Mara sat at the long table in the center of the living space.
A deck of cards was fanned loosely in her hands, her posture relaxed in a way that would have been impossible an hour ago.She was laughing—quiet, genuine laughter—at something the man across from her had said.Kaiser lounged in his chair like he owned the place, heavy boots crossed at the ankle, scarred knuckles drumming once against the table.The darker haired man sat to his right, less visible, less loud, eyes constantly moving even as he held his cards.
For half a second, the world tilted.
Luca’s brain struggled to reconcile it—Mara whole, breathing, smiling—while the echo of gunshots still rang in his ears.The warehouse bled into the room, phantom images overlapping the present.
Then Mara looked up.
Recognition hit her first.Relief second.
She was on her feet before Luca realized he’d moved too.Three long strides closed the distance, and he hauled her into him, arms locking around her hard enough to steal the air from her lungs.Her body fit against his instinctively, like it always had.Like it always would.
She clutched him just as tightly, then tipped her head back enough to look at him.“You’re back,” she said, like it was a fact she’d been holding the line on.
Luca nodded once, throat tight.
She turned slightly in his hold, one hand still fisted in his jacket as she gestured back toward the table.“I should—” Her mouth curved faintly.“You should know who kept me entertained.”
She looked at the two men standing with Kaiser.
“The one with the dark blond hair,” Mara said, calm, composed, like she wasn’t introducing wolves into the room, “that’s Slayer.”
Slayer dipped his head once.Not a bow.A measure.
“And the other,” she continued, eyes sliding to the man with black hair and the thin scar cutting across his left cheek, “is Cypher.”
Cypher met Luca’s gaze without blinking, expression unreadable, assessing.
“They were ...good company,” Mara finished quietly.“And very clear about keeping me safe.”
Her arms wrapped around his waist, fingers digging into the back of his jacket, anchoring him just as much as he anchored her.
“I’m here,” she said into his chest, voice steady despite everything.“I didn’t move.”
The words hit harder than any bullet.
Luca bowed his head, breathing her in—soap, skin, the familiar thread of her that cut through the stink of death still clinging to him.He turned slightly, positioning her behind the line of his body without thinking, one arm firm around her shoulders, hand spread between her shoulder blades.A shield.A promise.
Behind them, the room changed.
Slayer and his two men were already standing.
Elias stepped forward, hands loose at his sides, expression unreadable.“Debrief me, now.”
Kaiser, who had been halfway to the door, stopped.He turned slowly, one dark brow lifting as his gaze met Elias’s.“Don’t treat me like one of your Covenant, Elias.”
Elias’s mouth curved—not a smile exactly, more an acknowledgement.“I would never dare to, my friend.”
No one else smiled.
Luca spoke and laid it out.The tertiary warehouse.The stench.The men who thought negotiation meant leverage bought with lives.The three women executed without hesitation, their bodies hitting concrete before anyone could stop it.The five they’d pulled out alive.The one who hadn’t been there.
Upon hearing the entire story, Mara’s fingers tightened in his jacket.
“We intercepted chatter an hour before your breach,” Kaiser said.“It was from a clean channel.Not Havelock’s usual noise.Someone was being very careful.”His gaze flicked briefly to Mara, then back to Elias.“The contract wording was precise.Retrieval preferred, but if that failed—termination is acceptable.Immediate execution.”
Mara stiffened fully then, tension locking through her spine, but she didn’t step away.
