Norah rolled over to see Harley still sound asleep. The clock on the nightstand said it was well past noon, and she still felt like she could sleep another eight hours.

She stretched slightly so she wouldn’t wake him, and felt the wonderful soreness sex after years of abstinence had left behind.

Not just sex, she thought to herself. Delicious, wonderful, mind-blowing sex. She rolled over and stared at the ceiling. They would win this war, they had to. She needed to know what the future held for her and Harley. She wanted to see if what they had lasted on into a future she had only dreamed about.

“What are you thinking about?”

She looked over to see Harley watching her intently.

“How amazing you are in bed.” He grinned at her response, and it had her blood warming again.

“You’re pretty amazing yourself.” Harley propped himself up on his elbow and pulled her close to him. “Interested in round two?”

“Only if it’s followed by a round three.”

“I think I can meet that demand.” He smiled and took her mouth with his.

---

IT WAS WELL past four in the afternoon by the time they ventured downstairs for food.

“I was wondering when we might see you two.” Marissa winked as she kneaded some dough on the counter.

“Sorry, I guess we were more tired then we thought.” Norah grinned, and Harley led her to a chair across from Gerry.

“No need to defend it to me, honey. I’ve seen him shirtless.” Both Norah and Harley blushed this time.

“All right now, woman, keep it in your pants.” Gerry’s voice was more irritated then usual.

“Coffee?” Harley asked, and got down two mugs.

“Yes, please.”

“Gerry?”

“No thanks, Harley. I’ve about drank an entire pot already.” He laughed now. “How are you feeling today?” He reached across and gently patted her hand.

“Much better. Are you okay?”

“Yep, just not sure what we need to do next. Any ideas on that, Harley?”

“Actually, yes, I think I have a plan. It’s part of what took Norah and I so long; we were working out the details.”

“I’m sure you were.” Marissa winked again, and after washing her hands, took a seat next to Gerry.

“Let’s hear it.”

“I know where Clayton lives, or rather lived, I suppose.” Norah straightened and gripped Harley’s hand. “If Tom is still using it, then maybe we can get close enough to gather evidence against him. Pictures or something like that.” She was nervous.

Harley hadn’t been keen on her going with them, and she had argued her point until she finally said she wouldn’t tell him where it was unless he took her. She had to be involved after everything she had been through.

“Why would they be using his house?” Gerry rubbed his hand over his beard. “With Matthews dead, why not find somewhere else?”

“They may not be. It’s probable that they have moved on, but it’s a start. We never had a solid location on his residence before. That’s why we targeted the charity banquet. If there is any chance at all that Tom is operating out of Matthews’s place, then we need to at least check it out. If he’s not, then no harm done, we can search it for any evidence and then we can circle back to find another option.”

“Who is going to listen to you even if you do manage to gather anything against him?” Marissa asked him. Gerry shot her an annoyed glance, and she held her hand up. “Look, all I’m saying is that you are a wanted man, Harley. What’s going to happen when Tom plays that card? He obviously must have someone on payroll, otherwise they would have never been able to trace you and Norah to the charity banquet deaths.”

Harley nodded and thought for a minute. “Then I kill whoever is behind things, including Tom. That should put a stop to the operation.”

“True,” Gerry said. “But it does nothing about your current wanted status.”

“I can stay under the radar.”

“And what about Norah?” Marissa asked.

“I will go with you,” Norah said, and squeezed Harley’s hand. “Whatever happens, I want to be with you.”

Harley smiled at her. “Bottom line is we can’t let them continue to operate. They are killing innocent people, so even if it means I have to take them out and we have to hide, then that’s what we need to do,” Harley said.

“There’s too many ‘I’s in your sentences,” Norah said. “I’m with you. That means even when we go against them, I am with you.”

“Looks like I’m coming out of retirement,” Gerry said.

“What exactly did you retire from?” Norah asked, curious.

“I gathered information and cleaned up messes.”

“You did what Harley does,” Norah concluded.

“Yes. After a security leak, I was targeted. Needless to say, I decided an early retirement was best,” he said, and stood. “I’m not much for hand-to-hand anymore, but I’m still a damn good shot with a rifle.”

Marissa stood and narrowed her eyes at Gerry. “Well, I guess that’s settled then, isn’t it?”

“Marissa.”

“No, Gerry.” She threw her hand up to stop him. “There you go making all the decisions for us both yet again. Tell me, are you going to decide again that I’m better off without you when this is all over? You know what, don’t even bother answering.” She strode out of the room and they heard the door slam shut.

Gerry stared after her for a moment before turning to face the table. “As you can guess, there’s some baggage there,” Gerry said with an empty laugh. “I’ll be back.”

---

“MARISSA,” GERRY SAID when he found her in the barn.

“Are you seriously going to go running back into a war that’s not yours to fight?”

“I can’t let them go alone, Marissa.”

“We spent thirty years apart, Gerry. Thirty damn years without hardly any contact. You finally walk back into my life and now I’m going to lose you again? You’re sixty-two, for shit’s sake.”

“Age isn’t anything but a number. I’m still—”

“A damn good shot, yeah, yeah. I heard you.” She looked at him, tears in her eyes. “We should have had a future.”

“We should have. I will never forgive myself for not taking you on the run with me, but I honestly believed it’s what was best for you. I couldn’t have stood it if anything happened to you.”

“We could have stayed safe together.”

“Yes, we could have. Whatever time we have left we will spend it together, but I cannot let them go in alone, Marissa.”

She watched his face. Even after all these years, he was still the same man he had been the day she had met him nearly thirty-five years before. A damn good man with a heart of gold, and she knew he would go in guns blazing if it meant saving someone else.

“Marissa, I have my reasons for not wanting them to go in alone. I promise I will tell them to you, but I need your blessing. I need you with me, you watch my back and I watch your back. It’s when we work best. They are just like us, Marissa; if one of them goes in and the other comes out, it will kill the survivor. They will both die. I know that because it’s how I would have felt.” He took her hand in his and pressed it to his lips. “Please understand.”

“You’ll tell me why?”

“Absolutely, just not yet. I want it to be your decision, and not because of my reasoning.”

“Okay. Let’s do it.”

Gerry pulled her closer. “Thank you.” He pressed his forehead to hers and kissed her deeply.

“I love you, Marissa. You are one fine gal.” She smiled at his words. They were some of the first he had ever spoken to her.

“Just promise me something, Gerry.”

“Anything.”

“When this is all over, whatever time we have left we will spend it together.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

---

“I OWN A small townhouse on the outskirts of the city.” Marissa pointed to a street on the map that lay in front of them. “We can use it. Gerry and I will stay here and get weapons and ammo while you two go in and scope out Matthews’s old residence. Once you get a good feel for the place, you can get us good vantage points for our rifles. I have a contact who can get us what we need weapon-wise, no questions, but he won’t sell if we all go.”

“You two will need to keep out of sight,” Gerry warned. “That beard makes you fairly unrecognizable, Harley, but Norah, someone could spot you easily.”

“I’ve got something that might help you with that.” Marissa tossed her a bottle of hair dye. “Told you, I helped those who were trying to hide,” she explained at Gerry’s interested glance.

Norah eyed the hair dye warily. She loved her brown hair, and the color dye Marissa had handed her would take her from chestnut to black. She took a deep breath. Gerry was right. Harley would be able to blend in, but she would be spotted easily. She nodded. She had to make sure they weren’t caught, and if that meant a different hair color, temporarily, she added to herself, then that’s what she would do.

“Okay.”

“We will gather the weapons and meet you in two days at the house,” Gerry said, standing up. “I say we get started on this tomorrow?” he asked, and reached for Marissa.

Harley took a look at Norah. “Tomorrow’s good.”

They were on each other before they reached the stairs.

---

“WHAT DO YOU think’s going to happen?” Norah wondered, twirling a strand of her now black hair.

“I think we are going to win.”

She laughed. “That’s optimistic.”

“I’m learning to look on the bright side,” he said easily, although his insides were in knots. How was he going to keep her safe when they were about to enter a world where everyone knew her? “Was there anyone on the inside that hated Clayton? Anyone who acted as if they wanted him dead?”

“Why?”

“Just curious if we might have a way in.”

“But he’s dead. It’s best to assume that anyone who might have hated him then would be gone now.”

“Possibly, but Tom may have kept them around in the event they would be useful.” He wondered if that was what he had been to Tom. Useful.

“I still can’t believe how dirty that bastard is.” Harley leaned back and put one arm behind his head.

“I’m sorry, Harley,” Norah said softly, and kissed the inside of his bicep.

“I’m the one who should be apologizing to you,” he said as he watched her sit up and prop her head on one hand.

Damn, she was amazing. Her dark hair was even darker now, and fell like a curtain over her propped arm. Her already plump lips were still swollen from his. Even now, he wanted her. He wished that there was a way they could crawl into a hole and never come out.

“You don’t need to apologize,” she said, running her fingers over the light coating of hair on his chest. She leaned forward and placed a kiss over his heart.

“We could disappear.”

“What do you mean?”

“We could just leave, right now. Get fake passports and head for the nearest beach. Spend our lives sipping margaritas with our toes in the sand.”

“Are you asking me to spend my life with you, Mr. Andrews?” She straddled him and grinned widely.

“We may not survive this, Norah,” he said seriously, avoiding her question. “Don’t you want a long life?”

She stared down at him. In the short time she had known him, he had become the most important person in her life. How was she supposed to tell him that she couldn’t just walk away? That she couldn’t let them continue to ruin the innocent lives they were tearing apart?

“Why don’t we just focus on today?” she said, and leaned forward to kiss him. His strong arms came around her and he deepened the kiss.

Norah pulled away and looked into Harley’s storm-colored eyes. Damn, she loved him.

---

THE RAIN OUTSIDE was doing nothing to help Harley’s grim mood as he loaded down the car the next morning. He looked over to the porch where Norah was telling Gerry and Marissa goodbye.

Harley couldn’t help but feel as if everything was about to go horribly wrong.

“We need to get going,” Harley said, and held his hand out for Norah.

“You stay safe, darling,” Marissa said, and pulled her in for a hug. “Keep that man in check; they all need a strong woman to watch out for them,” she whispered into her ear, and Norah smiled.

“I will. We will see you guys soon.”

“Two days,” Gerry said, hugging her. “If we aren’t there in two days, you two get the hell out of there and go find someplace to lay low.”

“Thanks, Gerry.” Harley shook his hand. “We’ll see you in two days,” he said, reiterating it to let Gerry know there was just no other option. If he believed everything was going to go as planned, then it would. He looked at Norah. He had to believe it would. There was more at stake now than ever before.

Harley held the door open for Norah and shut it gently after she had climbed in. The grey Chevy Traverse would keep them from sticking out while they drove. Harley hoped that the dark hair dye Norah wore and his lengthening beard was enough to not get recognized.

“I like the hair,” Harley noted as they pulled out of the drive. “I can’t remember if I told you or not.”

Norah pulled a few of the strands in her hand and twirled it. “Thanks. This is the first time I’ve ever colored my hair.”

“You would look beautiful with any hair color.”

She beamed at him, making him wonder how often she had actually been complimented before. He was certainly going to have to throw more her way to make up for it.

“How do you feel?” he asked as he drove through the rain.

“Good—wonderful, actually.” She laughed lightly. “How about you?”

“Amazing.” He smiled and reached over to turn on the radio.

“Oh, I love this song!” Norah squealed when Ed Sheeran’s A-Team came on.

Harley listened as she sang. Just the sound of her singing had the blood pounding in his veins. Would he ever get to a point where he didn’t crave her? He found himself hoping he wouldn’t and praying that she would always feel the same.

“Sorry.” Norah laughed and turned the radio down slightly.

“Why?” Harley glanced at her and then reached for the stereo. “You have a gorgeous voice, Norah, don’t be sorry for that. Sing.” He cranked the volume up again and grinned when she began singing again.

Harley let himself push the thoughts of tomorrow out of his head, and for a few minutes pretended as if it were only them in the world. As if they weren’t walking into what could very possibly be their deaths.

“So,” Norah said, turning the radio off. “What is your favorite color?”

“My favorite color?”

“Yes, mine’s yellow.”

“Yellow?”

“It’s sunny, bright, a happy color.”

Harley smiled. The color fit her. “Mine’s blue.”

“A great color.” She beamed at him. “What about your favorite band?”

Harley laughed. “Why?”

“I want to know about you.”

“What’s your favorite band?”

“I don’t really have one. As you already know, I love Ed Sheeran, and I am a major T-Swift supporter.” She winked. “But I also love Fall Out Boy, Luke Bryan, and Imagine Dragons. I suppose I love a little bit of everything.”

“I like all of them, except maybe T-Swift.” He grinned when she laughed. Just the sight of her smiling made his heart soar. “Music’s a tough one for me. I like to listen to a lot of different artists. When I’m driving, I prefer country, but when I’m boxing I prefer Disturbed or Skillet.”

The image she had in her head of him boxing had her blood warming.

“What about food?” His voice pushed the image out of her head, and she looked back at him.

“Pizza. I like all pizza, but a deep dish with nothing but tons of pepperoni is my absolute favorite.”

“Pizza’s good. I love barbeque. Give me some tender ribs and I’ll be in love.”

Norah laughed and reached over to touch his arm. His skin sizzled at her touch, and he had to force his eyes back on the road. He thought that once he had savored her, he would be able to control himself better. But as it turned out, it had only caused him to want more.

“I wonder what it would have been like had be met under different circumstances.”

“What do you mean?” Harley wondered.

“Do you think you would have talked to me? Been attracted to me had we met at a coffee shop or bar somewhere?”

Harley let out a quick laugh. “I would have definitely been attracted to you and I would have absolutely talked to you; would have probably begged you to let me take you home.”

“Really?”

“Without a doubt.”

She smiled and looked out the window. “I’m really glad we met, Harley.”

“I am too, Norah.”