Chapter 43

Los Angeles, California

6 Months Later

ZO PULLED her SUV into her parking spot, killed the engine, and with a sigh, slumped back in her seat. Dealing with Archer today had been a bigger pain in the ass than usual. He'd been full of himself since he'd finally finished cleaning up the mess Ramos had caused in Puerto Jardin. The good news was she could return to the country. The bad news was her promise to Finn still held, and he wasn't home yet.

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat. Damn, she wished she could fly down and help him, but she'd already been used against him twice. She wouldn't let it happen a third time.

It was a bitch, though, not knowing if he was okay. There hadn't even been one of the sporadic third-party updates in a long while.

A car started nearby, jerking Zo to alertness. She looked around in time to spot a Beemer back out and head toward the exit. Gathering up her purse, she took off her sunglasses and tossed them in the cupholder. She could stress out about Finn in the condo as easily as in the SUV.

After locking up, Zo headed for the elevator. Maybe Finn wished he hadn't said he loved her. Maybe he'd changed his mind. Maybe the longer he was away, the more he wondered what he'd ever seen in her. The doors opened, and she stepped into the lift, pressing the button for her level. She shook her head. Enough with the negative thoughts.

The doors silently glided open on her floor. She'd barely set foot in the hall when she spotted a scruffy-looking man loitering near the door to her condo. Her trepidation only lasted a nanosecond. "Finn!"

Zo ran down the hall. He met her partway, and then she was in his arms. She hung on to him tightly, as if he'd disappear if she loosened her hold. Damn, she hated to cry, but the relief was so great, she couldn't contain the tears. When she could manage to speak, she said, "You're home!" She pressed a kiss into his throat, reassured by the strong beat of his pulse beneath her lips. "You're home! You're home!"

It took a while before she realized he was holding her damn tightly, too. That meant something, right?

Gathering up her courage, Zo said, "I love you, Finn."

There. She'd done it. She gulped and felt her stomach slam into her knees when he eased her back. Maybe he had changed his mind about her.

"Say it again. While you're looking at me."

Oh, God. And there was nowhere to run. It was harder this time because Finn was staring at her, gaze intent. Zo couldn't breathe, but she'd said it once, she could say it again. "I love you, Finn."

She spit it out fast, like ripping off a bandage, but Finn didn't seem to mind. His lips curved. "I love you, too, loquita. "

Zo only had a moment to savor the words before he was kissing her. She returned it, the pent-up desire from six months without him exploding into an inferno. The world was spinning, and then Finn had her pressed against the wall, his body leaning into hers as he deepened the kiss. Everything else receded, and there was nothing but the man she loved.

Finn broke away. "Zo, you better unlock the door now, or we'll be giving the neighbors a show."

It took a few seconds for the fog to lift. With trembling hands, she tugged the strap on her shoulder to bring her purse forward before digging out the keys to the condo. She didn't get it in the lock on the first try. "Why are you standing in the hallway, anyway?"

"I haven't seen my keys since I was jailed in Rio Blanco, and the lock I had installed when I moved in is a son of a bitch to try and pick."

She got the door open, and he herded her inside, kicking it closed behind them. As soon as they were near the island, Finn lifted her on the counter and moved between her legs. "Damn, I wish you were wearing a skirt," he muttered.

"If you'd called to let me know you were—"

"Didn't have time. If I'd called, I'd have missed the flight. I lost my cell phone with my keys." Finn found the off-center fastener of her trousers and opened it before unzipping them. "Raise your hips," he ordered as he started to pull them and her panties down. He'd barely freed one of her legs before working on the fly of his jeans.

"I guess you're in a hurry?" she teased, but she liked the urgency. It matched her own.

Finn pushed the denim and his briefs down to mid-thigh and raised his head to meet her gaze, green eyes burning. "Six months with only my hand and fantasies of you, loquita. Sorry, but I'm going to fuck you the first time. I'll make love to you later. "

"You know I like it when we fuck as much as when we make love."

One side of his mouth quirked up. Holding her hips, he pulled her to the edge of the counter then slid a couple of fingers inside her, stroking her lightly. "You're wet already."

"Six months for me, too," she said, panting as if she'd run a mile-long sprint. Zo braced her hands behind her and widened her legs, giving Finn more room.

It didn't take long for him to have her on the brink, but he didn't let her go over the edge. Her breath caught in her throat, and she moaned softly as he slid inside her. Finn paused for an instant, just long enough for her to savor the fullness, and then he moved, taking her hard and fast.

Zo's orgasm hit like a sneak attack, and then Finn was coming, his fingers digging into her hips. It was so intense, it left her limp, and she sagged forward, letting him keep her upright.

Peace settled over her. Finn was home, and he loved her.

Finn leaned in the doorway of Zo's closet, hands in the pockets of his jeans, and watched as she put on a bra that matched her panties. She looked damn fine in black lace. She pulled a pair of leggings out of one of the built-in drawers and then stopped. "Skirt?" she asked.

He nodded. "Something short and loose enough that I can push it out of the way."

She put the leggings back and went to the rear of the closet. "Big talk for a guy who swore I wore him out."

"I'm starting to recover." Maybe. He'd had her three times, and he'd come a fourth time when she'd gone down on him, so he might be a little optimistic.

The skirt she chose was black, and matched his request for short, but while it was sort of loose, it was tight enough to show off the curve of her ass. She paired it with a cropped black T-shirt that clung to her breasts. The quirk of her lips let him know loud and clear that she'd done it deliberately to drive him out of his head. "What did I miss while I was gone?"

Zo stopped, shrugged, and said, "Oh, not much."

Even as tightly wound as he was, Finn managed a grin. "Hit the highlights. Did you get the disk home safely?"

"I did, thanks to the US Army." She smiled. "I didn't even have to go through customs when we landed in California. I like how your captain sets things up."

"Where is it?"

Her grin faded, and a melancholy expression replaced it. "I assume it's in a secure area in the back of some South American museum by now. I handed it over to Archer after I photographed it, sketched it, and took measurements."

"The museum is where you wanted it."

"Absolutely." She shrugged. "It's, well, I spent so many years looking for it, researching it." Another shrug. "It was hard to give it up." Zo shook her head and changed the subject. "Did everything get wrapped up in Puerto Jardin?"

Finn nodded. "And Lurch is set to take over the role I used to fill, so I don't expect to get another request to help out the team. Thank God."

"Good." Zo hesitated, then asked, "So you're happy they won't be asking you to work with them again? You're not sorry you left the Army?"

Crossing to her, Finn took her waist. "I won't lie, it was fun at first—the adrenaline rush, matching wits with the bad guys, working with my buddies—but it got old fast, and I remembered why I left." He lowered his head to hers. "I'm where I want to be."

Her arms went around his neck. "I'm glad. I missed you. "

"I missed you, too, Zo." He kept the kiss quick, a mere brush of his lips. They had things to talk about. Not all of it today, but yeah. And he'd have to do everything possible to convince her she didn't need to change who she was to please him. It was going to be a lifelong operation, but he was 100% committed to seeing it through.

Finn took her hand and tugged gently, leading her to the sitting area in their bedroom. She settled on the couch, and Finn sat beside her. His angle put the bed squarely in his view. The covers were a mess, and his lips curved as he remembered how they'd ended up that way.

Bringing his focus back to Zo, he asked, "What else has been going on? Any other jobs while I was away?"

"Archer wouldn't send me anywhere until he fixed the problem in Puerto Jardin. He said it was too risky and that he didn't need me to get arrested and extradited." She scowled. "It took him until today to get everything cleared for both you and me, so I spent the last six months at headquarters. Behind a desk ."

His lips twitched, but he squelched the smile. He was happy as hell that she hadn't been meeting with dealers of stolen antiquities without him, but he knew Zo had hated sitting at the Paladin League.

"Finn?"

There was a note of…something in Zo's voice that made him nervous. He brought his attention back to her immediately. "What?"

"While you were gone, I reapplied to grad school so I can finish my PhD. I start back at the end of this month."

His tension left in a rush. Nothing for him to worry about. "Good. I know you wanted that doctorate."

"Yeah. It shouldn't take too long. I was ABD when I left, and I was pretty far along with that, too."

"ABD?" That was a new one.

"All But Dissertation." Zo sighed, hesitated, then said, " My parents heard about it when they were visiting last month."

Her parents. Fuck, she'd had to face them without any emotional support. "And they thought you'd gotten back on their track for your life."

Zo nodded and reached out, taking his hand. "It's okay. We worked some stuff out. Actually, we talked about a lot of things that we'd never previously addressed. It was a good thing," she assured him when his hand tightened on hers.

Finn studied her, but her blue eyes didn't hold any turmoil. "That's unusual, isn't it? From what I've seen, they're not big on getting in the weeds."

"You're not wrong. I'm the one who broached the subject."

His surprise must have been obvious because Zo grinned.

"Tia Izel helped me see that I had some issues, and a lot of them stemmed from my relationship with my mom and dad." She sobered. "I knew I needed to work through them, or I risked losing you. Maybe not right away, but someday." Her gaze dropped. "I didn't want that, so I started counseling and discovered a few things. Some I knew bothered me, but there were others I didn't realize. I picked up strategies to change the script, and when my parents arrived, I implemented them."

"And it worked?" Finn shifted closer to Zo and tipped her face to his. He needed to see her eyes.

"It helped. They stayed an extra week, and we had a few group sessions with my therapist. We have a long way to go, but we made progress in understanding each other. And they love me—they said so right to my face." Zo's expression was half amazement, half joy. "Guiding my life and insisting I get my PhD was their way of saying they loved me and wanted me to have a secure future."

He nodded slowly as realization dawned. "Tenure equals job security, which is why they wanted you to become a professor. What about them picking your boyfriends?"

"If I had a lot in common with the man I married, they thought a divorce would be less likely."

"It's a good thing then that you and I enjoy so many of the same things."

"A very good thing, but with enough differences to keep life exciting."

Finn released the breath he'd been holding. He'd been prepared to list how many interests they shared if she'd disagreed with him. One hurdle down. "Our marriage then should last what? Eighty years? Ninety?"

Zo stared at him blankly, and his edginess increased.

"Okay, then."

"Wait." Now she looked confused. "Was that a proposal?"

Something in her tone let him relax. "Not a very good one, but yes. Let me try again." Finn leaned forward and cupped her cheek. "I love you, Zo. Will you marry me?"

With a grin, she said, "Hell, yes!" Zo moved, straddling him, and holding his face with both hands, gave him a loud, smacking kiss. "I love you, too, Finn."

"Loquita," he said, running a finger over her chin. "You're the most important person in my life. Be yourself for me. You're perfect exactly as you are."

Cat Jasarevic needs a mercenary. Fast. Her best chance at finding one? El Taller —a seedy soldier-for-hire hang out. Walking into that bar alone? Maybe not the safest choice. But she's smart. She knows how to use a gun. She can take care of herself. An illusion instantly shattered when a mercenary who's tall, gorgeous and deadly tosses her over his shoulder and hauls her out the door. Now she's got two problems—this dangerous stranger who's attached himself to her hip…and the way her pulse jumps every time he gets too close.