and wet and blazing with something rawer than anger.Fuck Ricky and his logic.
Then he turned sharply and stormed toward the bedroom.Ricky followed, slower this time, already knowing the pattern.
Ezra flung the bedroom door open and crossed to the far wall, pacing like he wanted to punch something but didn’t know what.
“You keep walking away from me,” Ricky said, his voice gravel-soft.
Ezra turned, slow and burning.“And you keep following.”
The silence stretched—simmered—until it cracked open between them.
