“I’m thinking partner, but I’m pretty damn picky and you’re pretty damn prickly, so we’ll work that out as we go.”
“Why?” She had to know. “You’ll have to give up the teaching job, move here, and live with us. We’re not going to stop.” Not until every damn part of Red Wolf was dismantled, dead, and buried. Maybe not even then.
Bad guys were out there, and bad guys needed to be stopped.
“Because I love you.” The declaration caught her off guard, and she curled her fingers into her palms to try and stop the shaking. “I’m thirty-five years old. I’ve been around the block a time or two. I know what hell looks like, and I know what life without you looks like. A woman like you comes along once in a lifetime. I meant it when I said I’d find you. I’m here until you tell me to get the fuck out, and then only if I can’t change your mind.”
Impossible. Incorrigible. Incredible. “I’m really messed up.”
“It’s okay. You’re you, and I got into this business to help people.” He ran his knuckles down her cheek. “I’m here for you, whatever you need. I love you. Let me in. Let me stay.”
Everything about him, his gaze, his manner—his voice. He meant every word. Her gut screamed at her to trust him. Merc liked him. Chrome let him stay.
What did she want?
“You scare me.” Honesty hurt. He’d been honest with her, so she’d be honest with him. “I lost someone I loved. I lost my team too, but I lost someone I trusted with my heart. He took a lot of it with him.”
Gabriel didn’t move.
“What’s left is a pretty shattered piece of glass. I’m kind of callous at times, and it’s a lot easier for me to be anyone else but me.” A lump stuck in her throat, and she scowled. Tears sucked. “I hate big emotional displays, and I’m not cuddly. You stay—I’m probably going to be a real bitch to you.”
“This is different from how you’ve been since we met in what way?” The bland question stymied her tears, and she stared at him. He raised his eyebrows, and a smile curved his lips slowly. “I like all the broken bits, Copper. You don’t need to be anyone you don’t want to be, not as long as you’re with me. When you’re ready to let me in, I’ll be here. I love you.”
Nothing she did kept him in a box, and no sooner did she think she had a handle on that, then he changed the rules. Longing twisted inside of her. She wanted to reach out and take what he offered. To grab on and never let go.
Sniffing once, she swiped away a tear. “Rule number one? Copper doesn’t cry, so if you see tears…”
His smile grew. “They never happened.”
“Rule number two? Copper’s a damn good Marine, and she follows orders. If Chrome says jump, my ass will be in the air. I will drop everything and go.”
“Jarheads as a rule are pretty damn stubborn where rules and regulations are concerned. I can live with that.”
“Rule number three…” She fought the lump again, then swallowed around it. “My friends call me Copper, but my name is Sachi. And I really want you to stay.”
He swiped away one of the tears with his thumb. “Hi, Sachi.”
The broken bits and pieces of her heart squeezed together. She hadn’t been her in a long time, but she could do this. She could be Sachi for him, because she wanted to be Sachi. She could let go of the past, because she had a future. It was time.Goodbye, Brad.“Hi, Gabriel.”
Everything else— Well, that was the next mission.
Target: Tungsten
Target: Tungsten
After Operation Phoenix went to hell, Gunnery Sergeant Bradley Peck woke to a world that believed him dead, while the woman he loved had no idea he survived. Ordered to remain “buried,” he joined his fellow “survivors” to uncover what went wrong and who betrayed them all. Determined to clear Copper’s name, he’s not prepared to have her within arm’s reach and not be able to touch her. He learns the true definition of suffering when he has to watch Copper fall in love with someone else.
Thriving as they develop their work and personal relationship, Copper and Gabriel are not prepared for the revelation that not only is Brad alive, he’s been there the whole time. Copper battles her anger and hurt, leaving her with zero interest in her next assignment. But their teams aren’t the only one who’ve found out he survived. An old enemy put a bounty on Brad’s head, and Copper is the best suited to help him disappear.
Gabriel joins them on the mission, since he’s unwilling to let Copper face her ex-lover alone. Brad wants Copper back, but Gabriel is not stepping aside. Even if Tungsten can earn her forgiveness, can these two men find a common ground in the woman they both love? Orders are orders, but when danger comes gunning, Target: Tungsten may cost them all.
Prologue
Today
The black-garbed,anonymous soldiers who picked them up and dragged them back to the team moved forward. Three stood next to Poppy, the other four were beside Titanium.
How the fuck is he even alive?