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The dog bounded over and jumped into the cab.
Once they were all settled, Boone started the engine. It ran with a well-tuned purr. He reversed out, then pulled his truck in, and closed the barn up. He kicked leaves over the tire tracks.
Soon, they were out on the road, their headlights illuminating the trees.
“They won’t stop, will they?” she said quietly.
“They’re pros, Gemma. Their reputation depends on them finishing a job.”
“God.”
He reached out over the top of a snoozing Atlas and touched her arm. “I’m not letting them get one finger on you.”
She nodded and let out a large exhale. “So, where exactly are we going?”
“Colorado.”
“Colorado! That’s like two thousand miles away.”
“Right. The last place these mercenaries will expect you to be.”
“One of your buddies lives there?”
“Yep. Shep isn’t fond of people. He has a cabin in the Rocky Mountains.”
“Ah. That sounds familiar. Is that a requirement for your friends?”
“What?”
“A loner personality with a cabin in the woods?”
He laughed, then was quiet for a moment. “We carried out classified missions.”
She was quiet for a moment. “Hard missions.”
His hands flexed on the wheel. “Yeah. We didn’t come back whole. Being part of regular society isn’t easy.”
“So it’s easier to be alone.”
He stared through the windshield. He saw the faces of his lost brothers. “Yeah. Get some sleep now, Gemma.”
“All right.”
She shifted around and settled with her head against the window. Atlas leaned into her.
Finally, she went still. Her quiet breathing was the only sound in the cab.
She was holding up well. He hadn’t expected a billionaire’s daughter to have steel under her smooth skin and freckles.
* * *
Gemma wokewith an ache in her neck, and her hip itching like crazy. Scratching her hip, she felt the healing cut marring her skin. She straightened, then stared through the windshield at the open road and remembered everything.
The sun was shining, and the truck was filled with the drone of the wheels on the road. They were heading down some highway. Atlas had his head in her lap.
She looked at Boone. He drove well—steady and in control. Her gaze fell on his strong hands. Hands that had protected her.
He didn’t look tired, even though he must’ve been driving for hours.
