One of his thugs raises a weapon, and Marcus deals with him. I scan the warehouse, but I don’t see Willow.
Movement by a stack of crates in the corner catches my eye, and I race over there, dodging shots from other men.
“Willow!” My heart is pounding, and I try to keep calm and focus like this is any regular mission. but there’s nothing regular about the fear in my heart.
I race into a gap between the crates and follow the sounds until I find her.
She’s cornered and holding a gun in her shaky hands. A man advances toward her. He pulls out a gun, but I get the shot in first, and he slumps forward, collapsing against the crates.
“All clear,” Marcus calls from the front of the warehouse.
Dropping my weapon, I crouch next to Willow. “Are you hurt?”
Her eyes move to mine, and she seems to notice me for the first time.
“Hudson.” Relief floods her face, and she drops the gun. “You came.”
Her body goes limp, and I pull her toward me, engulfing her in my arms. “I’ll always come for you.” I stroke her hair and cheek, needing to touch her, needing to know she’s safe. “Why didn’t you wake me when you got the video of Tyler?”
She turns watery eyes to me. “You would’ve stopped me. I’ve broken about ten different laws today, Hudson. I couldn’t drag you into that.”
I kiss the top of her head and smooth her hair down. “I’d break every law in the state for you, Willow. I thought I’d lost you …”
I can’t finish the thought. If something had happened to her, I couldn’t go on. “I love you, Willow.”
She pulls her head back to look at me, and I can’t tell if she’s surprised by the confession. It’s been bubbling inside me eversince I watched her speed off on her own. Hell, before that. I’ve loved her ever since I set eyes on her.
“I love your wildness and your confidence and the way you surprise me. I’ve never felt like this before, and it scares the shit out of me. When I thought you were gone, I would have torn the city apart looking for you.” Her eyes are wide and a smile plays on her lips, which is so distracting I forget what I’m saying. “… I, just, love you.”
“Even when I don’t do what you tell me to?” She gives me a thin smile, and it’s so good to see on her.
“Especially then.”
I kiss the top of her head and her cheeks and the tips of her fingers.
“You irritate me,” she says. “You tidy all my things away, and you keep everything too clean, and you like rules. But you’re also the most thoughtful man I’ve ever met, and I love you too.”
My lips meet hers, and she sighs into my mouth. I pull my arms tighter around her like I never want to let her go.
There’s a cough behind us, and I break away to find Marcus grinning at us.
“Hate to break up the reunion, but law enforcement’s here, and we’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”
Willow goes pale. “I’m going to get busted for this.”
I help her to her feet. “Not when they see the info we’ve dug up on Mani. And our body cams captured everything. We logged the kidnapping with law enforcement, and the bad guys shot first.”
“Kidnapping?” Her voice wavers.
“Tyler was a kidnapped. You went to help. We arrived just as they pulled guns. It was all self-defense.” Willow leans into me, still shaking from shock. “I got you, Willow. We’ll put a good spin on this, and whatever happens, I’m here for you.”
I pull her close to me, not wanting to let her go now that I’ve got her. “Come on. The paramedics need to check you over,” I say as I walk her outside.
30
WILLOW
Hudson keeps his arm firmly around me as we head outside to the paramedics. He only lets me go when we get to Tyler, and I burst out of his arms to pull my brother into a tight bear hug.
