The compound hums with controlled urgency.
Grizz inventories ammunition near the south storage, methodical as ever. Viper checks comms and surveillance,moving with the same dedicated focus I recognize from years in the field.
There’s a tenderness around the edges now when Kira passes him tools or speaks quietly at his shoulder. It doesn’t make him any less effective.
The discovery of Brianna’s car tightened every timeline. Viper’s intel confirmed what I already knew in my gut. We’re running out of margin, and it’s only a matter of time before Vaughn’s people connect the dots.
When I’m not thinking about angles of approach and fallback routes, I find myself watching the new ways we all interact. The way our team has expanded.
Kira crouches beside Grizz, calmly passing him boxes, as he stacks ammo cans. Later, when Viper mutters under his breath at a frozen screen, Kira rests her hand on his shoulder for a few seconds to ground him, then she moves on.
Eight weeks ago, she arrived broken and terrified.
Now, she’s the axis everything turns on.
As evening settles in, I stand on the edge of the ops center and take it all in.
This place has always been efficient, secure, defensible. But it hadn’t been alive.
Kira laughs at something Grizz says, and Viper shakes his head, lips twitching. The sights and sounds thread through me, grounding and fierce all at once.
This isn’t just aboutsurvival anymore.
It’s about protecting a future.
A child who will grow up knowing she’s wanted. Defended by three men who chose her and her mother, chose each other, and chose something bigger than fear.
I’ve led men into danger before.
This time, I know exactly what I’m fighting for.
And I won’t lose it.
CHAPTER 42
KIRA
If I’d waited for the right moment, I might not have spoken at all.
The compound is buzzing with tension, and the air is tight with the anticipation of violence, but when I happen to find myself in the great room with the three of them, I decide I can’t go into what’s coming with any words unsaid.
“Hey,” I say softly.
All three of them look at me, all at once, and I have to steady myself.
“I need a minute,” I say. “Not—” I shake my head. “Not about plans or contingencies.”
Andrew straightens like he’s bracing himself. Boyd, who’s been pacing, comes to a stop mid-step. Silas looks wary, but he doesn’t move away.
“What’s wrong?” Boyd asks.
“Nothing.”
The three men exchange a look, years of shared history wordlessly passing between them.
Andrew nods once. “Okay. Minute’s yours.”
I step closer to them, resting one hand against Boyd’s chest and sliding the other around Andrew’s forearm. I don’t touch Silas at first, but I don’t look away from him, either.
