I lay there awake, Lily pressed against my side, her arm around my chest, her warm, even breathing brushing along my skin. I stared at the ceiling, not able to sleep because the euphoria I felt was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. If I thought too hard on it, I'd realize that I was not good enough for her, that I had no idea what a lucky bastard I really was.

I knew I loved her, would take care of her, make sure she was always happy, always safe. But then the other part of me worried that being with her would also put her in danger continuously. I was the man I was and always would be. I was a hardened soldier, bred into the military so it was ingrained in my very DNA. I couldn't just quit, even if I wanted to, in order to ensure that she would be okay. There would always be threats and dangers, always be someone lurking around the corner who wanted to hurt me because I’d hurt them.

I gently removed her arm from around my chest and sat up. I grabbed a pair of sweats and slipped them on before leaving the room quietly. She needed the sleep, and so did I, but I couldn't rest, not after what we'd just done.

I looked at my watch. It was getting late. Cookie was supposed to come by so we could discuss the situation face-to-face, and so I could get any new details that had emerged. But so far I hadn't gotten word on when that would be. I was getting antsy, frustrated that things hadn't been taken care of already. The truth was, this took time. I knew that.

We had to weed out Makonovich.

I grabbed a beer out of the fridge, but before I could even pop the cap, the alarm for outside was triggered. I moved into action. I went into the bedroom, grabbed my handgun, and turned to see that Lily was already awake and getting dressed. She had this wild look in her eyes, her hair mussed from what we'd just done, and I could feel the fear that surrounded her.

I pulled her in close to me and kissed her temple. “Everything will be okay,” I said, although I had no idea what the fuck was going on. “Stay in the room.” I moved away from her and grabbed a gun from the arsenal cabinet. I turned and opened the cabinets in the bedroom that held the security monitors. I scanned each one but didn't see anything right away. And then I saw movement on the east perimeter of the property.

Although it was just a deer that had wandered close enough to the cabin that it had triggered the alarm, the system was set up that wildlife shouldn't have tripped it. I left the room and shut the door behind me. I heard her lock it from the inside. I kept low, away from the windows. Although the glass was bulletproof and the curtains partially closed, I wasn't a stupid fucker.

I went into the kitchen and reached under the sink to grab another gun that was housed there. I couldn’t have to many. Wearing sweats and no shirt and being barefoot made it pretty fucking impossible to load up on weapons. But if any asshole tried to get into the house, they'd be in for one hell of an awakening.

The alarm kept blaring, and I cursed at not turning it off. I moved close to the wall by the door. Just then I heard boots on the porch. In that moment I didn't think about anything or anyone aside from whoever was on the other side of that door. Lily was relatively safe at the moment, and there was no way I was letting some asshole in this cabin to get to her.

“Turn the fucking alarm off.” I heard the deep voice come through the front door, gruff, annoyed. But I recognized it. It was Simon, one of the newer SEAL members to come on board during the last year and someone I’d worked with before. I didn’t know him that well, but he hadn’t done anything to make me nervous on the mission we’d been on. I also didn’t realize Cutter was bringing in someone outside of his close-knit group. I’d expected Cookie, but I knew as well as anyone that plans changed all the fucking time.

I went over to the bedroom and knocked on the door, waiting until Lily opened it. “It's me, baby.” I gave her a sound kiss as soon as I saw her gorgeous face. I moved over to the panel and shut the alarm off. The silence seemed louder than the alarm. “Stay here with the door shut,” I said softly. I might know that Simon was a SEAL, but that didn't mean I felt comfortable with her out there with us.

I left the room, and she shut the door and locked it behind me again. I tucked one of the handguns at the small of my back and kept the other one in my hand. Then I moved over to the front door and opened it. Simon stood there, a pissed-off expression on his face.

“Took you long enough.”

I kept my body between him and the inside of the cabin. He seemed on edge, antsy even. That had my internal alarms rising.

We stood there for a second in silence, and with my hand braced against the inside of the door, the gun in my hold, I looked Simon right in the eye. “You didn't call and give me a heads-up that you were on your way. If I would've known, I could've been prepared and the alarm wouldn't have fucking gone off.”

Simon shifted on his feet and glanced behind him. No, something wasn't right. There was definitely something up with him. He looked back at me and gave me a tight smile.

“You going to let me in so we can talk about this shit, or what?”

No fucking way was I letting him in, not when this whole situation didn't feel right at all.

He took a step closer and I braced, but before he could fully reach the door, I felt warmth covering my face and chest: blood. My muscles tensed as I watched Simon collapse onto the porch, the bullet hole going through the side of his forehead, barely missing me as it slammed not the reinforced door. Blood pooled out from the wound and covered the wooden slats of the porch.

I shut the door, but before I could engage the lock, there was another round of fire. I crouched low and shouted for Lily to take cover and stay in the bedroom. I wasn't worried about the bullets making it inside the cabin, not when it was reinforced. But that didn't seem to matter when a powerful explosion came from behind me. My body was thrust forward, heat searing my back as I slammed against the wall.

Wood shattered inward, covering the walls and furniture. The gun I’d held was knocked out of my hand. The smell of chemicals from a bomb filled my head. I rolled away from the wall and into the kitchen to lean behind the breakfast bar, using it as a shield as I grabbed the gun from behind the small of my back and braced myself.

I stayed in position for long seconds, calculating the situation, listening as the debris settled. And then I heard footsteps coming into the cabin.

“Come out.” The thickly Russian accented voice had everything in me stilling, had my heart stopping momentarily before slamming hard against my ribs.

I glanced to my left, and although I couldn't see the bedroom door because of the wall, I prayed Lily stayed quiet. Makonovich had made it inside, and his goal was to hurt me by hurting the woman I loved.

“Come out and face me like a man. No hiding behind bullshit,” I heard Makonovich say as he made his way around the room.

I slowly stood, the dust in the air thick but the view of the bastard just a few feet from me clear. I could've prolonged this, made him suffer, but I had no patience. I lifted my gun, but before I could fire right in the back of the asshole's head, he shifted and faced me. My bullet slammed into the wall. He fired back and I moved to the side, but the bullet grazed my shoulder. Searing pain slammed into me, but it was easy enough to brush away, given the situation.

He was in the kitchen now, close to me, firing. But with the debris and the grit still in the air his moves were uncoordinated, his aim lacking. I forced myself forward charging him, and slammed my shoulder into his gut. We crashed against the fridge. Items on top of the appliance fell down as we struggled for supremacy. This wasn't how I normally fought, wasn't how I did things. I always made sure to have coordination, stealth, and tactic. But this particular moment there was no time for any of that.

Gunfire went off, sweat and dirt covered my body, and grunts from both of us came through. I slammed the butt of my gun against his skull, and he fell to the floor. I took a step back and aimed the weapon at him, needing some answers before I ended his miserable life once and for all.

“How did you find me?”

He was still on the floor, blood rushing from the wound I'd inflicted on his temple. I could see his gun had fallen from his grasp and was feet away. He started laughing, his grin spreading across his face, his expression looking Jokerish. He tipped his chin toward the front door, and without looking I knew he was talking about Simon.

“Seems like not everyone agrees with how things are run.” Makonovich ran his hand over the blood that was slowly dripping down the side of his face. “It was easy enough to get him to tell me what I wanted, especially when he had some hard-core past indiscretions he didn't want to come to light.” Makonovich started laughing again, more maniacally than before. “And his indiscretions were pretty fucked up, even for my standards.”

Whether I believed Makonovich didn't really matter in this moment. Simon had been in the military, his background gone through with a fine-tooth comb. But then again, that didn't really mean much since things could get overlooked if they were buried deep enough, and people could get paid off. And I couldn't deny the red flags that had popped up when he was on my doorstep. He’d looked shady as fuck.

“You should've died a year ago,” I said, the gun still pointed at his head. The bastard just continued to grin at me.

Just as I was about to pull the trigger, Makonovich lifted his hand, the gun in his hold not one I'd seen until now. He fired, and it was as if it played out in slow motion. I felt the bullet slam into my side, felt the blood immediately start to seep out. The searing pain consumed my body, like fire licking across my very veins.

It hit me like a semi, and I was on my ass on the ground. A wave of dizziness slammed into me, and I looked at my side to see the blood rushing out. I placed my hand on the wound, adding pressure. My gun had slipped from my grasp, and I searched for it, finally seeing it a few feet away. But Makonovich was already above me, his expression now stoic, but his eyes showing evil intent.

I was not about to die right now. All I could think about was Lily in the other room, about how she'd be helpless against this asshole.

“Don't worry; I'm not going to kill you just yet. I want to bring your bitch out here so she can see what I've done to you, and so you can watch as I take her life before I end yours.”

I forced myself to get up then, but before I could stand fully, I was right back on my ass. The dizziness was too consuming, the blood loss too intense. I gritted my teeth and tried again. With a hand braced on the fridge, I stared at the asshole who was not going to win tonight. He wasn’t. I couldn’t let that happen.

Using all my strength, I charged forward. We crashed against the breakfast bar, his back bowing over the counter slightly. We wrestled for the gun, but before I could grab it, we were on the floor, sparring. I was surprised I could do this much, given the fact I had to blink several times just to keep my vision in focus.

Makonovich was on top of me now, one hand around my neck, the other raising up to point the gun at my head. I stared him right in the eye, gasping for breath, trying to get more strength, more energy.

“Seems like if I don’t do this now, you won’t make it to see me kill your bitch,” he said, his body still on top of mine as he tried to gain supremacy.

But anything that I had reserved had been depleted in that momentary fight. And as the time seemed to stand still and everything around me became perfectly clear, I knew I was a failure.

I hadn't protected Lily. I hadn't been the man she needed or deserved. I lifted my hand and gripped his wrist, holding the gun away from me for as long as possible. And then as if everything stood still, time no longer existing, a bullet tore through the center of his head.

Makonovich fell sideways, his body now off me, his life gone. I couldn't move for long seconds, not sure what the fuck had happened. And then I slowly rose up, placed my hand on my side to apply more pressure, and turned my head to see Lily standing there with a gun pointed to where Makonovich’s still body lay on the floor.

Her hands were shaking, and her eyes were wide. Tears streamed down her cheeks. I forced myself up, bracing my body on the breakfast counter. “Baby,” I croaked. I was losing too much blood too quickly. I moved closer to her and took the gun from her, setting it on the counter beside me. I pulled her in and held her, cupped the back of her head, not trying to staunch the blood flowing from my body, telling her everything would be okay.

This woman had saved me, had shown more strength and courage than a lot of people I'd come up against in my life. I pulled back and wiped the tears from her face. If I died right now, which was a pretty good possibility, I could at least die happy, knowing she was safe.

“I'm sorry I couldn't be the one to take him out. I'm sorry you had to do that.”

And then she looked at me, the haziness clearing from her vision. She looked down and saw the wound. Worry and panic covered her expression now. I couldn't hold myself up any longer and slid to the ground, bracing my back against the counter.

“No no no no,” she kept saying, but the world was fading away. “You're not going to leave me. You're not going to go when we just found each other.”

I smiled, lifted my hand, and cupped her cheek. “I've always known you were mine.” Before everything went completely black, I heard vehicles pulling up, car doors slamming shut, and then boots racing up to the porch and into the cabin. It was Cutter, Wolf, Cookie, and Dude. Good. I was glad they were there, glad Cutter could take care of Lily now.