The lock turns.
Krueger freezes first. His head snaps toward the door, ears perked, whole body tensing like a loaded spring.
The door opens and Beau steps through. Seth follows a second later, slower, one hand braced against the wall for balance. There is dried blood along his hairline and down his neck.
My chest drops and lights up at the same time.
“What the fuck?” My eyes drag over the blood on his face. “What the actual fuck happened to you?”
Seth tries to smirk. It looks wrong around the split in his lip. “Beau’s idea of foreplay.”
“Very fucking funny.” I turn to Beau, jabbing a finger at him. “You dragged him into whatever the hell that was and forgot to mention the part where someone almost cracked his skull open.”
Beau shuts the door behind them and looks down at me. Six foot five of calm, broad-shouldered bullshit, trying and failing to keep his face neutral. The muscle in his jaw twitches once.
“If I’d told you anything, you would’ve tried to come,” Beau folds his arms. “And you would’ve blown it before we gotwithin ten feet of Mercer.”
“That’s not the point,” I glare at him. “The point is you let me sit here with nothing. No details. No warning. You let me wonder if both of you were dead while you pulled whatever stunt you pulled.”
Seth sinks onto the couch with a rough exhale, fingers pressing against the side of his head. He watches us with tired eyes and way too much patience.
“You tell him, baby,” Seth mutters.
I whip my head toward him. “Don’t fucking start. I didn’t know there was a plan. I didn’t know you were baiting anyone. I just watched you walk out of this house while we’re on a nationwide fucking manhunt.”
Seth lifts an icepack to his temple. “I’m aware. I got the memo.”
Krueger trots over to Seth, sniffs his jeans, then his arm, then his face, like he's checking for missing pieces. Seth scratches behind his ear, and the dog leans into it with a happy grunt.
I turn back to Beau.
“You didn’t think for one second that maybe I deserved to know what the fuck was going on?” I stare between them. “You had me sitting here counting the many ways things could go wrong. I didn’t even know what I was waiting for. I just knew you both were gone.”
Beau draws in a slow breath and keeps his eyes on mine. He looks like he wants to smile and knows better.
“Seth’s fine. He’s been injured worse than this. My doctor checked him already. No fracture. Just a concussion risk and a fucked-up lip.”
Seth flips him off again without looking.
Beau ignores the gesture.
“I almost got a concussion,” Seth mutters. “For a plan I wasn’t fully briefed on.”
“If I’d let anyone in on the full play, Mercer would’ve known,” Beau leans against the counter. “He watches people for a living. He would’ve read it on Seth the second he saw him. He would’ve put a bullet in his head before I could move. This was the only way to get close without getting him killed.”
I stare at him, breathing hard.
“You still could’ve told me something. Not the whole thing. Just enough that I wasn’t sitting here in the dark like a fucking idiot.”
“I told you enough to keep you here,” Beau says. “I didn’t tell you enough to get you killed.”
My hands curl into fists at my sides.
“You’re an asshole, Beau!”
“I know that,” Beau glances toward Seth before looking back at me. “But if it wasn’t for me you two lovebirds would have been in body bags. Mercer’s dead, everyone’s safe now.”
The words land, but I refuse to let them soften anything yet.
