Chapter One

Levi

Present Day

Texas

Dressed in khaki tactical from head to booted foot, a Beast Mode logo taking up center mass on his company T-shirt, the man stretched out a confident hand, shifting it between Levi, Reaper, and Goose.

He wanted to shake the boss-man’s hand first, but he was unsure of the hierarchy, so there he stood, hand extended, waiting for the superior to reach out.

It made more sense than it would in a normal first greeting. Cerberus Tactical K9 wasn’t public-facing. There was no way to research in advance to figure out the corporate hierarchy or to match a photographed face to a name.

Reaper was the chief K9 trainer at Iniquus’s Cerberus Tactical. Goose was one of the veterinarians. But the teammates were here looking for a tactical K9 for Levi. All three men were considered teammates, and Levi wasn’t in their chain of command. Still, Levi hesitated for a split-second because he was the new hire.

Since neither of his teammates twitched, Levi extended his hand. “Levi Elliot.”

“Conroy Dexter, I’m one of the partners here.”

After releasing Conroy’s grip, Levi indicated with a bladed hand. “Our trainer, Reaper. Our vet, Goose.”

“Welcome. Welcome. Glad to have you.” Conroy reached up and adjusted the bill of his ballcap to cast a shadow across his eyes.

Reaper pointed to Conroy’s shirt. “Beast Mode, you come up with that name?”

“Ah, we all threw names in the pot. It’s the one we could agree on. And I’m not saying that we hadn’t worked that out over a few beers.” He chuckled good-naturedly. “So I have the names of both dogs you’re thinking about, Casper and Diabla. Since you’ve seen videos of their skillsets and already have a good rundown on their health from the paperwork I sent with the inquiry, I think we’re going to have a mighty fine day today. Casper and Diabla are amazing athletes.”

“Looking forward to it,” Reaper said. “I’d like it if you could take us on a tour of the kennels while you share more granular details about your training process.”

Conroy looked wary. “Yeah, we have a policy against kennel tours and sharing details.”

He rocked back on his heels and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Now, what I can do is I can teach you how to command the dog and show you their work in action, but our training process is proprietary.”

“There’s a rationale behind that?” Reaper asked. The slow smile and back tilt of his head was a move that Levi, even in his brief time at Iniquus, recognized. Reaper had his bullshit sensor out.

“There is.” Conroy pulled his phone from his pocket, pressed a button, said, “Cerberus Tactical is here,” then slid the phone back away. “We produce highly trained beasts that bring top dollar and deserve every penny of that money. Our pups are sourced out of Europe—the Czech Republic and Belgium for the most part. You all know this—it takes years of work to fine-tune the skills they need to perform the tactical duties that save lives.” He lifted his brows and then dropped them with emphasis. “How we get to that finished product is our secret sauce. If we share it, our dogs lose value.”

“I see.” Reaper was casting his gaze around the complex before refocusing on Conroy. “So maybe you’d share an outline of your training philosophy?”

“Our training philosophy is to find out what the dog likes to do best and hone that down to a sharpened tool.”

Reaper gave a slow nod. “Okay, then we’d like to tour your facilities and training grounds.”

“Yep. How about we go around back?” Conroy turned to Levi as they set off walking. “Levi, you’re the one looking for a K9 partner, right? Or are you all looking to expand the Cerberus kennel?” He swung his gaze back to Reaper and Goose. “If you like what you see today—"

“I’m looking for the right partner,” Levi cut the guy off.

Conroy had the hungry look of someone who thought he might have a big fish on his line, and supper was all but assured.

What Reaper and Goose decided was none of Levi’s business.

Levi was hard-focused on making the right partner choice.

The dog by his side was going to be one of the most significant relationships of his life—a battle buddy to go through everything headed their way.

In the field, a K9 made up for Levi’s human deficits with the ability to sniff out dangers, use its keen hearing and eyesight, and the ability to bring to bear around two hundred and forty pounds of bite strength that launched when the bad guy made the wrong twitch.

And that K9 had better be trained to know just what that twitch looked like.

Beyond the training, Levi was looking for a dog of his heart, one where they could be of one mind, a buddy system of mutual support and care.

Everyone on the Cerberus team said that Levi would know when he found the right dog just like he’d know when he found the right girl.

Unfortunately, Levi had found the right girl, Tess. He knew they were meant for each other the first time he looked across the park and saw her with her hand out, seeming to gather the air, then rubbing her fingers with her eyes looking skyward. There was something magical about that moment. About her.

Levi had asked her out, and from the get-go, they fit together like hand in glove. With Tess, Levi had felt seen and loved in a way that was so deep and held so much conviction that it lived in his cells.

Tess was his everything all the way up to the Dear John letter that was handed to him while he was deployed.

“I’m engaged to marry Abraham. I’m so sorry.”

Levi must have read that one sentence over a thousand times, trying to get it to make sense.

That Tess would love Abraham was a no-brainer. Levi would have found it odd for her not to. When Tess and he went to Ghana for Mama Ya’s funeral, Levi met Abraham and extend his gratitude. When they were together, Levi hadn’t been jealous or concerned. He had no sense that Abraham was competition. Back then, Levi had only felt gratitude toward a man who had, at great peril and sacrifice, saved Tess.

That Tess ended up married to Abraham instead of him was unfathomable. He still couldn’t believe it after all these years.

Given his history, Levi was a might cautious about trusting his gut when it came to a connection.

Physical strain and bodily pain from doing his job felt good in Levi’s system.

The emotional kind? Not so much.

Thoughts of Tess brought back a picture of her that he’d long treasured. Tess was looking over her shoulder, smiling, with her eyes soft with love for him.

Ah, there was the sharp stab of her hook still caught in his chest.

There was the drag that he always felt when she came to mind.

Levi never gave in to that sensation; he wouldn’t stalk her social media, wouldn’t ring her up out of the blue, but it sure would be nice if he could cut that cord.

It was a great miracle that he’d experienced a woman like that in his life.

And she was the sole reason he’d never let himself get into a situation like that again.

Yeah, except for the brotherhood he formed on the Teams, Levi found keeping emotional enmeshment at arm’s length was best. That strategy kept his head in the game. Kept him pointed in the right direction without distractions.

Brothers, brewskies, doggos, and maybe a good conversation and laugh or two with an interesting woman. That would have to be enough for him.