Page 103 of Direct Action

No hesitation.

Just trust.

“If you sense danger or something doesn’t feel right, you get the fuck out of there. I need that promise from you, and I need to trust that no matter what, you’ll take care of you and get back to me safe.”

I knew what I was asking her to promise me, and she did too.

I wasn’t surprised it took her a few moments before she answered. Actually I would’ve been mildly pissed if she’d blindly answered without taking a beat and searching within herself whether she could make that kind of promise to me.

“Promise,” she whispered.

“I love you that much, Chloe. Love you enough to ask you to make that promise to me, knowing that if shit goes sideways, I’m asking you to put yourself first. No matter what. Now do you get me?” I asked.

“I get you, Ryan.”

I hoped like fuck she did.

Because if something happened and I lost her, I’d scorch a path of destruction that the devil himself would be proud of.

“Want me to clean you up, or do you want to take a nap like this?”

The sun had risen, but we needed a few hours of shut-eye before we headed back to Pete’s.

“I want you close.”

That meant she didn’t want to roll off.

Perfect. That was my preference too.

She let go of the headboard, lowered herself to my chest, and shoved her face into my throat.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Baby, you never have to thank me for fucking you.”

“Such a man,” she sighed, but I felt her smile. “I’m not expressing gratitude for the sex. I’m thanking you for letting me do this. I know you could stop me. Me and Poppy. I know if you wanted to, you could put an end to me working at the Vault. I know you allowing this goes against what makes you the man you are. And I know you’re only allowing it because you know what makes me. I promise I’ll be careful. I promise I won’t do anything to put myself in danger. I promise to do what I can to keep Poppy safe and reined in. Though she might’ve readily said yes, she’s scared, too, so I know I won’t have to rein her in, because she’ll be too scared to do anything crazy. And I promise to put myself first, which in reality is me putting you first because I want to come home safely—for me but also for you.”

Yeah, she got me.

Thank . . .

Fuck.

“Thanks, baby.”

I wrapped my arms around her, leaving one hand to rest on her ass while the other skimmed up and down her back. It didn’t take long before her breathing evened out and she gave me all her weight.

It wasn’t until I’d gone through all the ways this mission could go wrong that I could I drift off to sleep. And since there were many, many ways this could get fucked, when my phone rang, it felt like I’d only been asleep for a few minutes.

Chapter Thirty-Three

I kept my eyes trained out the window of the airplane. Something wasn’t right.

I could feel it.

A nagging in my stomach.

I knew Poppy felt it, too, but she was doing a good job hiding it.