Page 164 of Missile Strike

Tavari snorted. “You’re lucky you’re here to make jokes.”

They said their goodbyes, and the men of Dìleas slipped out of the room, leaving Danny alone with Bella.

“Wow,” she said when the door finally closed, “You guys are a lot when you’re all in one room.”

“We’re brothers. We watch each other’s six.” His eyes were getting heavy, and he could feel himself slipping under. “But no one means more to me than you.”

Her lips brushed his cheek. “Not even Consuela?” Her voice was light. Amused.

“Now you’re playing dirty.” He sighed. “Not even my beloved Consuela and the sexy purr of her V-8 engine.” His eyelids fluttered shut. He tried to open them again. To see Bella’s beautiful face. To assure himself she really was here. And his. But the damn things sealed shut.

“Sleep.” Butterfly kisses on his lips. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Epilogue

Isabella adjusted her sunglasses against the glare of the afternoon sun. She draped a beach towel over her legs to keep them from burning and kept her bikini-clad upper half beneath the awning.

The boat rocked gently with the swells on the lake, lulling her into a sense of peace.

Tilting her head back, she observed the hawks circling the tall pines in a nearby cove beneath a brilliant Carolina blue sky. The surrounding trees were a blaze of color in hues of red, yellow, and orange, their fall display arriving late thanks to the unusually warm weather that persisted even though Halloween was days away.

The lake was peaceful. Quiet.

Quiet enough for her to reflect on the past couple of months. Some losses never stopped hurting, and Talia would always be one of them. But for the first time since she was twelve years old, she felt like her future was hers again.

She gave a contented sigh. Trip echoed her with a quiet huff as he lay sprawled on the deck beneath the awning, his fur drying from an earlier swim.

The stern rocked abruptly.

Trip’s head snapped up.

Danny surged out of the water, grabbing onto the ladder and hoisting himself aboard. Water streamed from his hair and glistened off tan muscles and black swim trunks covered in neon flamingos and palm trees.

Eyes the same color as the sky glinted in her direction.

“Hello, Bella.”

It had only been two months ago that he’d said the same thing to her aboard the yacht her father had rented in Greece. There he’d appeared like death.

Now, he looked like home.

He stepped forward and shook his head.

Isabella screeched as droplets sprayed her. “Danny! That’s cold.”

He grinned, plopping onto the cushion next to her. “I needed to cool you off because you’re so hot.”

Her eye roll could probably be seen from the shore. “Your humor is as corny as your fashion sense.”

Sunlight caught the facets of the ring on her left hand, making it sparkle.

The ring still felt new. A promise without pressure.

Danny hadn’t pushed for timelines or plans.

Only forever.

“Having fun?” he asked.