Page 67 of Tormented Hearts

“What—”

Whatever she was about to say cut off as he waved the flashlight into the empty black space where her boot had been about to land. A chasm of blackness that would have swallowed her whole.

Her heart hammered under his arm, and her breath came in sharp hitches as she realized the hole was large enough, deep enough, that the flashlight beam never found a bottom.

She quivered.

“It’s okay,” he murmured against her hair, arm still locked tight around her, not loosening even after the danger passed.

She gave a jerky nod, leaning into him a moment longer. Eventually, her mind returned to the crates of gold behind them and what it all meant.

“I know exactly what I’m doing with it. I’m going to use every cent for the ranch.” She spun to face him.

In the dim glow of the flashlight, his lips tugged at one corner. “You’re going to buy a ranch?”

“No.” She shook her head, already turning over the plan in her mind. Pieces dropped into place faster than she could speak them aloud.

She searched his eyes. “This is for the Black Heart. For the vets there. I have so many ideas, Hawk. Proper funding for the program can go so much further! It means more resources instead of scraping by on government grants and family support.”

Something unreadable moved behind his eyes. “See, this is exactly why you’re so annoying.” A small smile tugged at his lips. “You found a fortune but you won’t get anything out of it besides a building with your name on it.”

“I don’t want my name on a building.” The words came out in a fierce rush. “I don’t need the tax write-off, Heath. I want to help, without any strings. I don’t need a gala where people clap politely and forget my name by dessert. I’ve watched those guys at the ranch. The way they gravitate toward Navy and treat each other…taking care of the people around them like instinct. They still have so much to give, and I want to make sure they keep healing so they can give it.”

Her throat closed around the sudden lump in her throat.

Hawk’s gaze roamed over her face. His expression made her throat tighter.

He reached for her hand, and she squeezed his, letting him lead her toward the sunlight. She was still sketching out logistics in her head—top-of-the-line prosthetics for every vet who needed one and more horses for therapy if they needed them.

But underneath all if it, an insistent thought ran through her mind. How was she supposed to take back what she’d said to Hawk in that mine?

She could laugh it off, blame the adrenaline rush of the discovery or the thin mountain air. She could pretend she’d never said it at all.

But walking beside her lover, she realized she didn’t want to take it back.

She hadn’t told him she loved him in the heat of the moment. She hadn’t said it in some rush of victory.

She’d meant it.

Every. Single. Word.

Chapter Fifteen

They picked their way toward the mouth of the mine, ducking under a curtain of cobwebs strung thick between two support beams.

Sinead batted one out of her hair with a small, disgusted noise. “Well, the mine didn’t collapse on our heads. I’m calling that a win.”

“Low bar, but I’ll take it.” Hawk tossed her a wry smile.

Daylight bloomed in the opening of the mine, gold and warm after the inky blackness. For one second, everything felt simple. The gold behind them, the future ahead. Now they just needed to get to a rally point and get a lift out of the backcountry.

As they neared the exit, he scanned the tree line, his instinct refusing to let its guard down even after a day like today.

Then his gaze caught something that only belonged in a war zone.

A small red dot fixed on Sinead’s chest.

He stopped breathing.