“Fine, but you should know that, in my limited experience, I felt that Silas acted quickly, using appropriate force where necessary.”
He emphasizes this with a kiss to the top of my head.
Don’t. Get. Hard.
Hedy’s brows go up ever so slightly, yet she dips her chin in acknowledgment. “We’ll still need to review the videos. But…your opinion carries a lot of weight.” She shifts her attention to me. “Since one of Oakley’s jobs is to help me follow up with all operatives after an active engagement, and you’ve already been through that process with him and live in the same building, would you mind if he contacted you in the next day or two?”
Oakley releases me and sends me an encouraging smile.
Between the shooting, the blood, and that fucking smile…I want Oakley to lie on top of me while I bury my face in his pecs.
Suffocate me, big boy. Then fuck me into the mattress.
God, why am I always sointense?
I shake my head, returning to the conversation.
“Uh, I don’t mind. He can contact me.”
11
RONAN AND THANE
Ronan throwsthe goddamned tablet across the room. It’s ruggedized, like all of Wimberley’s hardware, so it merely glances off the wall and clatters to a rest on their pretty wooden floor.
It’s been years since Ronan and Thane have read an ops report, even though the Wimberley tech guys have provided them, along with the heavily secured equipment, for decades now. Ro suspected it’d be bad for his PTSD to keep up, so he hasn’t.
Tonight’s exception seems to prove that rule. Only…what was he supposed to do? Not read the ops report that showed his son beingfiredon?
He glares at the tablet while Thane wraps a large arm around his narrow waist.
“Don’t say it.”
Thane holds up his free hand. “I won’t.”
“There’sno excusefor Oakley to be endangered like that. He’s not a combat operative.” Ronan presses his face into Thane’s impressive chest, muffling his voice. “Hisstudy was in psychology, for fuck’s sake. I thought that meant we were in the clear.”
“Oakley is his own man. He didn’t have to go to Wimberley. He had other plans.”
“You know Hedy manipulated him into it.”
Thane blows out a breath. “She definitely convinced him to give it a shot. But Oakley isn’t going to do anything he doesn’t want to do.”
“Then why does he want to do something so dangerous?”
“It wasn’t meant to be dangerous, darling. Hedy intentionally had him ride along on what was supposed to be an easy operation.”
“Do you remember any easy operations?” Ro asks, his voice weary. “I know it’s been a while, but I don’t remember any easy operations.”
“You know the normal rules don’t apply to Wimberley’s operations.”
Ronan clenches his jaw. “Why are you trying to be reasonable right now? You know that I…that Silas is the one who saved his life. Did you hear that? Our son was saved by a fucking psychopath.”
A psychopath with a crush, according to Amelia.This was the absolute worst outcome.
“You saw the debrief. Hedy has taken Oakley completely out of the field. He’s not going to be in danger anymore.”
Ronan lets his head flop back. He stares at the ceiling. “You know that he’s going to be interviewing that…boy.”
