Intense

I pushed it farther in, looking into his eyes. He looked surprised as I let my knife go, leaving it buried deep in his throat.

He fell to his knees, bleeding, and collapsed.

It was fucking over.

I felt someone next to me. “Are you okay?” he asked.

Tara’s father. I looked at him. “Fine,” I said. “The plant?”

“Nothing bad,” he said, and he quickly went to the control. “Most of this is fried, but I can get it back under control.”

“You mean it’s melting down?”

“No. Not yet. It would have if you hadn’t gotten here sooner.” He began to press buttons, typing at a computer monitor.

I leaned up against a wall, breathing deeply.

We were out of the water. Omar lay dead at my feet and everything was over.

Tara’s parents were safe. Her mother was still huddled against the wall, looking terrified, but she was alive. Her father worked hard at the console, but I had total faith in him.

I called Travis on the radio. “We’re good to go,” I said. “Threat is neutralized. Over.”

“Nice fighting there, cap,” he said. “I’ll call Blackfire. You get those people out. Over.”

“Roger that. Over and out.”

I felt tired, so fucking tired. Exhaustion ran through my whole body, and all I wanted to do was fall onto the floor and sleep.

But a SEAL’s job was never over until it was completely over.

I wasn’t going to ever give up or walk away. I was a SEAL for life, even if I wasn’t actively working as a SEAL.

Because the only thing I wanted was Tara. This was my biggest achievement. I’d averted an enormous disaster, saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

And after this, I wanted to live my own life. I wanted to finally have the freedom to be with the woman I wanted, I claimed, I loved. Tara and Mason, the only two people I needed, the only two people who mattered.

I pushed up off the wall, feeling my strength returning, and pushed forward, Tara’s smiling face in my mind, excitement coursing through my body.

I knew it was only going to get better and better.

Epilogue: Tara

One Year Later

I laughed as Mason stumbled across the room and fell into my arms. I swooped him up, marveling at how big and heavy he’d gotten.

“Mommy,” he said, grinning at me just like his father.

“Good job, Mason,” I said. “Now go play.” I put him back down and he tottered off toward his toys.

I sighed, smiling to myself and looking out the large, glass, back sliding door. The sun was shining brightly on our backyard, and I wondered if the tomatoes we’d planted would be coming in soon.

I couldn’t believe how much had changed in the last year. After everything with The Network had happened, I thought we’d never be able to pick up the pieces and restart our lives.

Sitting alone in that hotel room was probably the hardest thing I’d ever done. I was powerless, totally helpless to save anyone.

But one of the best moments was when Emory came back, followed by my parents.

I could barely understand how I felt in that moment. It was a mixture of joy and relief and much, much more. I’d really thought I might never see my parents again, and there had been a strong chance that Emory wouldn’t be coming back either. I knew I couldn’t follow his last orders, that I’d stick around and wait for him no matter what.

But I didn’t have to make that awful choice. He came back to me, just like he promised, and brought my parents with him.

“What are you thinking about?”

I turned and saw Emory standing in the kitchen, grinning at me.

“Nothing,” I said.

“Liar.” He came over to me and kissed me. I felt a thrill run through my body, the same thrill I’d first felt. It never got old, Emory touching my body that way.

“Just reminiscing about the past,” I admitted.

“Oh yeah? Thinking about that time I fucked you in the rest stop?”

I laughed. “Emory, Mason is right over there.”

“He can’t hear me.” He kissed me again.

“I was also wondering about those tomatoes,” I said as we finally broke our kiss off.

“They’ll come in. Don’t worry.” Emory pulled me close against him. “Listen, I have something for you.”

“What’s that? You didn’t need to get me something.”

“You finally graduated. I sure as hell had to buy you a present.”

I laughed, shaking my head. After everything, I finally went back and finished my degree. It was a long time coming, but it felt so good finally finishing it.

“What’s this present then?” I asked.

“Go out front.”