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Her hand dropped and her head turned, her face contorted with tears and pain. It took her a quick moment to realize he was standing in front of her. She gasped and cried harder.
“Are you hurt, babe?” he asked, reaching down and pulling her up from the ground and into his arms.
“Me?” she cried. “No, I’m okay.” She pressed her face against his chest. “I thought—” She dug her fingers into his shirt and held onto him like a lifeline.
“Easy,” he whispered against her hair. “Easy, babe. It’s okay.”
An anguished sob broke from her. She clutched him tighter, as if she were trying to climb right inside him. There was a little desperation, a little relief in that one small sound, and it was like a knife in his chest. She tipped her chin up. The tears in her eyes and the fracture in that iron will broke his heart. He pressed his forehead to hers.
She choked out his name, and the feel of her was all that he needed right now.
His heart nearly bursting from the love he had for her, twisting him up inside, he shifted his head and covered her lips. “I’m okay, too,” he murmured against her mouth. A feeling of overwhelming protectiveness rose in his chest. There was no way he could let her go. “O—”
“Dammit, Teller. You scared the fuck out of me!” Gage said, and Dean turned around to find the man standing there, concern in every line of his body. Jessica, her arms wrapped around herself, stood near him. Donner sat at her feet.
“Aw, you care,” he said, but his voice was a little shaky. He had almost blurted out he loved O which was definitely true, but he didn’t want to tell her here in this mess. He wanted more when he said the words out loud to her, not one full of trauma and surrounded by disaster.
Gage smirked and gripped his shoulder, shaking him a little. “Smartass squid.”
Jessica simply hugged him and said, “I’m so glad you’re all right.”
Dean chuckled at Gage’s statement and hugged Jessica back. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. A little beaten up but I’ll survive.”
“You and Donner saved our lives,” O said, and Jessica nodded.
Gage gave them one of his rare smiles. “Yeah, he might be retired, but he’s still got it.”
“Kind of like his jarhead owner,” Dean said, releasing O, but keeping his arm around her for comfort, a thought forming. But it would have to wait until later.
“What now?” O asked.
“We’re heading over to the hospital to check on Logan, Jack, and Kurrie. And you need medical attention,” Gage said.
Dean couldn’t argue with that. A few painkillers would be welcome about now. They piled into the black van and headed to the hospital. When they got there, Dean received medical treatment for the gash over his eyes, a few stitches in his arm and back. They also gave him some painkillers. Logan was ready to go by the time they were done. Kurrie and Jack were being held for observation overnight.
After a brief stop for food and essentials for Gage and Logan, they headed over to Harley Street and the shop. Once inside the conference room, they settled into chairs and ate. By this time, it had turned dark. Feeling the effects of jumping out of a third story window onto a flimsy awning, Dean was glad for the soft chair and the support for his aching body.
“I’m making a strong guess that the explosive used to demolish your building was C4. That meant whoever killed Benny is on to us. I hate to say this, but do you think Benny was nothing more than a trap to smoke us out?”
“Me. To smoke me out,” Logan said. “I was the one who was asking all the questions. They blew up my building. Fucking bastards almost killed my sister and brother. They are going down hard.”
Gage nodded. “They must have gotten your information from Benny. I’m sorry, Logan. We have to suspect that the buyer knows he’s been compromised.”
Dean hit the table with the flat of his hand. “Then we’re going to have to go at this from another angle.”
“How so?” O asked.
“I have an in with The Black Hearts. My father used to be their leader and they might not accept me with open arms, but they’ll respect my connection to him. I infiltrate them and we trace the seller from the buyer.”
“That’s a good idea,” Jessica said. “Reverse engineering. It could work.”
O swiveled her chair to look at him. “What angle are you going to use to get back into The Black Hearts? You shunned them and went on to become a Navy SEAL. What makes you think they’ll believe you’ve completely changed your personality?”
“That’s easy. I was…forced to retire from the Navy after I disobeyed orders not to go after my brother and Granny Steele’s granddaughter, who had been captured, tortured, and were being used for leverage. The Navy’s hands were tied. I decided my brother was more important than my career. I got them out. The Navy got me out.” The knot in his gut intensified because what he was about to say was closer to the truth than he wanted to acknowledge. “I will forswear the Navy and convince them all how bitter I am about being kicked out of the service. I’ll say my dad was right. You can’t trust the establishment.”
O reached out and clasped his hand. Damn, the woman was reading him pretty well. He squeezed her hand, trying to not let the bitterness wash him away. “That is a strong argument,” she said. “But before we do anything with this idea, we’ll have to run it by my commander.”
