“I think this is our wedding, and we can do whatever the hell we want.”
“Well, in that case…”
Talia let out a playful cry when Jagger suddenly scooped her into his arms.
“Y’all keep on celebratin’!” he hollered out over the crowd.
Every head in the place turned their way as Talia laughed and Jagger sent them all an unashamed wave goodbye. The sound of their friends cheering and wishing them well followed them out the door.
When they got to Jagger’s car, he carefully lowered his bride to her feet. He cupped her face and pulled her in for their first private kiss as husband and wife.
“I love you, you know that?”
Talia nodded at his rumbled whisper. “You’d better, because it would sure be a shame if this thing was all one-sided.”
“You sayin’ you love me, too?”
“Oh, yeah. I definitely love you.” She brought her mouth back to his with a smile. But before she kissed him, her lips brushed against his when she whispered, “Now take me home, husband, so I can show you just how much.”
Delta Team ConferenceRoom
Two weeks later…
“Thanks for coming in, gentlemen.”Ryker stood at the front of the room. His dark gaze slid to the woman sitting at Jagger’s left when he added, “And lady.”
Talia dipped her chin the powerful man’s way before glancing back at Jagger with a grin. He smiled back, wondering if he’d ever lose the way those smiles of hers made him feel. He sure as hell hoped not.
They were the very best parts of his days.
“Jagger and Talia,” Ryker addressed them both as a pair. “Before we get down to business, I just want to say again how happy I am for the two of you. And my apologies, again, for not being able to make the wedding.”
“It’s okay, Jason,” Talia responded to her former boss before Jagger could. “I know the shitshow at Homeland has been keeping you busy.”
Ryker scoffed. “You can say that again. The blowback from what went down with Miller is still causing fires that need putting out. Between the CIA holding onto their lie that they had no idea Julian survived the bomb in Afghanistan, to Agent Vaughn’s arrest for aiding in the orchestration of the abduction of a federal agent, to?—”
“Sanchez?” Liam cut the man off.
The highly respected Homeland agent nodded. “To the continued search for Arlo Sanchez.”
Jagger and Talia had been keeping a close eye on that specific part of the investigation. In the months since the kidnapping, there’d been whispers of sightings and claims of inside knowledge. But so far, the gun-smuggling criminal had managed to evade authorities.
“We will find him.” Ryker looked at Talia then. “I won’t let them stop until we do.”
Jagger reached over and placed his hand over his wife’s beneath the table. With a little squeeze, he conveyed he’d be right there, at her side.
He still couldn’t help but be grateful to Sanchez for his actions that fateful night. The guy could have easily pulled thattrigger. But he didn’t, and because of his choice, Talia had been given the chance to live.
So for that reason alone, a part of him would always be in Sanchez’s debt.
“I know you’ll keep looking,” Talia responded to Ryker. “It’ll all work out in the end.”
With a nod and sigh, Ryker switched gears completely. “In the meantime, we’ve got another team that still needs a sixth man.”
“Or woman.” Talia grinned.
To which, Ryker gave a tilt of his head and a well-deserved, “Touché. But man or woman, I don’t have a preference. We just need to hurry the hell up and find someone to replace Baxter.”
“Oh, yeah.” Cade looked to Jagger and then back to the man at the front of the room. “What ever happened with Jimmy?”
