Page 71 of Hollow State

Darwin burst out laughing. He couldn't help himself. "I adore everything about you."

"You like that I come off all reserved but am really a tiger in bed."

"You're definitely not shy when it comes to being naked."

She kissed his nose. "That's actually not true. I kind of hate it. But not around you." She tugged at the shirt that was still hanging off his shoulders. "I'll take this now."

"You destroyed all the buttons."

"I don't care. I'm wearing it and my pants back to our room."

He wrapped his shirt around her upper body, helping her pull her arms through. "I don't know about you, but I worked up an appetite. I hope there are some brownies left."

"I saved you some." She scrunched her nose. "We have a problem."

"What's that?"

"We forgot to use a condom again." She glanced to her right. "I brought one. It's in the back pocket of my pants."

"This is like the fourth time. I feel like a teenager." Darwin looked between her, the pants, and then back to her again. "What are the chances?"

"You're the doctor."

"Maybe you should⁠—"

She covered his mouth. "If you're going to say that I should sit this mission out because of the possibility, I might have to hurt you."

"You're right. I was going to say that. And you're right. Unless we know for sure, which we wouldn't for a few weeks, that would be a little premature." All at once, a million other thoughts occurred to him. "We've talked about a future, but we've never talked about kids. I'm an old man."

"You're forty-three. That's not ancient."

"It's pretty old to be a first-time dad." He tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "Are kids something you want?"

"To be honest, I never gave it much thought. I never believed I'd be with someone in a forever kind of way." She leaned in and kissed him tenderly. "Now that I see myself sitting on a front porch going gray with someone, having a tiny little human doesn't seem like the worst thing in the world."

"Maybe this week isn't the right time to start a family, but…maybe in a few months? At least by the time I'm forty-five." There was a part of Darwin that couldn't believe he was having this conversation. It seemed ludicrous considering what they’d been through and what they were planning. But maybe, he needed something to look forward to. Maybe they both did.

Planning a future together meant they both believed they had more than a fighting chance.

"Wow," Wynn whispered. "Are we talking kids, family, even marriage?"

"I haven’t proposed. Not yet, anyway." He lowered his chin. "And I'm not doing it here, in this room, in front of the Bunsen burners." First, he’d need to find her a place with windows.

Forty-eight hours. His future hinged on breaking into his former place of employment and doing the one thing he swore he'd never do.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Twenty-four hours later, Wynn sat in the back of the lead SUV, her fingers resting lightly on the strap of her tactical bag. The Vancouver sky had turned into a bruised purple and soon it would bleed into the black of night.

They were just off Marine Highway in Big Bend, a sprawling industrial and commercial stretch in Burnaby, BC, only a few kilometers from the Hyperion campus. The safe house Gus had secured for them was tucked away in an unassuming neighborhood that felt worlds apart from the corporate fortress they were preparing to infiltrate. It would serve as their temporary mission control. And for the next twelve hours, it would be the center of their universe.

The garage door rattled upward, and Coulter steered the heavy vehicle inside. Gideon followed close behind in the second SUV, the tires crunching softly over the concrete floor before both engines cut out.

The silence that followed lasted only a second before the doors opened and the team unpacked their gear.

Wynn stepped out into the cool, damp air of the garage and slung her bag over her shoulder. She categorized the medical equipment, cataloged the timeline, and ran through the entry contingencies. But beneath the cold, calculating surface of the combat medic, a nervous hum vibrated through her chest.

She glanced across the hood of the SUV at Darwin. He held a Pelican case in one hand and had slung a backpack over his shoulder. A few days ago, going into combat meant relying on her training and her team to keep everyone alive. Now, the stakes had fundamentally shifted. She was managing a mission, but she was also managing being in love with the man who’d brought them all here. Protecting Darwin wasn't just an objective anymore. It was a physical and emotional need that complicated everything.