“And the rest is history.” Sophie lifted her glass in toast to everyone.
The easy way they all spoke about it—about danger and protection and falling in love in the middle of chaos—made Ellory’s chest tighten.
Last night with Angelo had been intense. The kind of intense that left her skin buzzing hours later and made her hyperaware of his every move.
And remember his mouth on hers. Between her thighs.
His hand fisted in her hair and the rasp of his voice in her ear when he’d—
Izzy lifted her wine in a toast. “Now we’re family. All of us.”
She looked around the kitchen at these women, each one with their own complicated path that led them here. So many tales that ended in—from what she could see—true happiness.
“How do you all make it work?” she asked. “I mean, everyone has a strong personality. The guys are…intense. How do so many people live on top of each other without getting into arguments?”
Opal stirred the big pot of pasta. “We don’t have to worry about the logistics the way other people do—the little things that cause fights in other families. The bills are paid. And there are more than enough of us to pitch in with chores.”
“So we get to focus on relationships.” Alyssa picked up the thread even as she cupped her hand around her unborn baby. “We treat each other like equals.”
May slid the meatballs into the oven. “Though the guys have a slightly different hierarchy based on team roles.”
Sophie added, “But that doesn’t extend to us. We’re their partners. Not subordinates.”
Kennedy giggled. “C’mon, girl. We all know you’re the real leader of the team. I’ve seen how you keep Con in place.”
That made them laugh, and Ellory joined in as she turned it all over in her mind. The pros of life with the Blackout team meant security and a built-in community of people who understood the unique pressures of loving someone who walked into danger as a job requirement.
It happened for other military wives too, but Blackout Charlie was isolated from the world in a way others weren’t.
“And when they’re on missions…” Opal trailed off.
“We cook.” Elin gestured at their Italian feast. “We stay together. And we wait.”
May met Ellory’s gaze. “And we trust that they’re the best at what they do. That they’ll come home.”
Ellory thought about Angelo. Through the eyes of these women, she saw him a little differently now.
He wasn’t just the man who followed orders and took out threats with brutal efficiency. He also knew how to move with a different kind of precision—learning her body…and finding every spot that made her gasp and shudder and forget her own name.
The way he’d looked at her with that searing focus made her wonder if all the men of Blackout Charlie looked at their women the same way.
The garlic bread went into the oven. The pasta started boiling. The meatballs in the oven filled the kitchen with rich, savory scents. And the women of Charlie pulled Ellory into their orbit like it was the most natural thing in the world.
If only it were that easy to belong…well, anywhere. She was The Accountant—the one person in the room who could keep following Cipher’s money as it moved.
They needed her skill.
That didn’t make her one of them.
Not when she could never, ever mention the secrets she held close to her chest.
Chase poked his head in. “ETA on food? The briefing’s wrapping up.”
“Twenty minutes,” Alyssa called to him.
Twenty minutes until Ellory would see Angelo again.
Until she’d have to figure out what to say to a man she had no ties to, yet whose taste still lingered on her tongue.
