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His chest constricted.Thiswas the woman he knew. She was suddenlyhisDove again. Even the excitement in her voice was a soothing balm of familiarity that he hadn’t totally been deluding himself all these years that their relationship, though restricted, was real.
He pulled into the garage and shut the door. Then he cut the engine.
“Uh, Quaide? What do we do about the stolen vehicle?” Rain asked.
“Not stolen. Commandeered for official business.”
“That’s a thing?”
“Yup. We’ll make sure it gets back to the owner and he’s compensated. Let’s go inside.” He cut off more questions by climbing out.
The ladies followed, and he led the way through the door that opened into the kitchen. He was half embarrassed for Dove to see the outdated house. He hadn’t made nearly enough progress on those remodeling projects in the six weeks since they’d last spoken.
When they walked in, he stopped at the sight of boxes and plastic totes overflowing with equipment crowding the kitchen.
“Guess the guys got everything moved in while I was out.”
Dove, curious as always, looked to him for an explanation.
He opened his mouth to start to explain, but shut it and shook his head. “There’s too much to share right now. I promise I’ll fill you in—”
The thump of boots on the old hardwood floors confirmed for him that his team had officially occupied his home.
When he made the offer, he didn’t realize he’d have Dove back in his life and want some privacy. Plus, he’d shared quarters in the Marines. The stench of dirty feet wasn’t something he wanted to experience again.
At the sound of the kitchen door slamming, Clay entered. He swept his stare over the sisters, then he looked at Quaide.
“Clay, this is Dove and Rain.”
He felt Dove’s surprise. She knew Clay’s name from helping put together the task force, but this was the first time they’d met.
“Clay Lexis is my…”
“Boss,” Clay supplied with a flash of white teeth.
“My counterpart,” Quaide corrected. “He runs the Sentry team,” he said for Rain’s benefit.
“Hello, Clay.” Dove didn’t sound totally like herself yet. As soon as possible, he needed to get her alone and set her mind at ease.
Quaide caught the bounce of fiery red curls from the corner of his eye and turned toward Lark.
“This is Lark. She’s pretty much running the ship from behind the curtain.”
She threw a wave and smile at the sisters. “Gosh, you two look so much alike. Which one of you has the hi—”
Clay snagged Lark around the waist, yanking her up against him and cutting off what she was about to share concerning the hit. Quaide met Clay’s eyes and gave him a nod of thanks. He wasn’t certain if the sisters knew about the potential cause of the attack as of yet, but now wasn’t the time.
Before he could suggest a conference in the dining room, Julius and Jennings Abel walked in. Two more people in the kitchen made the place feel like a dive bar on a Friday night.
“Wow,” he heard Rain say softly to her sister. “That’s a lot of testosterone.”
Dove elbowed her.
“Dove, Rain, these are the Abel brothers, Julius and Jennings. Guys, would one of you grab the suitcases from the back of the truck in the garage? Then we’re all going to sit down and talk through the next move.”
Julius strode forward. “Too bad your SUV didn’t blow up. You could use something more fun to drive.”
Quaide snorted. That SUV had a lot of memories for him and Dove. But maybe she didn’t want to remember them.
