Page 136 of Possession

My nod is grave, and I wonder what in the hell I’m doing.

But I tell the truth and do my best to put on a brave face. “I can do this. I’d never do anything to put him in danger.”

Cole’s smirk isn’t cocky this time. “I like that. Hell, it must be the romantic in me, because I believe it.”

Micah looks like he wants to put a fist through a wall.

But Tim proves to be a team player. “We need an extraction plan. And then we need an emergency extraction plan. Hell, we might need a plan C extraction plan.”

Brax looks at his watch. “We’ve wasted enough time—I have a meeting. Let’s get this shit done.”

And what happens next blows my mind.

The plotting.

The maneuvering.

The intricate details.

Brax leads it like he’s been planning every aspect in his brain for years. Like these are the final pieces of his puzzle.

And he includes me in all of it with no hesitation.

The longer I sit here and listen, I become overwhelmed and scared.

The responsibility … it’s heavy.

But I take it all in. I study it. And I memorize it.

Because this is no game, and slipping up is not an option. I know what they’ll do to him. If I had to guess, it will be worse than what happened to his brother.

I’ll die before I let that happen.

Two days.

Hell, I lived through the bloodbath of a wedding and being attacked by Nic. Returning to San Diego and acting like nothing has changed should be a walk in the park.

I can do two days if it means living a normal life with Brax Cruz.

* * *

Brax

I don’t doanything without a plan.

Not one fucking thing.

But when I decided to bring Landyn to New York so I could see my mom, I had no idea how it would go. I was hopeful, but I knew there was a chance she’d freak and turn on me, and we’d have to put her into protective custody until I wrapped the case.

I’m cocky enough that I haven’t been afraid of anything since I started this, but the thought of her rejecting the real me was terrifying.

It’s not because I was worried about returning without her. She’s right though—I might as well wave my own red flag in Alamandos’ face. Landyn Alba is a prize made into a shrine that Alamandos put on a pedestal to prove to the underworld what will happen when you play with the Marinos and fuck up.

No one is safe.

But she accepted the real me. Hell, I think she’s happier now than she was. And we have a plan.

She can handle this. I’m confident in the woman who owns me in every way.

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