Special Ops Exclusive

Epilogue


One Month Later

“Are you serious? After a year on the run, we’re finally able to return to civilization and you choose to live here?” Sebastian Stone grumbled. “Jeez, the places we stayed in when we were hiding out weren’t half as isolated as this property.”

Captain Robert Tate offered his trademark I-don’t-give-a-damn shrug. “Eva and I like living in the country. Deal with it.”

Tate reached into the cooler and pulled out a couple beers. He handed one to Nick, who twisted off the cap and took a sip. “Thanks, Captain. Man, it’s hot out today. It wasn’t this humid in D.C.”

“Speaking of D.C., is Rebecca planning on covering Ferguson’s impeachment proceedings, or will ABN assign someone else?” Sebastian asked, curious.

“She’s covering it,” Nick replied. “When her new producer suggested that her personal connection to Ferguson and the scandal might affect her ability to remain objective, she almost bit his head off.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle. Rebecca had been covering the scandal since it had broken at the Veterans Gala and Nick knew she’d never give it up now. This was her exclusive, her scoop, and he didn’t blame her one bit for clinging so hard. She’d suffered for this, bled for it, lost her friends and coworkers for it.

His gaze drifted across the backyard. Well, not so much a backyard as a stretch of rugged land lined with trees in full bloom, gentle hills and a narrow creek that he could hear gurgling even all the way from the huge cedar deck behind Tate and Eva’s enormous North Carolina country house.

Rebecca was sitting on the grassy bank near the creek, swinging her bare feet in the water as she laughed at something Julia Davenport had said. Her red hair shone in the afternoon sunlight, and those green eyes were animated as usual. She and Julia had hit it off from the second they’d met, which didn’t really surprise Nick. Julia was as outspoken as Rebecca, and had that same type of sarcastic humor that Rebecca possessed in spades.

The two women had been chatting on the grass for the past hour, and now they were joined by Eva Dolce and her three-year-old son, Rafe, who made a mad dash for the water’s edge.

Rebecca caught the toddler around the waist before he could dive headfirst into the water, and the sight caused a rush of warmth to travel through Nick’s chest. Did it make him a total softie that he liked seeing a child in Rebecca’s arms?

Not that he planned on knocking her up anytime soon. No, children would come in time, way into the future; although if his father had anything to say about it, Rebecca would already be shopping for maternity clothes. Secretary Barrett had a lot on his plate at the moment dealing with the fallout from McAvoy’s and Ferguson’s actions, but that hadn’t stopped him from harassing Nick to make things official with Rebecca. The secretary was absolutely crazy about the woman, and didn’t try to hide it.

Nick was pretty crazy about her, too.

“So you two are staying in D.C., then,” Sebastian said. “Did you accept that job at the DoD yet?”

“No, I’m still considering it.” Nick knew he’d end up taking the gig, though. Returning to the military held no appeal for him anymore.

He glanced at Tate. “What are you up to these days? Are you and Eva still planning on becoming carpenters?”

Tate rolled his eyes. “Get it straight, Nicky. Eva is planning on designing security software. I might dabble in some carpentry. Tomorrow morning I’m going to build a chair.”

Sebastian snickered.

Nick snorted.

Their former commanding officer glared at them and flashed both his middle fingers. “Eff right off.”

“Wait, are you fake-swearing, too, now?” Nick demanded.

Resignation washed over Tate’s moss-green eyes. “That’s what happens when you live with a three-year-old.”

Nick sighed. “I live with a twenty-seven-year-old. I shouldn’t have to censor my language, but that infuriating woman insists on it.”

“You two are already living together?” Sebastian said in surprise.

“Yeah, I moved into Rebecca’s place in Arlington.” He rolled his eyes. “And don’t give me that look, Seb. You and Julia have been joined at the hip for months.”

Tate glanced at the sandy-haired man. “You still heading to Africa at the end of the month?”

Sebastian nodded, and his gray eyes softened as he glanced across the yard at Julia. “The doc’s got a new post, a six-month stint in a village in northern Somalia. I’m tagging along.”

Nick couldn’t help but feel amazed that they were standing around discussing their plans. They’d been living day-by-day this past year, trying to figure out why their unit had been targeted, and now this frustrating ordeal was finally behind them.

And somehow, during that year of hiding, all three had managed to find women who loved them.

Figure that one out.

Nick’s gaze drifted to Rebecca again. At that exact moment, she turned her head and caught him staring, and the smile she gave him was so beautiful, so full of joy and mischief that his heart damn near soared right out of his chest.

He smiled back, then focused on the two men he considered his best friends. No, his brothers.

Sebastian raised his beer bottle in the air. “Here’s to not having to look over our shoulders anymore.”

After the three of them clinked their bottles, Tate’s gaze shifted to the raven-haired woman by the creek and he let out a soft laugh. “We made out all right, huh?” he said wryly.

“Yup,” Sebastian concurred, his gray eyes focusing on Julia, whose long brown braid rustled in the afternoon breeze.

Nick’s eyes found their way back to the redhead who’d bulldozed her way into his life. “We made out just fine,” he agreed.

* * * * *