Success by any reasonable measure. Criminals exposed and environmental catastrophes averted.
So, why did she still feel hollow? She smiled. Easy, because she hadn’t been able to share it with Talon yet.
She watched the heron strike with fascinating precision and come up with a fish that flashed silver in the dying light. The cabin Talon had borrowed from a cousin was exactly what she needed to decompress.
The whirlwind debrief in DC had lasted another week after she’d returned. Rooms full of federal prosecutors, international regulators, and corporate attorneys who spoke in acronyms and treated her discoveries like line items in a quarterly report had interrogated her relentlessly. She'd handed over every detail of the Bolivian and Indonesian diversions. On the sidelines after that, she’d watched her father's criminal empire be dissected with the care of a forensic scientist conducting an autopsy. Every section of the company was pulled apart and examined. Gruesome, but necessary.
The board was still in cleanup mode, implementing the kind of compliance review that would keep her and environmental lawyers employed for years. Stock prices had recovered from the initial scandal, and the public relations arm had spun thewhole affair as evidence of the company's commitment to transparency. Her reputation had been elevated to something approaching legend among ESG professionals.
But for once—finally—none of that was on her desk.
Her phone buzzed against the porch railing. She didn’t want to answer it. She was on vacation and had made that clear. She didn’t have to deal with debriefings or someone somewhere who needed something from her expertise in corporate malfeasance. Riley glanced at the screen, saw a number she recognized from the compliance review team, and deliberately turned the device face down against the weathered wood.
Not today.Today, I exist for no one but myself and Talon.
The sound of tires on gravel pulled her attention toward the tree line that separated the cabin from the winding dirt road she'd spent twenty minutes trying to find the first time she'd made this drive. An unfamiliar dark-green pickup truck emerged from the shadows, dust trailing behind it like smoke in the golden light, and Riley felt her pulse kick into a rhythm that had nothing to do with caffeine or theleftover adrenaline from months of high-stakes investigation.
He's early, glancing at her watch and feeling a smile tug at the corners of her mouth despite her best efforts to maintain some semblance of dignified composure.He said he wouldn't be here until after dark.
Talon stepped out of the truck with the same fluid economy of movement that had been constant since she saw him at the hospital. Even in civilian clothes, faded jeans, and a worn gray t-shirt that had seen better days, something about the way he carried himself marked him as different from other men. The controlled stillness of someone accustomed to reacting immediately and even the subtle vigilance that never quite switched off. She was sure he wasn’t conscious of the confidence he exuded. Even on leave and dressed for relaxation, he looked exactly like what he was. A professional operator who had learned to carry the heavy responsibility of his job as naturally as other people carried car keys.
"You're early," Riley called across the yard, though the grin spreading across her face probably undermined any attempt at playing it cool.
Talon's mouth curved in response. It wasn’t quite a smile, but something warmer and more intimatethat was reserved exclusively for her. "Seems that if you ask real nice, Guardian can find a faster route to the States," he said, crossing the yard in long strides that covered ground with surprising speed. "I didn’t figure you’d mind too much."
He dropped the duffel by the porch steps, then vaulted up onto the deck with the kind of effortless athleticism that made Riley's breath catch in her throat.
Up close, she could see the subtle signs of the last three months. A thin scar along his jaw that hadn't been there before. A new trainee had had a seizure, and while trying to control him so he wouldn’t injure himself further, a board caught Talon and sliced through his skin.
He looks tired,she realized, seeing past the professional competence to the man underneath.Tired in the way that sleep can't fix. But I can.
His eyes swept over her with the kind of comprehensive attention she'd learned to associate with his immense concentration. There was nothing clinical about the way his gaze lingered on her face, her hair, and the casual clothes that marked this as different from every other time they'd been together.
"Missed you," he said, the words simple and honest and delivered with the kind of matter-of-factcertainty that had made her fall in love with him in the first place.
Riley stepped into his space without hesitation. The familiar scent of him—dust and leather and the faint metallic smell of gun oil that clung to his clothes even when he wasn't carrying a weapon—cut through months of distance. She instantly forgot the bureaucratic meetings and lonely hotel rooms because they didn’t matter anymore. Nothing mattered but being with the man she loved.
"Missed you, too," she said, the admission feeling like a dam breaking. "More than I know how to explain."
His hand settled on her hip with the kind of possessive gentleness that sent warmth spreading through her entire body, pulling her closer until there was no space between them, until she could feel the steady rhythm of his heartbeat against her chest.
"How was the debrief?" he asked, his voice carrying the kind emotion that meant he understood exactly what she'd been through during those endless sessions with federal prosecutors and international regulators.
Riley gave a half-laugh that held more exhaustion than humor. "Bureaucratic beyond belief. Endlessquestions, endless forms, endless meetings with people who wanted to examine every detail of three months' worth of investigation into sound bites suitable for congressional testimony."
She leaned into his solid warmth, feeling the muscles in her neck that had been tense for weeks finally beginning to unknot.
"But it's done," she continued, the relief in her voice surprising her with its intensity. "Every loose end tied up, every question answered, every piece of evidence properly documented and filed. My God, I needed this time. I needed you here. Is the team okay with you being away for three weeks?"
"They’re fine. My cousin Reece and his team are on-site, too. They’ll be a constant at the training site, although they’ll rotate in and out," Talon said, and there was something in his voice, a bit of pride when he mentioned his team and his cousin’s arrival at the training site.
“Training cadre housing has already started. We’ll have a place at the mining site and at the training site.”
“Guardian is okay disclosing the location to me?”
“The government has declassified the location, so it isn’t an issue.” He leaned down and kissed her. “The few miles between our locations is manageable.”
Riley tilted her head back to study his face, reading the subtle signs of strain around his eyes. "And you? How are you?"
