Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
“Targets apprehended and disarmed,” Gray informed River, out of breath. He patted the men’s pockets, checked their belts, and felt their torsos for hidden items that could be used to escape.
The guy Gray was originally supposed to take care of was waking up, groaning and grunting, but there wasn’t much he could do. Or the other one, for that matter, who just glared at Gray.
“Stop kidnapping people and this shit doesn’t happen,” Gray told him.
A second later, River had an update. “Rescue team in place—they’re entering the side building where they think they’ll find the hostages at the next guard change.”
“Casualties so far?” Darius asked.
“Zero.”
Gray wiped sweat off his forehead and dug out a bundle of rope, and Darius helped him tie the two men to the nearest tree.
“All right, we’re returning to our position,” Darius announced gruffly. He didn’t waste time bringing out the monocular again, possibly to make sure they hadn’t attracted a crowd. Who the fuck knew how many soldiers the cartel had roaming around.
On the way back to the dirt road, Darius had to be a dick. “We’re gonna talk about this when we get home.”
“Okay, baby.” Gray snuck in a quick kiss to Darius’s cheek. “I’m looking forward to all the praise for doing exactly what you taught me.”
Darius shot him a side glare.
Woof!
CHAPTER TWO
“Darius! Ellis sent our wedding monogram!” you yell from downstairs. “Oh my God, you have to come see it. It’s gorgeous.”
What the hell is a wedding monogram?
After filling the log holder in our bedroom with more firewood, I return down the stairs and see you on the couch with your phone. You’ve been down this weekend, and I fucking hate it. Neither of us wanted to postpone the wedding, but it looks like this virus ain’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Maybe this wedding monogram whateverthefuck will brighten your mood.
I sit down next to you and squint at the screen. Oh. Well, hell.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” you ask. “Ellis designed it himself.”
A smile tugs at the corners of my mouth, and I dip my chin. It actually is beautiful. G&D—I like the look of that. The design isn’t frilly or too fancy either. Elegance meets nature, with cursive writing and some simple foliage emerging from the letters.
“We’re gonna put this shit everywhere,” you vow. “Invitations, place cards, menu, wedding favors—”
“I can ask people for favors because we’re getting hitched?” I joke.
You grin and roll your eyes.
I’m just happy to see you smiling again. I know you love our life, but this wedding is your life jacket through the pandemic. Your main distraction, your personal project, and your light at the end of the tunnel. And where other grooms find their future spouses tedious for going into bridezilla mode, you have no idea how much it means to me. You want our big day to be perfect. You want the day I become your husband to be perfect.
No fucking wonder I feel the pressure about our vows. I can’t put into words how much I live and breathe for you, knucklehead. For our family.
“Remember when we said not a goddamn scratch?” Darius grumbled. “Those are fucking scratches.”
Gray suppressed a sigh and returned the first aid kit to one of his pockets. There, all better. The cuts and scrapes he’d sustained along his arms during the wrestle were cleaned and hidden underneath gauze now. Hell, he hadn’t even noticed getting injured. But out here, they took no chances. An infection could ruin everything.
“Do you remember when I told you to cut the cord?” he reminded patiently. “Don’t let me be your weakness, Dare. I’m supposed to be your strength, like you’re mine. Please trust me out here just like you do at home when we’re training.”
Darius blew out a breath and walked closer, his boots crunching gravel on the dirt road. He inspected the bandage around Gray’s arms. “I may recall such a discussion.”
The last of the fight drained out of Gray, and he reached up to kiss his stubborn man. “I love you. Just treat me like you’d treat Ryan in the field. Rely on me, Big Daddy. Count on me.”
Darius’s forehead wrinkled. “Big Daddy does not fucking tell Ryan he loves him in the field.”
Gray closed his eyes and laughed silently.
It was the moment Shay chose to remind them of their listening in. “This has got to be the sweetest extraction in PMC history.”
Even Darius found that funny.
Gray had never considered the amount of waiting Ramirez must’ve done before rescuing them from the island. Or the waiting Ryan had undergone while hoping for updates from the yacht. It was a lot of waiting.
Gray squatted down and inspected a tiny frog right at the end of the dirt road.
And how many people can you kill just by looking at them, froggy?
It’d been two hours since anything had happened. Darius had gone and checked in on the two men they’d tied up twice, and they hadn’t moved an inch.