Talon: 0400 and wide awake. Mission adrenaline is wearing off slowly.
He'd never shared this part with anyone—the aftermath, the way success could feel hollow sometimes, the questions that surfaced when the immediate danger was over.
Riley: Want to talk about it?
No judgment, no demands for details he couldn't share, just an offer to listen. When had anyone other than family and his team ever offered him that kind of unconditional support? Then again, when had he ever let anyone close enough to offer it? That was probably the better question.
Talon: Can't give details, but we got the bad guys, and everyone came home.
Riley: That's what matters.
Simple, true, grounding. She had this way of cutting through his complicated feelings to the core truth.
Talon: Is it weird that I worry you think less of me for what I do?
The question came from a place of vulnerability he rarely accessed. But Riley made him want to be honest about his fears, his doubts, the parts of himself he usually kept locked away.
Riley: Talon, you saved my life. You save people. Why would I think less of you?
Because the world was complicated, because good outcomes sometimes required difficult choices, because not everyone understood that sometimes violence was the only answer to ward off greater violence.
Talon: Sometimes the world seems very dark from where I sit.
Riley: Then focus on the light. Focus on the people you've helped. Focus on the good that has come from the darkness because of where you sit.
Focus on the light.She was the light. Had been since the day he'd found her. Her recovery, herstrength, her determination to heal … Yeah, all of it was proof that his work mattered.
Talon: Then I’ll focus on you.
Riley: If that helps, I’d be honored.
Talon: Yeah, it does.
More than she could possibly know. She was his reminder that there was goodness in the world worth protecting, worth fighting for. She was his reason to keep going when the darkness threatened to swallow everything else. And she didn’t know it. More and more, he’d been telling himself he needed to tell her. Needed to let her know how important she’d become.
August
Talon was in his barracks room, trying to focus on mission prep, when Riley's text arrived. The words on the screen made his world tilt sideways.
Riley: Went on a date tonight.
The words hit him like a physical blow. Fuck him standing. Shit. Son of a bitch. Motherfucking hell. Of course, she was dating. Because he was a dipshit and hadn’t told her that he cared for her. She wasbeautiful, intelligent, funny—why wouldn't she be dating? Motherfucker. Damn it. The thought of her with someone else made his chest tight with jealousy.
Talon: Oh.
Like that was an adequate response to news that felt like a punch to the gut. It was all he could fucking muster.
Riley: It was terrible.
Relief flooded through him so fast it was embarrassing. The date was terrible. She wasn't falling for someone else, wasn't moving on to a life that didn't include him. He typed,Thank God, then erased it. Typed,Fuck yeah, then erased that, too. Taking a breath, he brought his thoughts under control. Finally, he typed a response he could send.
Talon: I'm sorry to hear that.
Was he sorry? Nope. Not at all. He was lying through his teeth, lying through the text, lying like a big ugly fucking dog that wanted no one but himself around her.
Riley: Are you though?
Fuck.She could read him even through text messages.There was no point in lying to her—she saw through him too clearly.
