“Yeah, baby girl, I could use some pizza too. Maybe tonight, huh?”
Zach led them from the building and out into the fresh air. Chloe and Ryan were there, and a bunch of other men in black too. The SEAL team.
Emotion flooded her. She loved them. Every single one of them. She could never show them how much, but she was going to try. No wonder Chloe cooked for these guys all the time. She was still thanking them in the best way she knew how.
Fourteen men knelt on the ground with their hands behind their heads. Scalding fury roared through her at what Dal had tried to make her do.
“Where is he?” she growled. “I want to spit in his face.”
“Too late, Kayla,” Zach said softly. “He’s dead.”
Kayla hugged Ana tight and closed her eyes for a second. “Good. Saves me from having to kill him.”
Zach led her over to a big black SUV that pulled into the clearing but he didn’t open the door. Instead, he turned her. He searched her face, his green eyes filled with the kind of worry she hadn’t seen there before.
“I’m sorry you suffered even a moment of fear, Kayla. I’m fucking pissed as hell that I didn’t stop those assholes from taking you. I let you down, and it kills me that it happened—”
She put trembling fingers over his lips. Love swelled in her heart, in her soul. She couldn’t let him think he’d failed her. It was the furthest thing from the truth.
“You came for me, Zach. You didn’t abandon me. You told me you would protect me, and you did. Chloe was right. She had faith, but I have to admit that I wasn’t sure. I’ve never been able to count on anyone but myself and Bailey.”
“I didn’t protect you the way I wanted to,” he said.
She hated to see him this way. Hated the remorse in his eyes. Love was so huge inside her that it had no choice but to spill free.
“I love you, Zach. You’re the best thing to ever happen to me, besides Ana. Without the two of you, my world wouldn’t be the same.”
He tugged her and Ana closer and kissed her swiftly. It was a hot kiss with tongues and desperate need, but it didn’t last. He broke the kiss and then kissed Ana’s forehead.
“I love you both. When I thought I might lose you—” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I would have torn the world apart with my bare hands to get to you, Kayla. Nothing was going to stop me from finding you.”
She smiled, and everything was right and perfect. Her whole world, for the first time ever, felt exactly the way it should. Full, beautiful, bright. Because of him.
“I can’t wait to see what the future brings with you, Mr. Anderson. I’m thinking it’s going to be amazing.”
He opened the door for her and helped her inside. Then he climbed in beside her and drew her close. “It’s already amazing, Mrs. Anderson. Because I have you and Ana-banana.”
Two months later…
Neo stood beneath a pergola crowned with white flowers, wearing his US Navy dress uniform, with a view of the Chesapeake Bay in the background. Beside him, Camel stood with the ring box that contained platinum wedding bands in his pocket. Camel and Bailey had gotten married a month ago, in a beautiful ceremony in a Russian Orthodox church, and now it was Neo’s and Kayla’s turn.
He’d asked her if she wanted the wedding like Bailey’s, with the white dress and the big reception, but she’d said no, she really didn’t. She’d wanted a princess wedding as a little girl, but she wasn’t a little girl anymore. What she wanted was a ceremony with her friends and family, with a beautiful view and a catered reception, and here they were.
The music started, and Neo’s insides twisted.
“Relax,” Camel said. “You’re already married.”
“I know. But this is important to Kayla.”
“Yeah, and you got it handled. She’s happy. Bailey said so.”
He was glad to know it, though he was still somewhat nervous. She hadn’t talked about her dress, so he still didn’t know what she’d chosen to wear. She wanted it to be a surprise.
Bailey came down the aisle carrying Ana in her arms. Ana could walk now, but not so well that she’d stroll the length of the aisle in anything resembling a timely manner. She liked to explore along the way.
Ana was dressed in pale pink and she threw handfuls of flower petals from a little basket that Bailey held as they walked. Everyone in the audience laughed softly as she passed by, chattering and tossing.
Her first word had indeed been Mama. She was working on Dada. And Neo was her daddy legally now because he’d formally adopted her. She still said Za sometimes, and they still didn’t know if she meant pizza or Zach. They’d probably never know.
The music swelled and Kayla appeared. Neo went numb at how blindingly beautiful she was.
“Breathe,” Camel said under his breath.
Neo sucked in a breath obediently and the stars he’d started to see faded away.
Kayla was wearing white. Not just white, but a traditional wedding dress with a train. It was simple and beautiful, clinging to her form like a caress. She walked down the aisle on General Mendez’s arm, and Neo had a moment of envy for his commander.
Mendez’s wife and child were in the audience, as well as all the SEALs and their women. Ghost was there, and the guys from the Bandits, including Ian Black, who’d tipped an imaginary hat at Neo when he’d first walked into Money and Ella’s backyard. Some of the guys from Alpha and Echo squads were there too, including Jake Ryan and his talented tattoo artist wife Eva. Eva had covered Kayla’s tattoo. Instead of a motorcycle tattoo,
