Chloe felt something exciting and joyous settle into place.“I’ll visit,” she said softly.“I can do that.”
His smile was slow, relieved, a little awed.“That’s all I’m askin’.”
She leaned in and kissed him, her heart no longer racing with fear but humming with cautious hope.
#
Epilogue
Kayne Serruto had faceddown armed men, walked into live-fire situations with a plan and a prayer, and once parachuted into terrain he couldn’t even pronounce.
None of that had him this on edge.
He drove with one hand on the wheel, the other resting casually on the center console with Chloe’s fingers twined with his, trying to pretend he wasn’t white-knuckling his way through something far more terrifying than combat.
Chloe washere.Not for a mission or because she was in danger, but to see the place where he worked and lived.Where his people were.
He wanted her to love it.
That realization alone made him exhale slowly through his nose, equal parts amused and mildly horrified by himself.
He wasn’t worried about security.The COBRA Securities compound was a fortress disguised as Midwest tranquility with layers of tech, frightfully competent personnel who could neutralize a threat before it registered as one, and enough redundancies to make a paranoid man sleep easy.
He was worried about vibes, which was not a word he ever thought he’d mentally apply to a hardened security operation staffed by former military, law enforcement, and people who collected scars like souvenirs.
But Chloe noticed things.Felt things.She read a room the way he read exits and angles.And this place mattered to him more than he liked to admit.
What worried him more was what it might cost her.
If she moved in with him, she wouldn’t just be changing zip codes.She’d be leaving Leo, her constant.The steady presence she pretended she didn’t lean on as much as she did.Her brother had always been within arm’s reach.He had no doubt she could survive it, but survival and happiness weren’t the same thing, and Chloe deserved more than just making it through.
She’d smile and say it was fine.She’d insist she was excited.And he’d be the one standing there, wondering if every laugh that didn’t quite reach her eyes was his fault.
The iron gates came into view through the trees.Kayne slowed the SUV as the sensors recognized them, the metal sliding open, smooth as silk.
“This is it,” he said, aiming for casual.
