Ellory would be there, probably chewing on those damn glasses while she stared at a screen like the fate of the world rested on her shoulders.
The thought settled deep in his chest, unfamiliar and dangerous. Hope had never been something he carried into a mission.
But this time was different.
This time, someone was waiting for him.
* * * * *
The low whip of chopper blades vibrated the windows. Ellory jerked her head up, stare fixed on the blackness outside as the roar of the chopper drowned out the hum of her laptop.
She threw a look at the time in the corner of the screen. Just past two a.m. She’d been sitting cross-legged on her bed with herlaptop warm on her thighs, trying to focus on financial records and pretending she hadn’t checked the clock a dozen times since the team deployed.
Then she heard the heavy thump of boots and cast the laptop aside. Her own footsteps were silent on the hardwood as she rushed to the bedroom door. She stopped short of opening it, listening to doors all over the house flying open as the women hurried to greet their men.
Ellory pressed a hand flat against her chest and made herself stand still. She was not May, throwing herself into Chickie’s arms. She wasn’t Izzy, picking out Steele from the group and staring at each other like they were the only two people in the room.
Ellory was The Accountant. The woman who dug up enough dirt on criminals through patterns of numbers to bring them to justice.
She was also the woman who’d kissed Angelo twice and slept with him once. But she didn’t know what to do with those facts except store them in the place behind her ribs where her hand rested.
Male voices filtered through the mansion. A particular deep rumble made the hair on her nape prickle. Before she knew what she was doing, she grabbed the door handle and twisted. When she reached the landing, she looked down.
The grand foyer was a storm of gear dropped and scattered around the men wearing all black. Her heart gave a hard heave as she spotted a familiar set of broad shoulders standing apart from the chaos. Viewing those muscular lines from above had her breath stuttering.
As if he felt the weight of her stare, he tipped his head back and saw her perched at the top of the staircase. Her lips parted on a small gasp, and her feet started moving on their own. Asshe locked eyes with him, she arranged her features into an expression that saidI always stand here at two in the morning. This is a completely normal thing I do.
She gripped the railing tight to keep herself from running down and leaping off the last stair into his arms. She was glad he couldn’t see that her insides were shaking and her knees unsteady as she descended two flights to reach the man she shouldn’t be so relieved to see.
She didn’t let her gaze drop—she couldn’t if she tried because Angelo refused to let it go.
It seemed that Angelo didn’t really do smiling, not the obvious kind. But something warm and private moved through his expression, and she felt it land in the center of her like a stone hitting still water.
He started toward the stairs.
Her heart made a complete fool of itself.
She stepped off the bottom stair and moved forward as he did the same.
She cast around her suddenly empty brain for some greeting that was light and easy.Welcome back. Glad everyone made it. Good op?
They met off to the side of the group, and the instant she was faced with the big SEAL, she forgot every word.
This close, she studied the fatigue under his eyes that he’d never admit to. She saw the stubble on his jaw sprouting more with each heartbeat that passed.
Words flooded past her lips, these ones genuine.
“I’m glad to see you.” Her voice sounded a little breathless.
“I’m glad to see you too, Trouble.” His words hooked her in the core.
He looked at her for another long beat—his dark gaze moving over her face like he was checking her for damagethe way he’d check his gear. She understood it distantly, in the academic way she understood things she’d never personally survived.
Men who came back from the dark needed something solid to hold on to.
And she was terrified she wanted to be that for him.
“Come on.” It wasn’t a question. His hand found hers, big and warm and slightly rough. He started toward the stairs, and she followed because she was helpless against this pull between them.
