After Greystone ended the call, Caroline caressed his back. “You and me, we need to celebrate.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Definitely. Let’s go check into the hotel. Oh, wait, you’re hungry. Let’s get you something to eat.”
“I don’t need food,” he said. “I need my Bella.”
“You’ve got me,” she replied. “You’ve got me forever.”
In the privacy of their hotel room on base, Greystone loved his woman with his entire being. Beyond his gratitude that she’d plucked him from a near-death experience, he was relieved the Day of Destruction no longer hung heavy over them.
She was hiseverythingand, as she surrendered to the pleasure, he let go, reveling in all that was Caroline.
“My Bella,” he murmured, as they snuggled close.
“You slayed it today, Rambo,” she whispered. “I have so much respect for what you do.”
“We make a great team.”
“The best,” she replied. “Theabsolutebest.”
CAROLINE
At seven in the morning,just before they left the hotel room, she kissed Grey goodbye. “Safe flight.”
He shot her a smile. “I got you all the way home.”
She handed him the charged comm, fully expecting pushback. To her surprise, he slid it into his ear.
“I hope you get some rest on the flight home, babe,” he said.
She fitted the comm into her ear. “That son of a bitch Muhammad Haqazzii is out there, along with his henchmen. I feel like we won the battle, but lost the war.”
“Nope. The war continues, one step at a time. Home first. We find out what the team knows, then we go from there.” He snaked his arms around her, pulled her close, and kissed her so damn good, he set her insides on fire.
“Whew, that was hot. I can’t wait to see what you’ve got for me when we land.” With a playful smile, she gave his muscular ass a squeeze before opening the door to their hotel room. “You ready to take us home, Commander Santini?”
“Yes, ma’am, I sure as hell am.”
THE FOLLOWING MORNING,the BLACK OPS team sat around the conference table at the Black Site, reviewing the footage. A series of violent incidents had gone down in Boston over the past twenty-four hours, including a building explosion in the business district and a driver plowing into a group of pedestrians at a Memorial Day Parade.
“This is hard to watch,” Caroline said.
“It’s pissing me off pretty good,” Grey said. “Has anyone stepped forward to claim responsibility?”
“No,” Tank replied. “But I got a hit. It was posted in the same chat room the terror cell’s been using. My gut says it’s Muhammad Haqazzii, and he’s got himself a new partner.”
“Who?” Grey asked.
“An international sex trafficker and admitted misogynist.”
“Great work,” Caroline said. “We’ll need someone to head up there.”
“I’m gonna chase this one down,” Tank replied. “I need to see it through. And I’m gonna need a team.”
“We got you,” Caroline replied.
When the meeting ended, Dakota asked Caroline and Grey to hang back. “When’s the White House ceremony?”
