Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 38307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 153(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 153(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
Grant’s smile widens. “Or what?”
Rowan’s hand grips my arm, tight. I feel her shaking. Not with weakness. With fury. “I know who you are,” she spits up the stairs. “I’ve been chasing your name for months.”
Grant looks down at her like she’s a gnat. “And now you’ve caught it. Congratulations.”
Rowan steps forward, and I tighten my hold on her elbow. She doesn’t fight me. She just tilts her chin up, eyes blazing. “You can’t erase the truth,” she says.
Grant’s eyes harden. “I can erase you.” He nods once to someone inside the plane.
A man appears behind him, raising a gun. I fire immediately. The round hits the man’s forearm. The gun drops. He screams and collapses back into the cabin.
Grant’s expression flickers for the first time. Surprise. Then anger. He reaches into his coat.
I don’t hesitate.
I take him down with one shot. Grant crashes onto the stairs with a shout, hands flailing, blood dark against the metal.
Rowan flinches, then steadies, eyes locked on him.
Shark’s voice comes through my headset. “Van secure. Two suspects down, one cuffed. Pilot is contained.”
Cal’s voice follows. “County is on approach. Airfield is locked. Great work.”
I keep my weapon trained on Grant as I climb the stairs, step over him, and put cuffs on his wrists.
He glares up at me, teeth bared. “You think you won,” he spits out.
I lean close, voice low. “You took the wrong woman.”
Grant’s eyes flick toward Rowan below.
Rowan stands with her shoulders squared, hair loose now, eyes bright with rage and relief.
I love her so much it scares me.
Sheriff units roll in, lights cutting across the runway, tires crunching gravel. Deputies pour out, taking custody, securing the scene. Cal arrives moments later, moving fast, eyes scanning, command in every step. He checks Rowan first, hands light as he assesses her for injuries.
“You okay?” he asks.
Rowan nods, breath shaking. “I’m okay.”
Cal turns to me. “Sin.”
“I’m good.”
He studies my face and doesn’t push. He looks back at Grant being hauled away into an ambulance. “We’ve got enough to hold him. We also have enough to cut Randy loose from whatever lies he’s been telling. Your story is going to bury the corporation.”
Rowan’s mouth trembles. “Randy.”
Cal’s expression is hard. “Randy will face consequences. Blackmail doesn’t excuse attempted murder.”
Rowan swallows, then nods once. “Good.”
I step toward her, and the moment I’m close, she launches into me. Her arms wrap around my neck. Her face presses against my chest. Her whole body shakes with relief. I wrap her tight, one hand at the back of her head, the other at her waist, holding her like I can lock her to me by force.
She whispers into my shirt, voice breaking. “I thought I lost you.”
I close my eyes. “You won’t.”
She pulls back just enough to look up at me, eyes glossy. “You can’t promise that.”
I look at her, really look. The woman who fights with words. The woman who refuses to bow. The woman who saw through my rules and still trusted me. “I can promise you I’ll try until my last breath,” I say.
Rowan’s mouth trembles again, and then she kisses me. Right there on the runway, under flashing lights and the smell of jet fuel and justice.
I kiss her back like I’ve been holding my soul in my teeth and she just gave me permission to let go. When we break apart, her forehead rests against mine.
“I love you,” she confesses. The words hit me hard.
“I love you too,” I say. No hesitation. No rules. “And I’m done pretending that scares me.”
Rowan laughs through a sob. “Good. Because it scares me.”
I brush my thumb over her cheek. “We’ll be scared together.”
Cal clears his throat nearby, pretending he isn’t listening, giving us the courtesy of distance. “Two things,” he says. “One, Grant is in custody. Two, the corporation’s leverage file is in our hands. He brought it to the meeting with Randy. We pulled it from the van.”
Rowan’s eyes sharpen. “That’s the whole chain.”
“It is,” Cal confirms. “You get your story. With receipts. The kind nobody can bury.”
Rowan exhales a shaky breath. “I’m going to publish it.”
“You will,” Cal agrees. “After we run it through legal. After we make sure you’re protected. Then you can light the match.”
Rowan nods, then looks back at me. “And you?”
“And me,” I repeat, like the word is foreign and familiar at the same time.
Rowan’s hand slides into mine. “What happens after?”
I take a slow breath. For years, my life has been missions and exits. In and out. No attachments. No staying. Then Rowan happened. And staying suddenly feels like the only option that makes sense. “I finish this,” I say. “I make sure you’re safe. I help my brothers with my father. And after that…” I squeeze her hand. “I pick you. If you’ll have me.”
Rowan smiles, soft and bright in the harsh runway light. “Sin Hawthorne. Are you asking me to build a life with you?”