“When an opportunity to recruit for Blackout came up, I took it. It was a desk job, plain and simple. Evaluatingcandidates, running background checks. Finding the right men for the fight instead of being the one shaping the fight itself. Or leading it.”
He shifted his shoulder. “On paper, it made sense to use my experience without putting me in a position where a call I made could cost…everything.” He faltered.
“Once I saw Blackout Charlie was down a man…something snapped. I didn’t just go back to the fight. I shut everything else off. Told myself if I didn’t feel, I wouldn’t lose anyone like that again.”
His jaw tightened.
“But I didn’t just make myself dead to the world. I stayed dead to my team too. Kept them at a distance when they’re the only ones who understand.” A beat passed. “I thought I was protecting myself.”
He met her eyes.
“I was wrong.”
She couldn’t stand it anymore. She cradled his face and locked gazes with him. “I don’t think she would have wanted you to live half a life, Angelo.”
Vulnerability flickered across his features before quiet acceptance settled there. Her chest tightened at the sight of the man who carried so much and still kept moving forward.
“You didn’t lose your nerve,” she whispered. “You made a decision in the middle of chaos and lost someone who mattered. That’s grief, Angelo. Not dishonor. It doesn’t mean you’re unfit to lead. It just means you carry the weight of it.”
Silence wrapped around them, thick and intimate. Ellory leaned in first, closing the distance, pressing her mouth to his with a tenderness that held everything unspoken between them.
The kiss deepened almost immediately, Angelo responding with a hunger that felt less like desire and more like release—years of restraint, guilt and loneliness unraveling in the space of a heartbeat.
His arms came around her, drawing her closer as the kiss turned urgent and desperate in a way that made her heart race. He murmured her name against her lips before capturing them again, and Ellory gave herself over to the warmth of him.
The world outside faded, leaving only the steady rhythm of their breathing and the way he held her like letting go wasn’t an option.
And when he drew her down with him, she followed him into the moment.
Into the solace they found in each other’s arms.
TWELVE
The door to Con’s office was heavier than it looked. Or maybe that was just Ash’s imagination, the secret he carried pressing down on his shoulders as he pushed into the room.
Con stood at the window, legs braced and hands clasped behind his back, staring out at the expansive yard.
Ash stepped into the room. “A word, commanding officer?”
He didn’t turn. “If this is about building a playset for any future kids on base, I already have a plan.”
Ash let out a surprised huff of laughter. “I wish it were.”
When Con swung away from the window, his shoulders were tense. “I’m listening.”
Ash closed the door and drifted to the desk. “I need to tell you something about Ellory. Her brother. He’s an undercover who went in to hunt Cipher—now he’s missing. It’s been thirteen months since she heard from him.”
Con made stillness look like strategy and gave nothing away in his expression. Not even a twitch of an eyelid.
“I know.”
All that stress, and Con answered it like he was confirming a lunch order.
He squared himself with Con. “You knew. When you ordered me to bring her in. It’s how you made the decision so quick.”
He gave a single nod of confirmation. “Yes.”
The air felt like it thinned. Ash measured his next breath carefully. Con could shut him down, refuse to say more.
