Defending Everly (Mountain Mercenaries, #5)(91)

“Married. One week. I have an appointment at the courthouse on Saturday. Me-Maw and Pop are driving in on Thursday. The girls said they’d go with you sometime in the next couple of days to find a dress. Elise already ordered a dress that I personally think is too damn short, but I was outvoted. I’ll wear a tux or just a suit. Or jeans. Whatever you want.”

Everly was shocked. Was he serious? “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Everly, I love you. Nothing else in my life matters. When I realized what happened and that you’d purposely put yourself in danger, I should’ve been pissed. You know better than that. You could’ve found a way to get in touch with me even though that asshole said he was watching you. But you didn’t. You marched your happy ass into danger.

“But when I really sat and thought about it, and put myself in your shoes, I knew I would’ve done the same thing. If it was you who’d been taken, I would’ve done the same damn thing you did.

We’re a good team. The best. I’m forty years old, and I’m sick that we’ve missed so much time together, but I plan on making the most of the next fifty years we’ve got coming.”

“Are you allowed to wear your Coast Guard uniform, now that you’re retired?” she asked.

“I’d love to see you in it when we get married.”

Ball smiled, and the lines that had been furrowing his forehead disappeared.

Everly couldn’t believe he actually thought she’d protest marrying him.

“Yeah, Ev. I can do that.”

“And your friends can all be there? And the girls? And can I invite some of my friends from the station?”

He chuckled. “Of course. I hope the courthouse has a big fucking room.”

Laying her head back down on his chest, Everly couldn’t help but admire the ring again. The middle diamond wasn’t too big, and all the way around the band were smaller diamonds. She could wear this ring at work and not have to worry about snagging it on anything.

“Ball?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to remove the condom before getting hard again.”

He chuckled. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“How about you get up, take off your pants, deal with the condom, then come back to bed?”

“That I can do. I was too fast, you got me too turned on. Give me two seconds, and I’ll come back and make it up to you.”

Everly didn’t bother to answer as he gently pulled out of her body, scooted out from under her, and tore his jeans and boxers down his legs. He headed for the bathroom and was back in less than a minute.

Without a word, he was kneeling between her legs, pushing her thighs apart, and lowering his head.

Everly had the thought that sometimes the worst things in life turned out to be the best. She’d hated Ball when she’d first met him, but slowly he’d shown her that under his bluster, he was a damn good man. And in return, she’d taught him that when you were with the right woman, everything just worked.

Then she couldn’t think about anything at all, other than how good Ball was making her feel.

She had a suspicion he’d do whatever it took in the near—and far—future, to always make her feel good.





Epilogue

The Mountain Mercenaries walked silently through the back alleys in a rundown neighborhood in Lima, Peru. The team had two members of the First Special Forces Brigade from the Peruvian military with them to help translate and give their mission legitimacy. Although they sometimes went into foreign countries undercover to carry out their missions, because this job involved Peruvian citizens and not Americans, they were working in tandem with the government.

Meat looked around and thought to himself that it wasn’t a place he’d want anyone he cared about hanging out in. It definitely wasn’t the kind of place the government was advertising in their tourist brochures.

The smell of piss and vomit was strong, but Meat ignored it, intent on the mission. There were shanties lined up side by side in a five-square-mile area, with only enough space for a small car to drive down the dirt roads between the houses. They were built with whatever materials the people could find . . . cardboard, tin, even tires. Most were small, only one room, and the river meandering through the squalor was the only source of water for most families.

Meat and his fellow mercenaries had seen poverty up close and personal more times than they could count, but this was horrifying and depressing on a whole new level.

When their target came into sight, a slightly larger shanty that had an actual padlock on the door—unlike most of the other houses around it—Gray and Ro went to the left, Arrow and Ball went to the right, and Black and Meat crept around to the alley on the other side of the house. They had the entire shanty covered in case any of the pedophiles attempted to escape.

The plan was to surround the crappy hovel and take the kidnappers by surprise.

Rex had been working with the Peruvian government to try to get a handle on the number of children going missing, especially from the poorer areas of the city. He’d agreed to undergo a joint mission with the military to rescue four to eight boys between the ages of five and twelve, who had been taken from their families and were on the verge of being sold.

The fact that they didn’t know exactly how many boys they were rescuing should’ve been a huge red flag, but after discussing it, no one wanted to back out.