“When do we meet?”
“Your terms. I’m sending you an address now. She’s safe, by the way.”
A sigh of relief trickled out of him, and he bowed his head. He opened his mouth to thank his uncle, but the line went dead before he could respond.
He stared at the phone for a beat, his mind already racing. At that moment, Con rounded the corner and slowed his pace when he spotted Sinner lowering the phone from his ear. He probably looked as surprised as he felt.
“What’s that about?” Con approached him in measured steps.
“I’d like to put in an official request for a few days off. You guys can make your own pizza while I’m gone.”
Con snorted. “Take the time you need. Make it a real vacation. But a mini one.”
“Copy. And thanks, Con.” They traded a look of understanding, and affection for his brothers-in-arms flooded in. Even if the guys didn’t tell Sinner in plain words, he knew they all had his six…and appreciated that he had theirs.
Sinner stuck out a fist, and Con bumped knuckles with him. Then Sinner tucked his phone in his pocket and went in search of Kennedy.
He found her in the tech room with Dante. They were talking quietly, their heads bent together in that intimate way that Sinner had always noticed but never truly understood until Opal landed in his life.
They looked up at him. “What’s up, bro?” Dante asked.
“I need a little assistance from Kennedy, if you can spare her.”
Dante’s eyes glinted for a moment as he focused on the woman he loved. “I can never spare her. But I suppose I can let her do what she’s best at—helping people.”
Her smile for her significant other was tender as she moved. “What can I do, Sinner?”
“I need a bag packed for Opal in five.”
Her smile transformed to a quick grin. “On it.”
His own bag was already in the back of the SUV he and Opal had ridden back to base in.
“Thanks, Kennedy. I owe you one.”
“Does that mean I can finally have one of those deep-dish pizzas we all know you’ve been denying us?”
“Definitely. Meet me out front with the bag. I gotta find Opal.”
Even though the base wasn’t small by any means, he found her outside on the patio, arms folded, just staring at the pizza oven. As soon as she heard the door open, she turned.
He caught her gaze and held it. A million things passed between them in that glance. He held out a hand. “Come with me.”
Her face went pale. “You’re taking me to a homeless shelter, aren’t you? I’m fired. I knew it. I knew this was coming. I should have—”
He reached for her, running his hands down her arms. “Sweetheart, stop. You’re not fired. I’m trying to get you transferred. But right now, I have a surprise for you.”
She blinked at him like he’d spoken a foreign language, though he’d bet that she knew as many as he did. “I don’t like surprises.”
He smiled. “Trust me on this one.”
Her jaw worked like she was chewing over arguments but she nodded, just once, a simple gesture of trust that hit him harder than any declaration of love ever could. In their hidden worlds filled with secrets…trust didn’t come easy.
They drove to Virginia in comfortable silence, the kind of quiet that came from knowing someone well enough that words weren’t always necessary to communicate what mattered.
Sinner kept one hand on the wheel and the other on Opal’s thigh, tracing lazy circles over the denim of her jeans with his thumb. Every so often, she’d glance at him with questions burning in her eyes, and her lips parted as if she was about to demand answers.
But he’d just shake his head and keep driving, and eventually she’d settle back into her seat with a huff of frustration that made the corner of his mouth kick up.
