As we pull to a stop, Ronin speaks up. “Out. Let’s gear up.”

Climbing out of the car, I take the Kevlar that Grisham offers me and pull off my black T-shirt. Dare’s truck is bumped up right behind us, and both cars are pulled off the path.

Be thankful for your son and all he stands to inherit.

The line thrown from Horton’s lying mouth tugs at something in my gut. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Inherit? Giving me back my son was never going to be an option for Horton. And he taking Rayne away from me is never going to happen. When he spouts crazy shit out of his mouth like that it scares me even more that my family is currently in his hands.

When I pull my shirt back down over my bulletproof vest, I fit the headpiece that connects me to the team in my ear. Sayward’s voice crackles through it.

“You guys set?”

Ronin answers her, pulling a rifle out of the truck bed. He tosses one to each of us, and we each check the ammunition. Flipping open the cargo pockets on my army-green pants, I stuff extra cartridges inside.

“Sayward,” says Dare. “When we breach the perimeter of the property, I want you to call in local law. I want these assholes funneling straight into handcuffs when we drive them out of there.”

“Copy.” Sayward’s answer makes me grin. The girl is a sponge; she’s been soaking up military lingo since she first began working with us. She might not have the social graces the rest of us do, but she’s a fast learner and proving to be a valuable member of the team.

As we trudge forward, the nighttime sounds of the wood shrieking all around us, our feet nearly silent on the brush and our gazes focused on the path ahead, Grisham murmurs softly, but we hear him perfectly through our earpieces.

“Plan. Two at the entry: Brains and Swagger, Brains at point. One at the back, that’s me. I’ll create an explosive diversion; try to draw as many interior guards toward me at the back as possible. Wheels posted at the sniper position. We don’t have schematics, this we’re blind rats in this maze. So we better make sure we’re the strongest damn rats in the area.”

“Copy,” we all mutter.

We take a sharp twist and the path opens up into a clearing. And sitting in the center of it, about a hundred yards away from the trees where we’re hidden, is an ornate mountain cabin. We all stop and take in the sight, but I can’t hear anything over the sound of my heart pounding in my ears. My knees feel suddenly weak and wobbly, and I place a hand against a nearby tree to steady me as my mind turns somersaults around what I’m seeing.

We don’t need schematics. I know this cabin inside and out. It’s been over ten years since I’ve been here, but I’ll never forget my grandparents’ mountain vacation home.

The magazine-worthy log architecture appears quaint and cozy nestled in the clearing, alight with lights burning in the windows and large lantern porch lights glowing yellow in the nighttime darkness. In front of the house, the two vehicles that took Rayne and Decker away from me earlier this evening are parked.

“Fuck me,” I breathe.

My three teammates send puzzled glances in my direction.

“I know this house. It belongs to my grandparents.”

“Damn.” Ronin’s muttered curse is all he gets out before our heads all snap toward the sound of a vehicle approaching from another direction.

A black Suburban with dark tinted windows pulls into the clearing just east of our hidden location. It crawls to a stop, but no one makes a move to get out of the car.

“Think that’s whoever Horton sent to pick up Decker?” asks Ronin.

My teeth grinding together, I stare at the SUV. I know exactly who’s here to pick up my son and I want to break into a run, pull the SUV doors off the hinges, and pull him out of the car by the lapels of his three-piece suit.

“Horton has six guys with him that we know of. Two of them are at the front door right there. Horton has no reason to believe we’re coming. He thinks he’s free and clear, so chances are there’s no on posted at the back. You saw them on the road. We can take them down, but we go in hot. No hesitations. If you have to fire, don’t shoot to kill. Everyone who comes out of this alive serves time, remember that. The goal is to incapacitate, and pull Rayne and Decker out safely.”

The front door of the cabin opens, and I take the first breath I’ve breathed in hours when Decker appears, held steady by Kevin O’Shea. My blood erupts in my veins like lava when I see my kid, and every instinct I have screams at me to get him.

“I’m out,” murmurs Grisham as he begins to move swiftly away from us. “I’ll skirt the perimeter until I reach the back. Wheels…hit the west side and find a perch. You two…watch the kid, but don’t give away our approach unless you have to.”

Gritting my teeth, I shake my head. “I’m not letting Decker leave here in that Suburban.”

We can’t see Grisham anymore, but his voice comes in loud and clear through my earpiece. “Wouldn’t expect you to.”

I watch, my heart thumping a jarring rhythm against my ribs, as O’Shea tries to lead Decker to the SUV. Decker is struggling like no other, and I’m filled with pride and fear. I don’t want them to hurt him for fighting.

“Wheels,” I hiss. “What’s your position?”

“On my stomach and at the ready,” he replies.

“Can you take down the two at the door?”

In answer, there’s a whizzing sound as Dare’s silencer-equipped rifle fires. One man by the door goes down, holding his knee. In less than a second, the other falls much like the first.

Kevin O’Shea, confused as fuck, turns to look at them, and Decker takes his opportunity. Swinging his backpack around to hit O’Shea as hard as he can, he wrenches free and breaks into a run.

Straight for the tree line where I’m standing.

As I step out to catch him, the driver of the Suburban breaks into a run to try and catch him. But with another quiet bullet from Dare, he goes down with a scream, holding his shoulder.

Decker slams into me, and my arms go around him. In the darkness, he struggles. All he knows is that he was free and now he’s not. Leaning down to his ear, I whisper urgently.

“It’s me! It’s me, Deck. I got you.”

He stops struggling immediately, his small body going limp in my arms. Crouching down in front of him, I watch as his eyes go wide.

“Dad!” His arms go around my neck, and it’s the best fucking hug I’ve ever had.

I smooth his hair as I hug him, and then I pull away and scan his face. “Are you hurt?”

He shakes his head, glancing back toward the cabin. “Mom…she’s still in there!”

Nodding, I gesture toward Ronin. “I know that, Deck. Look…this is my friend Ronin. He used to be a soldier, like me. Stay with him while I go in there and get your mom, okay?”

Decker opens his mouth and I know he’s about to argue, so I give him a serious look as I grip his shoulders. “Listen, Deck. This is a rescue mission, okay? And I need you to follow orders so I can get in there and get your mom. Do you think you can do that for me?”

He nods, and Ronin steps in.

“Don’t like sending you in alone,” he warns.

“Don’t have a choice.” With one last look at Decker, I step from the tree line and sprint toward the house. Just as I’m passing the Suburban, a loud explosion sounds from the back of the house.

“I got two down.” Grisham’s voice in my ear.

That means there’s only one guard and Horton left.

I’m at about the bottom of the steps when the sound of a car door stops me.

The Suburban. Not empty.

“Hello, Jeremy. I didn’t expect to see you here. Where’s my grandson?”

When I turn around, it’s to face my grandfather.

And he’s pointing a Glock directly at my chest.

“Granddad.”

The fact that my own grandparent is leveling a gun at me should be disturbing. It should be surprising. It should be devastating.

But it isn’t, because I know Mason Teague. He was always ruthless, you don’t get to the top in business unless you have that trait. But over the past ten years, since I cut all ties with that world, he’s gone to the dark side. I saw it that day at his house in Wilmington, and I’m definitely seeing it now.

“Granddad? Shit.” Dare’s curse crackles through my earpiece. “I have a shot, man. You want me to take it?”

I shake my head, knowing that Dare will see it and know it’s for him.

I take a step closer to my grandfather when a scream from inside the house rips through my insides like wildfire.

My body tenses. That was Rayne. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Granddad…you gonna shoot me? Because if you’re not, I need to get in there.” I jerk a thumb over my shoulder.

His hands are steady. “My great-grandson.”

A growl rumbles in my chest. “Will never know you. He’s gone. You think I’m just gonna hand him over? I’d let you shoot me first.”

Grisham’s voice, inside the house, sounds through my earpiece. “Hey, hey, hey. Easy now, Horton. You don’t want to do this.”

I trust Grisham with my life on a daily basis, but he’s not the one who should be inside that cabin if my woman is in trouble. It should be me. A cold sweat breaks out on my skin as a thousand scenarios of what Grisham’s seeing right now flash through my head. None of them are good.

“This mess is because of you?” I spit the words. “That Mergers and Acquisitions folder I saw on your desk? Tech companies aren’t in your wheelhouse, are they?”

His face remains stone cold, and dead serious. “They are if bringing them under the Teague Industries umbrella gets me what I want. And I want another chance to raise a Teague heir who has the balls to take over my legacy when I’m gone.”

Grisham: “You hurt her, Horton? Why is she unconscious? You know this won’t end well, right? Why don’t you hand her over to me? Then you can run if you want.”

She’s unconscious? Horton is a fucking dead man. Rage boils within me, and now I direct it right at Mason Teague for keeping me away from Rayne, back then and right now.

“How long have you been planning this? Have you known about Decker all along?” My anger is seething just below the surface, and if I don’t contain it I’m likely to explode.

His right eye twitches, a habit he’s always had when dealing with stressful situations. “Do you think I would have let that stupid little twit run off all those years ago without making it my mission to find her? She’d changed her name, but when I finally found her, Decker was about six years old. I watched, and waited for my opportunity. When she began working for Horton Tech, I researched the company. I knew it was my chance to get close to her and bring my great-grandson home.”

My jaw tightens painfully as my back teeth grind together. “And so, what? You pay out of your ass and Horton somehow kidnaps my son for you and takes my woman? And you really thought I was going to let that happen?” My words might as well have been tinged with venom.

He takes a step forward and I can almost hear Dare’s trigger finger tense. “When I figured out that he was alive, do you really think I would let my great-grandson grow up without me in his life? Or that I would let Rayne get away with defying me? Once I knew she had your child there was no way I was letting a Teague be raised by anyone else. I did this for you, you ungrateful idiot! I brought him back here for you, so you would have a chance to raise him…the right way. It was time to get rid of that little bitch once and for all. It was time for you to get your head out of your ass and for the Teague men to run my business. It was time for both of you to come home!”

I raise my voice. “There’s a red dot on your back.”

He freezes.

Inside, Grisham continues to talk to Horton. “You can drop her and walk right out that front door. I’m pretty sure the cops will be here any minute, so you don’t have much time.”

Atta boy, Ghost.

I don’t know if I’ve ever been so grateful to a member of my team before now.

But I’m done with my grandfather.

“That’s right. Did you think I came alone? My whole team is here, and there’s no way we’re letting either you or Horton walk away. So you have a choice. You can either pull your trigger and end up dead yourself, or you can lower your weapon and let us take you in to the local authorities.”

The rage in his eyes is due to the loss of control. If there’s one thing that matters to Mason Teague, it’s control. And he just lost the upper hand in a situation he thought he had all figured out.

His hand shakes as he raises his weapon, and I know what’s going to happen before I hear the whistle of the shot that Dare fires. I only have time to see the Glock fly out of my grandfather’s hands and to hear his cry of pain as he registers the fact that his hand has been grazed by a bullet before I’m turning and sprinting up the stone steps of the cabin.

“I’m grabbing him.” Dare’s voice sounds like he’s running, and I know that my grandfather won’t be able to run.

I burst through the front door just as Horton reaches it. His arms are full of an unconscious Rayne, whom he throws at me and shoulders by.

Catching Rayne, I sink down to the knotty pine floor with her in my arms. Grisham kneels beside me.

Pushing Rayne’s thick hair from her face, my stomach turns and I can’t seem to swallow past the enormous lump growing in my throat. “I’m so sorry, darlin’.”

As sirens reach us in the distance, the only thing I can think about is getting medical attention for Rayne. I look her over, being as gentle as I can. “What’d he do to you?”

Grisham looks her over, too. “I think he hit her.”

When I look at Rayne’s face, I go rigid with fury, because Horton’s fucking handprint is etched in an angry red mark on the side of her face. But it doesn’t explain why she’s unconscious. Her chest rises and falls, so I know that she’s breathing and her heart is beating. But the paleness of her skin other than the mark on her face scares the shit out of me. She’s so limp in my arms and she feels so damn far away.

Conscious of possible broken bones, I pull her to my chest. Kissing her hair, I whisper in her ear. “Come back to me, Rayne. Come back to me and Deck.”

The steady beeping of the monitors has been my saving grace. If the room had been quiet for the past four hours, I would have ripped the place apart. I would have gone completely fucking crazy. I’ve been sitting in a chair I’ve pulled next to the bed, watching Rayne’s still face as she sleeps.

After she was admitted and the doctors examined her, they didn’t find any bodily injuries that would have caused her to lose consciousness. And even after being grilled by local law enforcement, Horton wasn’t talking. The doctors completed a tox screen that revealed that Rayne had heavy tranquilizers in her system.

The son of a bitch had tranked her.

So now I’ve been waiting. And while I wait, I’ve had a lot of time to think.

I could have lost Rayne and Decker. The situation worked out, but the fact that Wagner Horton and my grandfather nearly succeeded in taking everything I love away from me isn’t lost on me. I almost lost everything, and it makes me realize how damn lucky I really am.

Rayne walked back into my life by accident, but I’m going to make sure she’s here to stay. I’m going to make sure that she and Decker know how much I love them, and there’s one way that I can make that very clear.

I’m staring toward the window when her slender fingers clench around my hand. Glancing down at her, I see her eyelids flutter before her long, dark lashes open and I’m staring into her gorgeous blue eyes.

“Jeremy?” Her voice, always sultry and raspy, sounds even more so than usual. I pull her hand to my lips and just try to keep myself from losing it right then and there.

“Hey, beautiful.”

She glances around the room, and her eyes go wide. “Where’s Decker? Oh, my God…they took him!”

“Shhh, it’s okay. It’s okay, Rayne. He’s here. He’s safe.” I move to the bed so I can be even closer to her while she’s freaking out. I can’t imagine what it must feel like, waking up to think you’ve lost your son.

Her eyes close, but it doesn’t stop the tears from leaking out. When she begins to tremble all over with the force of her quiet sobs, I flip a giant middle finger to hospital rules and lie down beside her, pulling her to my chest.

“It’s okay, baby. Let it out…I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere.” My words are meant to soothe her, but they’re truer than any I’ve ever spoken.

She just cries. My shirt soaks up every single tear, but I couldn’t care less. I’d change shirts and let her soak up another one if I could.

When she finally takes a deep, shuddering breath that shakes her entire body, she lifts her head from my chest, and I wince at the sight of the bruise forming on the side of her face.

With gentle fingers, I caress it. “He hit you. You don’t know how bad I want to hurt him for that.”

“It happened when he let Decker go with O’Shea. All I could see was Decker leaving me, and I know what you said about stalling, and I didn’t want to fail and lose our baby boy, and…” Fresh tears spring to her eyes and this time I turn so that I can cradle her face in my hands.

“You did so good, darlin’. You really did. Decker ran when he got outside and I caught him. He was with Ronin the whole time. And now my grandfather and Horton, along with his crew, are in police custody. I think the team is making the calls that need to be made for them to be turned over to the feds.”

Her forehead wrinkles in confusion. “Your grandfather?”

Trying to hold my anger in check, I explain to her how my grandfather caved under police interrogation and said he initially approached Horton in order to get to Rayne.

“He wanted to invest in Wagner’s company so he could get close in order to get you out of the picture. He wanted to kill you so that I would automatically have custody of Decker.” Just saying the words makes bile rise in my throat. I can’t even stand the thought of something happening to her, and it was this close to all going to hell.

“Then, when Decker was here, my grandfather was going to try to manipulate me into coming back into the family business so I could give Decker the ‘right kind’ of future. As if a future with Mason Teague would be superior to growing up without a mother.

“But my grandfather found out that Horton wanted you for himself. Since my grandfather didn’t care what happened to you he allowed Horton to do all the work, which worked out perfectly. My grandfather wouldn’t even have to get his hands dirty and he could still get his way. Horton was going to fly off with you, someone would say you disappeared and abandoned Decker. Then Decker would be under my custody. Horton could have you as long as you never reappeared in public. But then you saw the Prednar coding and ran. You screwed up their plan Rayne. And thank god you did. Thank God you came home, because as bad as this was, I can’t imagine what would have happened if their plan had worked.”

“Wait a minute. The whole time, he was acquiring Horton Tech because he wanted to get his claws in our son? He wanted to kill me?” The rage in her voice is familiar, and I nod with total understanding.

“Yes. And now he’ll be charged with attempted kidnapping, among other things.”

The team, from their place in the hospital waiting room, had been filling me in on each development happening with Mason and Horton. I didn’t really care at this point, but it helped knowing they’d pay for their crimes against my family.

Rayne attempts to sit up, and I move out of her way so she can slowly prop herself against the pillows. Making sure she’s comfortable, I eye her. “Can I get you something? Water, maybe? More pillows?”

She shakes her head but turns pleading eyes on me. I swear, I’d give her anything she wanted at this moment. “All I want is to see Decker.”

Standing, I lean down and brush my lips against her forehead. “Then I’ll be right back.”

When I walk into the hospital waiting room, six sets of adult eyes turn to me, while Decker throws himself into my arms.

“Dad! Is Mom awake yet? Can I see her now?”

My heart clenches into a ball of emotion like it has every time he’s called me Dad. Will it ever feel real, having this little boy as my own?

Kneeling down in front of him, my hands on his shoulders, I smile. “Yeah, bud. She’s awake and she really wants to see you.”

Standing and slinging my arm around Decker’s shoulders, I look around the crowded waiting room. There are more people here than I expected to see. Berkeley, Dare’s wife, sits beside him, her curly blond hair pulled up off her face. She blinks big brown eyes at me, concern marring her normally pretty face. Next to Grisham sits his fiancée, Greta. Her long, lithe frame is fitted into an uncomfortable-looking chair, her legs curled up beneath her. Her head rests on Grisham’s shoulder, but as I scan the room she looks up at me. And then my eyes land on Jacob Owen, who I definitely didn’t expect to see. Going rogue doesn’t exactly send warm and fuzzy vibes to your boss.

Walking over to him, I offer a hand but he bypasses it and grabs me into a rough hug. “She okay?” His whisper is for me only.

Nodding, I pull away and offer him a chagrined smile. “We suspended?”

With a wry twist of his lips, he glances at the guys before meeting my gaze again. “We’ll talk about that when we’re all back home. But I definitely can’t fault you for goin’ after your family. Would have done the same damn thing.” He glances down at Decker. “Looks like you. He seems like a really good kid, Teague.”

Pride threatens to swallow me whole as I glance down at my son. He’s looking up at me with nothing but trust on his face. Addressing the group, my voice is thick with all the emotions I’ve been holding back. “Thanks. All of you…for being here. For—” I choke off, scrubbing a hand down my face. Then I look each member of my team in the eyes in turn. “For all of it.”

Ronin speaks up. “Get outta here. The little dude wants to see his mom.” But there’s nothing but sincerity and compassion in his eyes.

When Decker and I walk back into Rayne’s hospital room, there’s a doctor and a nurse with her. The doctor has a stethoscope over her heart while the nurse sits at the computer, typing away with busy fingers.

Decker runs to the bed. “Mom!”

Rayne pats the spot beside her. “Get up here, sweetheart.”

He climbs up and the doctor moves out of the way so that she can hug her son. Straightening with a small smile, he glances at me.

It was hard when we first arrived and they were doing all of these tests on Rayne for me to get them to let me sit with her or to give me any information about her case. Apparently, “baby daddy” isn’t on the approved list to receive patient information. But when I’d called Rayne’s sister Olive in Paris, she’d given them hell over the phone, insisting that since she wasn’t there to be with Rayne, they give me total access. And they’d caved.

“So your, um, Rayne here is going to be just fine. We were just waiting until she was awake to examine her. These tranquilizers, especially a heavy dose like she had, affect everyone differently. But she seems to be having no adverse reaction, except for a little weakness. There are no broken bones in her cheek, and she should recover just fine at home.”

Rayne glances up at that. “You mean I can leave?”

The doctor nods. “I don’t see why not. You were very lucky, Miss Alexander.”

Midnight blue eyes, deeper than the sea, meet mine. There’s something in them, something warm and intense, and it causes the inside of my chest to feel like it’s caving in.

Lucky.