"I watched you today," he said quietly. "Training with Tank. Shooting with Irish. Talking to Jake on the roof."
"Stalker."
"Protective." His hands found my thighs, squeezed gently. "You're incredible, you know that? You walked into this world a week ago, and you've already become essential to it."
"I'm just trying to keep up."
"You're doing more than that." He rose, pushed me back onto the mattress, settled his weight over me. "You're making us better. Makingmebetter."
"Axel—"
"Let me say this." His grey eyes burned into mine. "Whatever happens in the next few days—if things go wrong, if we don't make it—I need you to know that meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me."
My chest tightened. "We're going to make it."
"Probably. But if we don't—" He kissed me, soft and desperate. "I love you, Kai."
The words hit me like a wave. We hadn't said it. Hadn't even danced around it. But here it was, raw and real.
"I love you too," I whispered back. His smile was sunrise breaking through clouds. He kissed me again—deeper, hungrier—and I let myself fall into it. Into him.
He'd said he loved me. By this time tomorrow, I'd know if we'd live long enough to mean it.
12
VENOM
Morning light filtered through the clubhouse windows, soft and golden, at odds with the tension coiled in every corner.
I woke tangled with Axel, his arm heavy across my waist, his breath warm against my neck. For a moment, I let myself pretend we were normal. Just two people in love, waking up together, nothing to fear but burned coffee and Monday morning traffic.
Then I heard the distant clatter of weapons being checked, and reality came crashing back. "Stop thinking so loud," Axel murmured against my hair.
"Sorry."
"Don't be sorry. Just come here." He pulled me closer, pressed a kiss to my temple. "Five more minutes."
"We should get up."
"Five minutes won't change anything." His hand slid down my side, possessive and warm. "Let me have this."
I gave him ten.
Breakfast was chaos in the best possible way. Maria had commandeered the kitchen, turning out enough food to feed an army—which, I supposed, was exactly what we were now. Eggs, bacon, pancakes, fresh fruit that must have cost a fortune. The smell alone was enough to drag even the most reluctant soldiers from their bunks.
I found myself wedged between Jake and Irish at the long common room table, plate piled high, listening to stories I could barely follow.
"—so there I am, ass-naked in the middle of the Belfast docks, holding nothing but a flare gun and my dignity?—"
"You have no dignity," Declan interrupted, stealing bacon from Irish's plate. "I've seen the photos."
"Those photos were supposed to beprivate?—"
"Nothing's private when you leave your phone unlocked, love."
The table erupted in laughter. Even Tank cracked a smile, a rare break in his stoic expression. I caught Tyler watching him from across the room—a quick glance, assessing, before he returned to his conversation with Hawk.
Axel settled beside me, his powerful thigh pressed against mine. He didn't say anything, just started eating, but his presence was a comfort. An anchor in the chaos. "This is nice," I said quietly.
