Page 110 of Falcon’s Forever

"By far."

She laughs, and I've missed that sound more than I let myself admit. "The women were scared tonight," she says.

"Figured."

“It was different, though,” Cara says. “Nobody panicked when the footsteps started. They knew who was on patrol, and they knew where you were. Lena stayed upstairs by choice. Emily joined by video call from the hospital and complained that she was missing all the excitement.”

I smile. “Sounds like her.”

“Maya asked if we could put the security feed on the television.”

“No,” I say immediately.

Cara’s mouth twitches. “I told her no.”

“She asked Condor directly, didn’t she?”

“Of course she did.”

“Terrifying woman,” I mutter.

“More terrifying than most of the club,” Cara agrees.

“Definitely.”

The wind moves through the yard, and she shivers.

“You should go inside,” I tell her.

Her eyebrows lift. “Is that an order?”

“No.”

“Good.” She stays exactly where she is. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah.”

Cara’s expression turns serious. “When you went after those men before, when you left the compound, did you think about coming back?”

The question catches me off guard. “Yes.”

“Honestly,” she says.

I take a breath. "I thought about keeping everyone else safe first."

"That's not what I asked."

"I know." I don't hide behind it this time. "No. I didn't think about coming back enough."

Pain crosses her face, small but real. "That's exactly what scares me."

"I know."

"I understand," I correct, catching myself, and she smiles a little at that.

"That's better."

She steps closer, close enough that her hand lifts and stops, and I don't move. She touches the small cut near my temple, just with her fingertip, and my whole body reacts to it.