“That determination makes you a hero.” Talon sat down beside her and put his arm around her waist, pulling her into him.
“I destroyed my father on live video.I chose justice over family, truth over loyalty, and I'm stillnot sure if that makes me a hero or just another kind of monster.” She leaned back to see him better.
Talon's gaze swept over her face. There was something softer at the edges now, a gentleness that transformed into something more intimate. "You could never be a monster. Your father isn’t one either. He was wrong, and he was greedy. I’ve seen monsters. I’ve helped people track them. He’s small time compared to some of the people in this world.”
As they sat silent for a moment, Riley dropped her head to his shoulder. The faint breeze was still hot, but it was welcomed, nonetheless. “Thank you. That helps put all of this into perspective. I needed it. It’s all I can see or think about right now, and somehow it became … everything. Do you know what I mean?”
“I do. It’s easy to become swamped. But hey, the board was impressed with you. They offered you the CEO position." He chuckled. “That was a surprise.”
Riley nodded, her eyes still fixed on the dark horizon where stars were beginning to emerge like pinpricks in black velvet. "They did. Corner office, executive salary, control over a Fortune 500 company. Everything my father always said I wasn't smart enough or tough enough to handle."
She felt rather than saw Talon shift slightly,moving closer without moving her from where she rested against him.
"And you turned it down."
"Yeah." The acknowledgement came easier than she'd expected. "I meant it when I told them no. I don't want that life. Not the boardrooms or the shareholder meetings or the quarterly earnings calls. Corporate politics involves compromise and the difficult choice between what's right and what's profitable. That's not who I am."
That's who my father is.She shivered asthe ghost of the man’s ambition poked at the edges of her consciousness.And look how that ended for him.
Talon kissed the top of her head. The simple touch sent warmth spreading through her. It was a reminder that she wasn't alone in this strange, unanchored world.
He turned her and put his hands on her neck, rubbing the tight muscles in her shoulders.
“God, that feels so good.”
“I’m glad. What do you think you’ll do, then? Stay with SMH?”
Riley considered the question, watching the tip of her boot dangle and move slightly from the firm pressure of his hands on her neck and shoulders. It was a fair question.
"Field work, definitely," she said finally, the words feeling their way toward truth. "Environmental compliance, social impact assessment, governance oversight. That’s where I belong. Where I can see the actual impact of what the company does, good or bad. But I want to have the authority to do something about it. I may make that part of the condition of staying on after the entire investigation is complete."
She glanced at him, a wry smile touching her mouth. “So, yeah. I think I’ll stay with SMH, doing something that matters.”
He stepped closer, the intensity in his eyes matching the steel in his voice. He dropped down for a kiss. “You’ll stay here, at this site?”
She chuckled. “You must be tired. I said I would.” Sighing, she closed her eyes. “But that will make it harder for us, won’t it?” She didn’t wait for him to answer before she gestured toward the compound around them, at the desert.
"Out here, when I write a report about environmental safety, it's because someone could actually die if we get it wrong. When I flag a compliance issue, it's because real people, workers, communities, and ecosystems will suffer if we ignore it. The work matters in ways I can measure and see and touch." Riley turnedto look at him directly, seeing her own reflection in his dark sunglasses. "Does that sound naive? Idealistic?"
Talon took off his sunglasses and was quiet for a long moment, studying her with the kind of focused attention that made her feel like the most important thing in his life. When he spoke, his voice carried the weight of absolute sincerity. "It sounds like someone who figured out the difference between existing and doing something worthwhile," he said. "That works for me."
Her eyebrow lifted, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth despite the emotional exhaustion that seemed to have settled into her bones so thoroughly that they ached. "It does?"
"It does," Talon said, his voice taking on precision she'd learned to associate with his most serious commitments. He gestured between them, a simple movement that somehow encompassed everything they'd built together over the past year and a half. "And we won’t lose this," he finished.
Something warm and hopeful spread through Riley's chest at the certainty in his voice, the matter-of-fact way he spoke about building a future around their respective commitments to his dangerous work in dangerous places.
"You make it sound simple," she said, and she could hear the hope creeping into her own voice.
Talon's smile was slight but genuine, carrying a rough edge that made her pulse skip in ways that had nothing to do with fear or adrenaline. “No.” He shook his head. “It won’t be simple, but here’s the thing. We’ve been offered a four-year contract to train the SRF here in Burundu. One of the conditions of the agreement is that my team becomes the core cadre.”
“Wait, that means you’ll be here for four years? You won’t be flying around the world?” Her heart started beating hard in her chest. Could it be?
“Right here, with you,” he said, his voice dropping to the intimate level reserved for promises made in their private moments. "I want this to be permanent, Riley. I wantusto be permanent."
Her breath caught in her throat, the words hitting her with the force of something she'd been hoping for without quite admitting it to herself. "We’d be a permanent thing?"
Talon shifted, turning her to face him more directly while his free hand came up to touch her face with a gentleness she loved.
