D ecember, two months later
Maverick and Carly stood in the spacious lobby of the Loving Malibu Resort with Jagger and Taylor. Rested and relaxed from their honeymoon, they’d spent the week enjoying the beautiful California coastline, their close friends, and each other. Maverick considered himself the luckiest man on earth to have Carly as his life partner. Each day, he discovered something new to love about his wife.
“Thank you for an amazing time,” Carly said to Jagger and Taylor. “Your hotel is gorgeous, the food was amazing, the entertainment was—”
“Exotic,” Maverick said, finishing her sentence.
Carly laughed.
“We like to mix up the fun, along with the heat levels,” Taylor said.
“Thanks for inviting us to stay with you guys next week,” Jagger added.
“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Maverick replied.
“We look forward to a tour of the new house you’re having built,” Taylor said.
“Right now, it’s support beams on a slab of cement,” Maverick said. “But we’ll squeeze it in somewhere between Colton and Brigit’s rehearsal dinner, their wedding, and our day cruise down the Potomac with my boys and their better halves.”
The limo pulled into the hotel drive-through. After hugs goodbye, Carly and Maverick headed out.
“That was a fantastic vacation,” Carly said as the driver whisked them to the airport.
“I had no idea you had that much energy,” Maverick said. “Please note, I am not complaining. I’m a very lucky man.”
“What can I say?” She grinned. “I adore my husband.”
Maverick tucked her hair behind her ear and dropped several worshipful kisses on her lips. “Love you, wife.”
Two hours later, their flight took off. Within minutes, Carly fell asleep, her head resting on his shoulder.
As the plane flew east, he stared out the window at the twinkling city lights below. The past two months had been a whirlwind of activity, but neither of them had lost sight of what mattered most.
Each other.
Three weeks ago, FBI Agent Mark Rodriguez had informed them that Kathy Internado’s DNA had been a match to the skin found under Rose Aurora’s fingernails, and Carly stopped toting her Glock everywhere. But she never missed a week at the shooting range and Maverick was always there, honing his skills right alongside her.
After a minor building renovation at ThunderStrike, Stone Investigations had relocated to its new home. Maverick loved the days when they could drive in to work together.
They’d also moved out of the yacht and into Carly’s house in Arlington while waiting the spring completion of their new digs, not far from Crockett and Alexandra.
Carly stirred and Maverick kissed the top of her head. She shot him a contented smile before nuzzling closer. Maverick closed his eyes, but sleep wouldn’t come, so he scrolled through emails.
His dad had sent one with an update on the case they were building against Internado for the murder of Pierce Stone, but he rolled past that one. While Maverick had every confidence justice would be served, he was still on his honeymoon. Just thinking about Internado had him clasping Carly’s hand and listening to her steady breathing, grateful she was by his side.
The former senator had pleaded guilty to the kidnapping, assault, and attempted murder of Carly, in exchange for a reduced sentence of twenty years. He got another two years for admitting to being an accessory after the fact in the death of Rose Aurora.
Maverick put down his phone, closed his eyes, and let his wife’s comforting touch lull him to sleep. The following morning, the jet touched down at Reagan National.
“Home sweet home,” Carly said as they waited to deplane.
He smiled. Returning home always felt so damn good.
As Maverick drove out of the airport, he told her he needed to make a quick stop at the office. Because it was Saturday, the parking lot was deserted, save for his company-owned SUVs. He bolted inside, retrieved the gift from his safe, and returned to the vehicle.
“What are you up to?” she asked.
“Nothing but trouble.” With a wink, he drove home.
