“Did Greene just make a joke?” Oliver hissed.
Dillon gave a bark of laughter. “I think the world tilted on its axis.”
A small, shaggy, white and brown missile launched itself into Dillon’s arms and the big soldier picked up the wiggling dog to hold it close to his face.
“How’s my Cricket?” Dillon crooned and the pup’s pink tongue wildly laved over the soldier’s face.
With a hand to Isaac’s hip, he guided him through the massive entryway and into the main room where several round tables sat, each surrounded by numerous chairs.
He directed Isaac toward one of the white table cloth covered tabletops adorned with blue and yellow spring flowers.
“Lincoln!”
Holden’s deep, growling voice drew both his and Isaac’s attention to the two men standing nearby.
“Holden?” Link eyed the bigger man warily.
“I want to know why the hell you didn’t protect Beckett!”
“Beckett? What the fuck’s wrong with Beckett?” Link scowled and advanced on Holden.
Beckett, having caught the altercation, hurried across the room.
“Nothing is wrong with me, for Christ sakes!”
At Isaac’s gasp, Zane got a good look at Beckett’s face.
“What happened to your face?” Isaac asked Beckett.
“What the hell?” he echoed, running his eyes over the black eye and fat lip. It couldn’t be Brewster or Lance; those assholes had been reprimanded and transferred to another base six months ago.
“All right, everyone, shut up and take a seat,” Maddox bellowed over the crowd before Beckett could respond. The captain had no idea that Link was about to beat down Holden.
Beckett did, though, and stepped between the two massive men and placed his hand on their chests. He pushed, separating them, and then took Holden’s hand.
Holden stared as if gobsmacked, but followed along after Beckett to take a seat at the table.
“Come on.” Eagle gripped Link’s arm in a hard grip. “Dave’s waiting.” The pair disappeared in the direction of the table where the Secretary of Defense sat.
“What happened to Beckett’s face?” Isaac whispered, taking a seat.
“I don’t know,” he murmured and followed suit.
The room grew quiet, and a few throats cleared as they waited.
Liam stood and walked to the front of the room before facing the gathered crowd.
“We don’t normally meet like this under one roof,” Liam began. “Mostly, because it’s dangerous for us all to be in one spot, but also because keeping the lot of you in line is a full-time fucking job.”
He laughed along with the rest of the room and when Isaac slipped his hand into his, he linked their fingers and slightly turned his head to run his eyes over the love of his life.
To say that Isaac was gorgeous was putting it mildly. His heart had just about stopped when Isaac had appeared from the bedroom dressed in a black suit and white shirt with a blue tie that almost matched the color of his eyes. The whole package had his heart kickstarting with a lurch against his fully healed ribs.
Isaac smiled and quirked a brow in question, but he shook his head. No words could possibly describe his feelings. He was in love and before too much longer, he was going to ask Isaac to marry him. He couldn’t fucking wait. Because he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, Isaac was it for him.
Isaac
He lifted Zane’s hand to his mouth and kissed his fingers. His love’s hazel eyes were filled with so much heat, Isaac had to swallow past his growing lump of emotion. Even after six months, his feelings for Zane had never wavered, but instead had grown stronger.
He’d spent the morning with Zane at the shelter, dishing out breakfast to the needy and helping out. Zane had accompanied him so many times that they’d started taking turns when they couldn’t go together.
“What?” Zane whispered, feeling his gaze.
He smiled, shook his head, and lifted Zane’s hand to kiss his fingers.
“You all know the Secretary of Defense, and Agent Forest Taylor and his task force,” Liam was saying. “We all came together to take down an organized crime ring and stop a few madmen from causing further harm. It’s taken us six months to wrap up all the loose ends of the Chambers’ organization, but we can confidently say we’ve done it along with the help of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division and local law enforcement. And for that, you all are to be commended.”
Liam lifted his glass to the room and waited for everyone to do the same before continuing.
“So, here’s a toast to every person in this room. Good job. Tonight, we eat, drink, and be merry. For tomorrow, we live to fight another day and another enemy.”
Before taking a sip from his glass, Liam stepped back to his own table and tapped his glass to Spencer’s before tossing back the drink.
Isaac tapped his glass against Zane’s.
“Why’d he have to be here?” Greene grunted from his spot at their table. Legs splayed, the guy drained the wine in his glass.
“Who?” Isaac glanced in the direction Greene was looking. “Forest?”
Zane snorted and glanced at Greene. “He’s part of this. You’d be lucky to have him in your corner.”
“He looks like something from the cover of GQ,” Greene sneered.
“Ease up, Greene,” Zane grumbled. “My boyfriend could be on the cover of GQ.”
“I could not,” he laughed.
Greene squinted at him and then gave a rueful smile at Zane. “Point taken.”
“I’m hungry.” He leaped up and strode toward the buffet table with Zane’s soft chuckle following him.
It pleased the hell out of him that Zane thought him handsome.
He stepped up behind Archer and Colin.
“Get me that burrito,” Colin said, scowling at Archer holding out his plate.
“Do I look like your servant?” Archer squinted at Colin.
“Well, now that you mention it, yes.”
“Dream on. Get your own burrito,” Archer snapped.
Colin laughed and cut in front of Archer to get the food he wanted. “Don’t forget you told the kids you’d stop by.”
“I haven’t forgotten,” Archer grumbled.
“And bring a Spirograph. They love that shit,” Colin added.
“What do I look like, a toy store?” Archer tossed
