Page 48 of Stolen

He bent his head and kissed her.

She heard the crackle of radio comms behind her, and one of the men who’d taken down Rico’s soldiers said into his radio, “Affirmative. Yeah, Hawk’s here, with someone I assume is Ariana. At least, I hope so, considering they’re making out. And somebody needs to get that guy some pants.”

Ariana pulled back with a little laugh. Hawk didn’t even look embarrassed. “This is Gunn,” he said. “He’s a dick.”

While someone went to find Hawk clothes, Gunn continued to talk over the comms. “We got De León. He’s dead.”

He listened, then spoke to Hawk. “That was Boomer. It’s over—De León’s wolves are in chaos without a leader. Most of them are surrendering. They’re mopping things up out there.”

Ariana’s knees suddenly buckled, but Hawk was there to support her. Could it really be over?

It was.

All but the mess.

The threat was gone, the battle was finished—but the work was just beginning. There were the wounded and the dead to deal with. Those of Rico’s men who had not escaped were imprisoned in the sheriff’s office, while Thanatos made arrangements for their transport to… somewhere.

Ariana didn’t think she wanted to know where.

Once the cartel men and equipment had been removed, the people could come back to the town. There were repairs to be made, cleanup to do, and lives to resume.

Ariana planned to be there to help with all of it.

She caught up with Boomer’s brother later that evening, when he was sitting in the back room of the feed store, cleaning his gun.

He glanced up briefly, and then back down the pieces laid out on the cloth. The gun that had killed her brother.

He said, “Don’t expect me to say I’m sorry. I’m not.”

“No,” she told him. “You don’t have to be sorry. Someone had to do it. Someone had to stop him.” She took a deep breath. “I just wanted you to know—I would have done it.”

“I know.” He finished polishing the stock and laid it down.

That floored her. “Then why did you do it?”

He picked up the barrel and began cleaning it. “Because it won’t keep me from sleeping at night.”

Then she understood. He’d shot Rico not because he’d believed she wouldn’t do it, but because he’d believed she would. And he didn’t want her to be haunted by it.

Impulsively, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. “You’re a good man, El Vigilante.” And she walked away, leaving him staring after her.

Late that night, in the cottage, Hawk and Ariana lay together in bed—exhausted, but not wanting to sleep. It was too wonderful to be together, with no fear. To make love, gently and slowly, knowing they had all the time in the world.

After a long time, Hawk asked her, “What do you want to do now? With your brother gone, you could go anywhere in the world.”

“Truly?” She ran her fingers lightly down his chest. “I want to stay here.”

He looked surprised. “Here? In this tiny place?”

Her fingers trailed up over the strong muscles of his shoulder, across his collarbone. “I love this town,” she said. “I want to help them clean up the mess I brought on them. And then I want to live in this cottage and see my garden grow. Go downtown and know everyone I meet by name. Get milk from the Kirbys’ dairy and tell them how I like the cheese.”

She dropped a kiss at the base of his throat. “I’ll have to get a job, though, so I can afford it.”

He ran his fingers through her hair. “I’ll talk to Switch. Now that I’ve paid back his fifty bucks, maybe he’ll hack into one of Rico’s bank accounts for you.”

“That would be nice.” She added, keeping her eyes on his chest, “And perhaps, when you are not away on missions, you can stay here with me.”

There was a silence, and she lifted her eyes to see his face. He looked pleased, but still serious, like he had something on his mind.