"I'm fine, Maddox. I can't see anything, though. He sort of came out of nowhere and put a black thing over my face, and had me restrained quicker than I like to admit," she gritted out.

The image of the guy ambushing her, and what he could have done had he wanted to kill her made his blood run cold.

There was a sound of something thudding, and then a feminine moan of pain. He had to stay where he was even as it ate at his soul.

"If your girl tries to run again, I'll put a bullet in her leg."

His jaw clenched at the matter of fact way he spoke.

The front door exploded open, giving Maddox the opening he'd been waiting for. Impotent rage threatened to choke him as he rushed the distance between them. Whoever was coming through the door offered the distraction he needed. Silent thuds, only a gun with a silencer made, made sheetrock fly near his head. His arm jerked as a bullet found him in the dark, but it didn't stop him from his target.

Lights lit up the living room and hall as Kai and his team came in with guns blazing. Maddox ignored them, stalking back toward the room he could see little specks of blood leading to now that there were lights.

"Stand down, Lopez," Kai yelled.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and twisted the owner's arm. "Don't make me break this, boy. You may need it again." Letting go, he rushed into the room completely devoid of furniture.

Kai blinked at him, but signaled they'd follow. Maddox gave no fucks at that moment, knowing the other man had Hailey.

The nondescript man was someone he'd never seen, and wasn't sure he'd recognize if he'd passed again. The patio doors leading out were open, with the security lights from outside giving them enough room to see the man.

Hailey's head was still covered and with her hands in zip ties behind her back, she stumbled behind the man.

"You might as well stop running. There is no way you'll get out of here alive, even with the girl as a shield," he stated calmly.

The lines of the man's face became hard, that of a stone-cold killer. "I already made my deal with the devil. Have you? You see, I knew going in this could be a one-way ride." He raised his gun before Maddox realized what he planned to do, and shot himself in the head.

"Motherfuckingsonofabitch," Kai gasped, rushing over to the falling body.

Maddox hurried over to pull Hailey away from the dead man. "I'm taking Hailey back to the living room. I need to call this in."

"Mad, get this fucking thing off me." Hailey struggled against him.

She'd been so calm he hadn't thought anything of the hood covering her, only wanted to get her away from the blood and gore that was left of the other man.

"Easy, love. Let me." He had to use a knife to cut the strings holding the ends in a knot, then pulled the offending thing off.

Wild dark eyes stared around like a frightened animal. "Is he dead?"

He nodded. "Oh, god, is that his blood on me?" She looked at her shoulder and cringed.

"I'm sorry, Hales. Let's go get you cleaned up." He led her into the bathroom across the hall. The SEAL named Oz stared at him. At six foot three, the big red haired man probably intimidated many with his fierce size. Yet the one named Sully, with his dark skin and piercing green eyes, had what he and Royce referred to as 'the looking at you like they'd done killed you ten times in their head stare.' Not that he was worried.

The overhead lights came back on, giving some relief to the darkness. Before she could get a glimpse at the mess on her shirt, he grabbed the front and ripped it in two. The action causing the wound in his arm to make him curse. "Damn it. I've been shot more in the last forty-eight hours than I have in the last year."

She looked down at her chest, then up at him. "That was kind of sexy."

"You ain't got time for shower sex, Mad. I've got a room full of SEALs ready to take my head off, so I'm gonna need you to get to getting, and get out here ASAP," Royce said with his ever-present humor.

"Do you ever want to throat-punch him?" Hailey asked with a straight face.

He nodded. "So many times it hurts."

A loud knock interrupted them again. "I brought your girl a change of clothes I found in the kitchen." Royce's voice faded. "You're welcome, by the way."

"Let the throat punching commence later. He has clean clothes for me. Now, I just need some shower supplies and I'm good, but I'll take warm water." Hailey turned toward the shower and started it.

He opened the door to find the pile of clothing and a small shower kit. Royce was good for a few things.

"Oh, bless him. I will kiss him instead of hit him."

"How about you shower quickly, and kiss me later?" He swatted her ass as she shimmied out of her clothing and got into the steaming water.

They walked back out to find Royce standing near the fireplace where he'd stood only a short time ago dressed all in black, while the men he'd met while pretending to work for the Navy stood glaring at him.

"Has Royce told you anything of importance?"

"If you mean has he explained who the hell you were, then the answer is no. Has he showed us his middle finger repeatedly, then yes? If I didn't think I'd be in a shitload of trouble, I'd show him what he could do with that finger," Kai growled.

Royce raised his dark brows. He and Kai could almost pass for brothers, only Royce had about forty pounds of muscle on the SEAL. Not to mention the fact his partner was deadly with or without a gun.

Once he got confirmation from Royce that they could share a little information about their mission, he could see each man become more rigid.

"So, Dex was just in it for the money?" Kai blew out a frustrated breath.

Hailey nodded. "He told them I knew more, which is a lie. I don't know if he thought he could get more money out of them, or what. I think he's the one who tried to kill me and either got scared, or had a bit of a second thought at the last minute. He truly wasn't the greatest shot on the best days." Although she knew he'd tried to kill her, it still hurt to know one of the men she'd worked with for years would barter with her life.

"CIA, I never would have pegged you for that. I mean, shit." Coyle shook his head.

Maddox shrugged. "That's good. It's not like we walk around with it on our shirts. This is classified information." He stumbled a little.

"Hey, I think he might need some medical attention." Kai grabbed him before he fell.

Hailey was on his other side. "Sit down before you fall down."

"Only because I think you may be right," he muttered, allowing them to lead him to the leather sofa.

"Well, shit. Looks like we'll be taking you to the hospital. Can't have you passing out on us. Load 'em up boys." Kai clapped his hands.

Maddox squinted up. "I just need to rest a few."

"He's probably lost too much blood from being shot twice and neither time did anything but grunt and keep moving." Hailey glared at him.

Royce pushed away from the fireplace. "Damn, always gotta be the tough one. Alright, let's do this."

Between Royce and Oz, they maneuvered him into the Bronco with Hailey sitting next to him. They looked like their own little convoy as they headed back into town, leaving his family's home once again with death and bodies inside.

"I'll make sure it's closed up and properly cleaned," Royce said from the front seat.

Maddox looked at the brick ranch and shook his head. He couldn't imagine ever coming back there to visit, let alone live. He'd make sure the government got rid of the property quietly.

The way the men all got out, setting up a defensive perimeter, had the good folks of Omaha's General Hospital gaping at them. Maddox could only imagine what they probably looked like with several of them in camo, while he and Royce were all in black.

A quick call to the right people, and they were rushed through without incident.

"Damn, being CIA must be nice." Oz leaned against the wall.

Glaring at the men who didn't seem in any hurry to leave, Maddox lifted his middle finger. "Don't you have a ship to be on or some shit?"

Sully shook his head. "Nah, we are good on air, land, and sea. Besides, we're your protection detail until you're released."

Hailey smiled. "I think I like that."

"Hales, come here." He held his hand out. Imagining her with the other man had him seeing red.

"What's wrong? Are you hurting?" She ran her hand over his head.

"Oh, I know that look. Boys, I think we should step outside." Royce motioned toward the door.

8.

It had been over a month since Dex had been killed and she'd last seen Maddox. Hailey wasn't sure what to think, other than he'd changed his mind. After the other men had left the hospital room, he'd told her to give him a kiss. Then, when she'd tried to pull away, he'd explained she was his. Nobody else's but his. Her heart had skipped a beat, and she'd said it went both ways. His hand had gone to the back of her neck and held her so they were looking eye to eye. His growled words of only his and of course he was hers, had her covering his mouth with a soft cry. If she could have, she'd have climbed onto the bed with him as the heat had exploded between them. Royce's knock to let them know he was being discharged was the only thing that kept her, and him, from acting on the impulse.

She sat back with a heavy sigh. Maybe it was time to go home. Her family surely wouldn't roll out all the words of wisdom they thought she needed, and ones she hated, since she wasn't returning with what they'd call a failure. Her latest enlistment was up. She could move home and start a new life. A life without half her heart. She snorted and turned her computer on. The words on the screen didn't make sense to her, something that never happened in her line of work as a computer science expert.

Standing, she went to the wall of windows overlooking Rapid City. Far below she could see people milling about their day, while she felt like her own life was stuck on the hamster wheel. "Time to hop off and quit with the spinning," she admonished herself.

"I don't know, I kind of like it when you're on top. Well, in my fantasies that is."

She spun at the sound of Maddox's deep voice coming from behind her. He made her breath catch. "What are you doing here?"

Dressed in a pair of jeans and a polo shirt, she couldn't remember ever seeing him look better. Every part of her wanted to run into his arms and beg him to hold her, and never let go.

"I came to see you." Maddox's eyes went from her head to her toes, making her glad she'd worn one of her best dresses.

Taking a deep breath. "Oh." What the hell did he want her to say? It had been thirty-three days, sixteen hours and a handful of minutes since she'd seen or heard from him, but she wasn't keeping count.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"Of course." She gestured to the seat in front of her desk. The cubicles outside her office showed several heads above them staring at her and Maddox.

"I think they're curious as to why I'm here." He pointed his thumb backward.

His grin did funny things to her belly. "I believe the story was you were injured and released from active duty. You being here looking as healthy as any of us sort of makes that seem odd." She took a fortifying breath. "What are you doing here, Maddox?"

He waited until he had the door shut, then went around and closed the blinds, blocking the view from the others. By the time he finished her nerves were strung tight.

"Why do you think I'm here, Hales?" His tone deepened, and then he was walking around her desk, coming to a stop in front of her.

With her left hand holding her desk, and the right gripping her chair, she stared at the man she loved beyond reason. "Why don't you tell me?"

He pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger. "You're going to make me grovel, aren't you?"

Licking her lips, she waited.

A growl escaped him. "I fucking love you. I loved you the moment I walked into this operation thinking one of you were a traitor, and plans started forming of how I'd get you out if it was you. When I saw you on the side of the road and the shit hit the fan, my heart nearly stopped. For the last month, I've worked my ass off to get a plan in motion so I could offer you something other than a nomadic life. You deserve more than a man who leaves for weeks, months at a time without notice. I didn't want to start a life with you, and make promises I couldn't keep. One that I couldn't guarantee I'd not come home to. I resigned from my job."

She couldn't believe her ears. Knowing Maddox and the way he'd been, imagining him as anything other than what he was didn't compute. "Why?" The one-word question came out a hoarse whisper.

"I can't live without my heart and soul. You are it for me, Hellion." He didn't give her a chance to say anything else. The small space he'd allowed was eliminated as his arms snaked around her, lifting her off her feet, bringing her flush to his body.

In that moment she cursed the form-fitting dress and her inability to wrap her legs around his waist. When they broke apart, they were both panting. "I love you so much it hurts, Mad. For the last month, my world was cold and empty without you. I think JoJo and Blake were ready to hunt you down and either kill you, or hogtie your ass until you came back."

Her arms were locked around his neck, hands smoothing over his shaved head. God, she loved everything about this man.

Maddox laughed. "I'd like to see that."

"I'm sure they'd reenact their plans for us if you'd like." She laughed down at him.

Maddox's hands smoothed up her thighs, taking the skirt of her dress with them. He sat her on the top of the desk once he'd lifted it to her waist. "I need you, Hales."