Maverick (Elite Ops 2)

Reno’s brows lifted. “I’m heading to Georgia, Micah, not the closest bar.”

Micah grunted at that. “Let’s fly, Reno, try not to piss me off.”

He strode past the two men and headed for the exit. It wasn’t as though he had become a drunkard. A bar was just more conductive to certain thoughts. When Micah felt as though his life had reached rock bottom, then sitting in the seediest, darkest bar he could find seemed the best option for those thoughts.

Not that he had done it often. But often enough, it seemed, that it had been noticed.

He pulled himself into the helicopter and watched as Reno followed in behind him. Reno gave the pilot the order to lift off and within seconds they were in the air and heading for home.

Once, Israel had been home. It was there that Micah’s heart had leaned during the empty dark moments of his life since he had joined the Ops. Now, Risa was home. It was her where his heart had stayed. It was her that every part of his being longed for.

“She might tell you to fuck off,” Reno stated as he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. He was still glaring at Micah.

“She might,” Micah agreed absently, more involved with his memories of Risa than he was with Reno’s advice.

But she would be there. If she told him to fuck off, he’d fuck her until she changed her mind. He hadn’t spent six hellish weeks tracking down Orion and dying for her, only to be turned away like a flea-bitten stray.

“She’s staying with her grandmother now,” Reno told him.

“I know where the hell she’s at.” Micah jerked his head around and scowled back at Reno. “Worry about your life, Reno; stop worrying about mine.”

Reno grunted at that and frowned. “She’s too good for you,” he snapped, obviously pissed over something.

Micah pushed his fingers through his hair and grimaced at that. “We agree there.” There was nothing that could be done for it, though. He ached for her. He fucking hurt for her. The pain was like a wound that went to the bone and refused to heal. There would be no healing, no ease, until he saw Risa again.

She wouldn’t turn him away, he thought. She couldn’t turn him away. He had been a dead man in name only, but without Risa he would become a dead man in truth. Everything inside him belonged to her. Being without her was killing him.

“Hurt her again and I’ll break your neck,” Reno informed him harshly.

Micah turned his head and stared at Reno again. His gaze was flat and cold, hard. “Get off my back, Reno, or I’ll toss you out of this helicopter,” he snapped. “I don’t need your threats or your advice.”

Reno’s lips tightened. “She’s a friend, Micah.”

“She’s my soul.”

Conversation ceased. Reno stared back at him for long moments before he finally gave a quick, abrupt nod. Micah turned his gaze back outside. He stared into the clear blue sky and saw Risa’s eyes. He heard the tears in her voice when he left; he felt the pain that had nearly ripped him in two when he had left.

He was going home. Now, he only prayed that she would give him another chance to love her. To touch her. To live within the warmth of her smile.

CHAPTER 27

RISA WAS SPENDING too much time at Raven’s and Morganna’s. She knew she was, and though that knowledge had her cringing a bit at the reasons, still she was helpless against it.

That evening after Raven had put Morgan to bed, Risa sat in the living room staring sightlessly at the wall, her hands twisting nervously in her lap.

She should leave.

She rose to her feet to do just that and the pain that bloomed in her chest nearly spilled the tears that seemed ever present from her eyes.

It was like tearing a piece of her body away.

Hugging her arms against her breasts, she paced to the large window that looked out over the driveway and told herself she had to leave. She’d been here for hours. Raven no doubt had things to do. Reno was due home today. She would want to get ready to greet her husband. He’d been gone for weeks this time.

Was Micah returning with him? Risa wondered.

She drew in a hard breath and shook her head. Turning quickly, she pulled her purse from the table by the couch and started for the door.

She wasn’t going to do this to either one of them. If Micah had returned with Reno, then it was because of his job, because of an assignment. Because he no doubt had things to do and one of those things was not seeing the woman he had walked away from.