Seth looked out over the swirling lights surrounding the warehouse. They were set back, though if anyone gave him a chance, he’d slip through the line first chance he got. Dean and Matt were the only reason he hadn’t jumped the wooden barrier. Seconds after the text with Maya’s bleeding face had come in, Liam’s phone had rung. Mason and Dean had just arrived at Promise House and found Meg—unhurt but restrained and lying in the storeroom. Seth had immediately called Scott. They must have missed the bastards by only minutes, or one of Meg’s residents would have stumbled across her before they did. Five minutes later, Dean and Mason had pulled up at their location in separate cars. Liam jumped in with Mason, who assured him he’d called Shane, the company’s paramedic, to stay with Meg until the ambulance arrived while they played fetch. Mason sped Liam home and Seth had waited with Dean. Matt arrived shortly. As much as he was jumping out of his skin knowing what Maya was going through, Seth was glad to have the whole squad with him, or with Meg and Liam. Together, they just might get through this.

Dean had taken all of two minutes to listen to what had happened before calling the one person in the FBI Seth would still trust: Special Agent Hemmings, the man who had rescued Amy and Dean from human traffickers. He’d gotten a bird in the air to track Seth’s truck, and along with the LoJack from Scott, it hadn’t taken long to find them. A converted warehouse, just out of town, and well known to authorities. The biker asshole’s clubhouse.

Men in black riot gear swarmed in front of him—the FBI Atlanta field office’s SWAT team. Thank God the place had been under a different SAC in the months since Jesse’s “death,” Bill Miller being transferred after the entire debacle. Perhaps the issue had been having an agent under him who was apparently dirty, or had something else more sinister been going on higher up? Either way, the presence of the SWAT team here went a long way to rebuilding Seth’s trust in the locals. He could only hope Jesse felt the same way. Seth’s pickup had been found in the parking lot when the cops had arrived, the keys still dangling from the ignition. If they’d missed Jesse, it had been by only minutes, just like the guys arriving minutes too late for Meg and Maya.

God, Maya.

Something between rage and grief squeezed at his heart. What if he never got the chance to tell her he loved her? Was the brief kiss they’d shared in Meg’s front room earlier that day doomed to be the last time he touched her? Seth dismissed the thought. That couldn’t happen. He simply wouldn’t let it be so.

Movement from the black-clad special-ops men caught his eye—hand signals. “They’re going in,” he whispered to Matt, who clamped a hand on his shoulder. Seth’s legs twitched. Right now, that hand felt like the only thing keeping him in place.

“Negative on the target,” a crackling voice said over the speaker attached to the shoulder of the cop standing nearby. He was probably an attempt by Scott to stop Seth from storming the scene. The cop turned toward them as he took a step forward and Seth eyed his hand. It was resting on his belt, but a little too close to his holstered gun for Seth’s liking. Though, that was the only thing that was going to stop him from climbing over the barrier at this point, when SWAT started fast-shuffling toward the building.

Then a gunshot rang out from inside the building, and even the patrolman’s gun wasn’t going to stop him any longer. Seth moved fast, making it past the barrier and halfway to where SWAT was storming the building before Scott’s hands encircled his waist, pulling him to a stop. “So help me, Seth. Don’t make me handcuff you to my cruiser.”

Only the fact they’d been friends for over twenty years kept Seth from taking a swing at him. He was still struggling in his grasp when Matt arrived a few seconds later. He took one glance at Scott and then moved to stand in front of them both, his bulk forcing Seth’s gaze to his.

“Cool your jets, Rookie. You’re not going to do Maya any good if you get yourself arrested before she gets out of there.” His eyebrows rose as the big man leaned forward, placing a hand on Seth’s shoulder. “She’s going to need you, and you better be in one piece when she does.” Matt grinned. “Don’t give Scott here a reason to put a hole in you.”

Maya. Matt was right. As much as it was killing Seth to stand there and watch what was going down, it was nothing compared to what Maya must be going through inside. He had no idea who had fired the shot that had rung out, or if anyone had been hurt, but it didn’t matter. This had been about Maya in the beginning and he’d make sure he was there to see it through to the end for her, too. Then he’d be there for whatever happened after that.

Seth’s muscles relaxed just enough for Scott to let him go. He turned, not moving closer, but his eyes never left the building. He watched Hemmings, along with other agents, follow SWAT into the building. The callout for the EMT nearly had his heart beating out of his chest, but still he stood there, forcing his feet to stay still. Finally, after what felt like a million years, Hemmings reappeared and gestured at Seth, waving him through the police barrier. Then his feet couldn’t move fast enough, despite the fact that his mind was racing even faster at what he would find inside.

He’d barely cleared the warehouse door when something impacted his chest with a small oomph. His brain still hadn’t caught up, but his body recognized the smaller one wrapped around his all the same, his arms coming around Maya’s shaking frame and holding her tightly to him. Her cheeks were wet, but when she looked up at him, she was smiling. “Oh, thank God,” he muttered, before leaning down and taking her mouth.

He should hold back, Seth knew it, but he couldn’t make himself slow down. His lips crashed down on hers as his tongue licked at her lips, sweeping into her mouth and tangling with hers. Fuck, she tasted so sweet. It was something he was never going to get enough of, ever. As a low moan left her, Seth kissed her again and then pulled back, his hands staying anchored around her. If he had his way, he wasn’t letting her go for a damn long time. “Maya. God. I love you. I fucking love you. Please don’t ever do that to me again.”

She laughed, smiling so widely he couldn’t help but grin back, even with SWAT and the cops still swarming around them. For the first time, he tore his eyes from Maya and looked around the room. Jesse lay over in one corner of the room, his pants bloody and EMTs fussing about a wound on his thigh, but he was awake and talking. The same couldn’t be said for two bodies lying near each other on the other side of the room. “Jesse,” Maya said quietly. “They shot him, but I managed to get the gun.” She rolled her eyes, smiling again. “Typical big brother. Even shot, he still managed to drag himself over to me and take over.”

Seth looked over at Jesse, nodding. Jesse raised his hand and sent him a small salute, meeting and holding Seth’s gaze even when he winced from the movement of his hand. Yep, they understood each other. A good thing, too, because he had a feeling neither he nor Jesse was willing to leave Maya alone any time soon. “He did it because he loves you, too, Gorgeous.” Seth’s hand moved to Maya’s head, holding her to his chest and stroking her hair. It was going to take a while before his heart calmed down and his body caught up with the fact that she was safe, warm, and pressed against him. “Besides, I think it’s closure in a way for him. A new start.”

Maya looked up at him, still smiling through the chaos of the scene. “Looks like new starts all around tonight, then.”

Definitely. The start to something that was going to last the rest of his life. Seth leaned down, kissing her again until the world melted away.