Dante’s grin had them all going silent. Kennedy practically fizzed with excitement. The couple turned their heads and looked at each other.
“On three?” Kennedy asked.
Dante nodded.
“One, two…”
They all held their breath.
“We’re having a baby!”
The room detonated.
Cheers crashed against the walls. Chairs scraped. Con shot to his feet, lifting his glass high, while Chase pounded his fork against his in a sharp metallic rhythm that only fueled the chaos.
Alyssa bolted around the table and launched herself at Kennedy, laughing and crying at the same time, already talking about their babies growing up like cousins.
Glasses clinked. Someone whooped. Dante looked stunned for half a second before pride took over his whole face.
Hugs made their way around the table in waves. When Ash reached Dante, he didn’t bother with words. He gripped his brother’s hand hard and hauled him in, their shoulders knocking together in a solid, grounding thud.
“Hell of a shot, man,” Ash muttered.
Dante huffed a laugh against his shoulder. “We got lots of practice.”
Ash shook his head, laughing too.
There was so much to celebrate tonight. New life. New beginnings. Proof that after everything they’d survived, something good could take root.
Ash meant it when he said he was happy for them. Down to his bones.
But even as the noise swelled and Kennedy wiped tears from her cheeks, the pressure in his chest didn’t ease. The secret he carried sat heavy and immovable, painful against his ribs.
Soon, he’d have to say it out loud.
And when he did, this room—this family—wouldn’t sound like this anymore.
Still…they had an obligation to other brothers. In this case, Ellory. They might be able to help find her brother.
Ash had learned the hard way what happened when intel was ignored. One missed detail could cost a life. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.
Not tonight.
Tonight was for celebration.
But soon the reckoning would come.
* * * * *
The room had gone loud and warm and entirely too beautiful for Ellory to keep her composure intact.
She pressed her back against the wall and watched it all unfold—Dante still wearing that stunned, proud expression like he couldn’t quite believe his own life. Kennedy wiped her cheeks and laughed at herself for crying.
Alyssa was already talking about nursery colors and due dates while tears streamed freely down her face. The men took turns being silly by making enough noise for three people.
The celebration wasn’t at all what Ellory expected when she stepped onto this base.
She’d expected rigid military rules and men who barked out clipped sentences. She’d expected walls. Big ones.
