After Midnight

  The blonde nodded. “The bedroom window was open. I snuck in, grabbed the kid, snuck out.”

  She sank her teeth into the side of her cheek. “Hopefully they won’t have any trouble with Nazara.”

  Once again, the notion of Kane getting hurt burned her throat like battery acid. God, she couldn’t lose him. He was the only man she’d ever loved, the only one she’d ever opened herself up to, and she wasn’t sure she could survive losing him.

  “He wants me to be a different person.” The words shuddered out before she could stop them.

  Noelle slowly shifted her head. Since her pale blue eyes were veiled, the disagreement she voiced was unexpected. “Nah. Kane knows who he married.”

  “Does he?” Desperation clawed up Abby’s throat. “He’s talking about leaving the team and moving to Michigan. Michigan. I can’t do that. I can’t be a soccer mom who lives in the suburbs and drives carpool and bakes cookies while I wait for my kid to come home from school. It’s not me.”

  “He doesn’t want that, either.” Noelle chuckled. “He might think so now, but trust me, he’ll wise up. Kane’s a soldier, wired for action. He wouldn’t last a day in the burbs.”

  “The work we do is too dangerous,” she said, fighting a burst of panic.

  “Sure, it’s dangerous. People get hurt, people die. But if you want to pop out this kid, you can find ways to make it work.” Noelle shrugged. “You and Kane can alternate missions so one of you will always be home with the rug rat.”

  Surprise widened Abby’s eyes. The nonchalant—and perfectly logical—suggestion was unexpected. It also made a hell of a lot more sense than Kane’s implausible idea to move to frickin’ Michigan. It hadn’t even occurred to Noelle that Abby would have to change her entire personality and cram herself into a cookie-cutter life that would never, ever suit her.

  So why did her own husband think it could?

  The depressing thought unleashed the flood of emotion she’d been trying to keep at bay. The tears finally spilled over, streaming down her cheeks in hot, salty waves. When a soft sob choked out of her mouth, Noelle cursed under her breath.

  “Goddamn pregnancy hormones.” The blonde shook her head in dismay. “Quit crying, Sinclair. You’re upsetting the rug rat.”

  Sure enough, Tommy Aberdeen had started whimpering again, and she instinctively murmured encouragements. “It’s okay, sweetie,” she said hoarsely. “Go to sleep. When you wake up, you’ll see your mama. I promise.”

  As she rubbed his back, the little boy quieted down, one chubby hand sliding up to touch her face. He wrinkled his nose when he felt the wetness there, then pursed his lips, rose up on her lap, and smacked a kiss right on her cheek.

  Abby’s heart cracked in two, though she wasn’t entirely sure what caused it. The sweet, simple gesture, or the pure, earnest trust shining in the boy’s eyes. Nobody had ever looked at her like that.

  Nobody but Kane.

  Would their child look at her like that?

  Her throat closed up when she realized she hadn’t even told Kane she loved him before they’d left for this mission. What if something happened to him? What if he got hurt? Or, God forbid, what if he died thinking she was angry with him?

  The radio on the center console crackled to life, putting an end to her terrified thoughts.

  “Apollo secure.” Morgan’s voice.

  Relief crashed into Abby’s chest in one fell swoop. She hurriedly clicked on the radio and addressed Morgan. “Any trouble?”

  “Negative.” He sounded annoyed. “Except Salib won’t stop screaming. I just checked in with Riggs—he asked us to stay put until they send a team. But you two head to the airfield as scheduled.”

  She faltered. “You don’t want us to wait for you?”

  “Negative. Aberdeen and her people are meeting you at the airport in Cairo. She wants her kid back ASAP.”

  Abby’s hand ran through Tommy Aberdeen’s hair in an involuntary motion. “Got it. We’ll see you later then.”

  Once the line went dead, she chewed on the inside of her cheek again, trying to hide her distress. She was glad Kane and Morgan had restrained Nazara without any difficulty, but she knew she wouldn’t relax until she saw her husband for herself and made sure he was all right.

  Chapter Seven

  Two hours later, Kane and Morgan arrived in Cairo on the task force’s chopper. Khalid Nazara and Eshe Salib had been taken into custody, officially becoming law enforcement’s problem. After executing a successful extraction, Morgan’s team was no longer needed, and the two men were glad to be out of it. Both of them were dead-ass tired when they returned to the hotel at nearly one a.m.

  Abby and Noelle were already back, according to Noelle’s latest report. The women hadn’t spent more than five minutes at the private airfield before Kathy Aberdeen showed up and whisked her son away. The ambassador had sobbed hysterically while thanking them for rescuing Tommy, then boarded her personal helicopter, clinging to the little boy like she was terrified someone would try to steal him from her again.

  Kane wished Abby had been the one to call in. He desperately wanted to hear her voice, to wrap his arms around her and feel her familiar body against his. It absolutely killed him that they’d gone on this mission with an angry thundercloud looming over their heads. The two of them rarely ever fought. Even with Abby’s tendency to shut down emotionally, they were usually much better communicators.

  Lord, he hated this powerless feeling constricting his chest. The relentless fear clawing at his throat. He couldn’t lose Abby, but that was precisely what would happen if he didn’t give her the support to make her own decision. But his heart couldn’t bear to lose the baby either. He felt trapped, damn it, and he didn’t function well in trapped mode.

  Fuck, he just needed to see his wife.

  But when he dove out of the Jeep in the hotel parking lot, he quickly discovered that the universe was working against him. Or, more accurately, Noelle was.

  “Uh-uh, no way,” the blonde snapped when the two men entered the lobby. She’d appeared in front of them like an apparition. Stepped directly in Kane’s path, her incensed stare piercing into him like a sword.

  “Get out of my way, Noelle.” He was usually far more polite in her presence, but he didn’t have any patience for her bullshit at the moment. “I have to see my wife.”

  She crossed her arms, not budging. “You’re not getting anywhere near her. Not before I beat your ass.”

  His lips tightened. “I’m two seconds from beating yours if you don’t move.”

  “She cried on the entire drive to the airfield,” Noelle said in a cold voice. “During the chopper ride, too.”

  Kane froze. “What?”

  “You heard me, Woodland. Your overbearing, selfish, alpha caveman crap had her in tears. Abby Sinclair, crying like a sissy girl who dropped her lollipop in a puddle!” Noelle sounded livid, blue eyes blazing. “That is not the woman I know.”

  It wasn’t the woman he knew either, and his chest felt tight and achy as Noelle continued to rip into him.

  “I didn’t put up a fight about her leaving my team to shack up with you because I thought you might be good for her. I thought maybe, just maybe, she’d finally experience some semblance of happiness after years of torture and abuse.”

  His throat closed up. “She is happy.”

  The blonde took a menacing step forward, jabbing him in the center of the chest with her index finger. “She’s goddamn devastated, you moron. She thinks you wish she was a different person.”

  Emotion clogged his chest, so painful he couldn’t draw a breath. “Get out of my way,” he mumbled.

  “No.”

  Just as Kane’s hands curled into fists—goddamn it, he might actually hit the woman—Morgan came up beside him and clapped a firm hand on his shoulder. “Noelle,” he said sharply. “Go. I?
??ll handle this.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Will you?”

  Morgan nodded.

  There was a beat of silence as two pairs of blue eyes, one pale as ice, the other dark as midnight, locked in a long stare that had Kane gritting his teeth impatiently. Understanding seemed to pass from one to the other. Then Noelle’s shoulders relaxed, and she gave a nod of her own.

  “Fine. You deal with him. But he doesn’t see Abby until you’ve knocked some sense into him.”

  “Got it covered,” Morgan said gruffly.

  Satisfied, she brushed past them. “See you around, Jim.” She’d barely taken three steps when she tossed him a smirk over her shoulder. “Don’t forget to sleep with one eye open.”

  “I always do, baby.” For a moment, an indefinable flicker crossed Morgan’s eyes, before he turned to Kane with a serious expression. “C’mon, join me for a smoke.”

  “I quit,” he mumbled.

  “Fine. Then you can watch me smoke.”

  Morgan didn’t give him a chance to argue—he grasped Kane by the arm and marched him right back outside, stalking toward the wrought-iron bench near the hotel entrance.

  “Sit,” Morgan ordered.

  With extreme reluctance, Kane sank onto the bench and rested his clammy hands on his thighs.

  Morgan loomed over him like a prison guard, reaching into his pocket for a pack of Marlboros. He lit up a cigarette, blew out a cloud of smoke, and fixed Kane with a severe look.

  “She wants to terminate the pregnancy, huh?”

  The blunt question brought a pang of pain to his heart. “She’s considering it.” Bitterness crept into his voice. “Leaning toward yes, from the sound of it.”

  Morgan just nodded.

  “What, and you’re cool with that?” Kane demanded, unable to fight the feeling of betrayal.

  “It’s her choice,” the boss replied with a shrug. “And you bullying her isn’t gonna help you get what you want.”

  Christ. The helplessness returned, jamming in his throat. “I want this kid, man.”

  “I know.” A pause. “She probably does too. She’s just scared. You know Abby—she’s like a skittish kitten. Capable of being sweet and warm, especially once you’ve earned her trust, but if you push her, she’ll claw your eyes out.”

  “I know.” He breathed out a heavy sigh. “I think I freaked her out even more when I suggested we buy a place in Michigan, near my folks.”

  Morgan barked out a laugh. “Abby in the suburbs? Good luck with that. And you in the suburbs? Oh man, you’re a total dumbass if you believe either one of you would ever be happy there.”

  His boss’s visible amusement gave him pause, making him picture the life he’d painted for Abby earlier. Really picture it—and when he was done, he felt like a total fool.

  Lord. They’d hate that life. Abby wasn’t his mother, content to putter around the house scrapbooking and doing chores, and he wasn’t his father, happy to work a boring old nine-to-five and come home to play Scrabble with his wife in front of the fireplace. He and Abby were warriors, damn it.

  “Oh fuck. I am a dumbass.” He groaned loudly.

  Morgan sighed. “I knew having a married couple on the team was a bad idea. I should’ve forbidden the marriage.”

  “I would have quit if you tried.”

  And that was the God-honest truth. He loved Abby Sinclair that much. So much he would’ve sacrificed his job in order to be with her. Hell, he would sacrifice anything if it meant keeping her happy and safe.

  God, he needed to apologize. Needed to hold her, needed . . . he just needed her.

  Kane abruptly shot to his feet. “Look, if you want to kick my ass, just get it over with. But do it fast. I need to see my wife.”

  “I’ll give you a pass. This time.” Morgan’s features turned to stone. “Noelle’s not the only one who cares about Abby, you know. If I find out you made her cry again, I’ll string you up and hang you, Kane.”

  He didn’t even acknowledge the threat—he was too focused on sprinting away.

  Urgency lined his steps as he hurried into the hotel. He bypassed the elevator bank, a survival instinct that was fully ingrained in him thanks to his military training—avoid places where you might get trapped. It was just another reminder of who he was and the kind of life he led. The life he wanted to keep leading.

  Ha. Living in the suburbs.

  He really was an idiot. No wonder his wife was furious with him.

  He burst into the stairwell, taking the steps two at a time as he raced upstairs. The image of Abby in tears kept flashing in his mind, bringing wave after wave of guilt. He couldn’t believe he’d made her cry. Goddamn it, maybe he deserved to be strung up.

  When he entered their suite a minute later, he stopped dead in his tracks. Abby was sitting cross-legged on the bed, her gaze focused on the doorway as if she’d been waiting for him to walk through it.

  Kane took one look at her red-rimmed eyes and splotchy cheeks, and his heart promptly broke. Split right in two. Splintered into a million pieces.

  Choking on the lump in his throat, he took several steps forward. He wanted to say something, but not a single word came out. So instead, he simply opened his arms.

  And his wife flew off the bed and right into them.

  * * *

  Abby clung to Kane’s solid chest, welcoming the strong arms that surrounded her.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered, threading his fingers through her hair as he held her close.

  She pulled back to meet his eyes. Those gorgeous green depths conveyed deep shame, mingling with a cloud of unhappiness.

  “Oh hell. Please don’t cry,” he said roughly. “It breaks my fucking heart to see it.”

  She sniffled, embarrassed that he was witnessing this. Her adoptive father had taught her that crying was a sign of weakness, and she’d worked hard to master the ability to control her emotions.

  “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I’m being hysterical.”

  “Naah, you’re just being a woman.”

  She grinned through her tears. “Asshole.”

  The glint of humor faded fast. “Sorry. I know it’s the wrong time for jokes.” His voice cracked slightly, and he cleared his throat before continuing. “I’m the one who needs to apologize. I reacted like an ass when you told me about the pregnancy. I was blinded by my own happiness, and I just assumed we’d keep the baby and be a perfect little family. I didn’t even stop to consider your feelings about it.”

  “I know.” She went to wipe her face with the back of her hand, but Kane stopped her. He swept his callused thumbs over her cheeks, gently brushing away the tears.

  “I get why you’re scared and uncertain,” he told her. “I really do. And I want to respect you and your wishes, but to me, this is a baby. And I want it.”

  “I know,” she said again.

  “But I would never force you to do something you’re not comfortable with.” He rubbed her bottom lip with his thumb before leaning in for a brief, tender kiss. “And I don’t want you to be something you’re not. I know you won’t be happy driving a minivan around, or knitting sweaters with my mom while I go work at my dad’s mechanic shop.”

  She had to smile. “You’d hate being a mechanic.”

  His deep sigh tickled her forehead. “I would. I really, really would. I’m a soldier, and I like being a soldier. If we have this baby, there’d be changes, sure, but I know we’d be able to figure something out. Maybe we can buy a place in Aspen like Luke and Liv. Take turns staying home and kicking ass.”

  “That was Noelle’s suggestion,” she said with a shaky laugh.

  Kane blinked. “She actually had an opinion about how we should raise our kid?”

  “I know, right? It’s crazy.” Abby hesitated. “She doesn’t think you’d want me to change . . . i
s she right?”

  Kane answered with absolute conviction. “I don’t ever want you to change. I love who you are, sweetheart. You’re strong and smart and loyal and fierce. You have so much to teach a child, and yeah, maybe you don’t show your emotions at the drop of a hat, and maybe you won’t be all gushy and lovey-dovey with our kid, but I know you’ll love him or her with all your heart and protect them until your dying breath. The same way you love and protect me.”

  “You protect me too.” Her voice wobbled. “You see me. All the sides I don’t show anyone but you.”

  “I know.”

  He kissed her again, and suddenly she was surrounded by his familiar scent, spicy and masculine, and that familiar touch, strong and unyielding.

  “I don’t know what I want to do,” she whispered against his lips.

  His large hands splayed over her waist, stroking reassuring circles on the small of her back. “I won’t push you. I promise you, we’ll figure this out. We can talk through every option, every scenario. We’ll even make a pros and cons list—I know how much you love those.”

  “And if I choose not to keep it?” she hedged.

  “Then I’ll respect your decision.”

  Worry washed over her. “You won’t resent me for the rest of our lives?”

  “I could never resent you,” he said fiercely, reaching for her hand. “I love you. We vowed to always be there for each other through thick and thin, and that’s exactly what I intend to do. I can’t live without you, sweetheart.”

  She smiled through the sheen of tears. “I feel exactly the same way.”

  He didn’t let go of her hand as he led her back to the bed. His warm grip was like an anchor, grounding Abby to the man she loved.

  She felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest. She hated fighting with Kane, hated feeling like their relationship was being threatened, because at the end of the day, Kane Woodland was the only person in the world who truly mattered to her.

  “I love you,” he said thickly.

  She stood on her tiptoes and brought her mouth to his. A soft brush of their lips, but it didn’t take long before the kiss grew hotter, deep and desperate. Before she knew it, they were urgently undressing, and then they were skin to skin, his hard chest crushing her breasts, his heavy erection resting against her belly.