twenty-five
Talia signed off on the last of the paperwork, amazed at the crazy turn of events the case had taken. When Rena Grace climbed into the back seat of her unmarked Crown Victoria and told her she had something better to give them than Manuel Contreras, she hadn’t believed it possible.
Victor Rubio. He was the Great White in a tank full of stingrays.
The whole reason the FBI had never gone after him was because he was too hard to take down. In a pyramid, he’d be the point at the top. He fed all the other dealers, kept them in supply, while mostly sitting on his throne and basking in all of the glory.
But in recent years, he’d been leaving his hiding place in Mexico and getting back into the fray, meeting his buyers personally, doling out his product more organically. Almost as if he missed the old days when he was still young and trying to work his way in and to the top.
Must be lonely up there, Talia mused as she rose from the chair opposite her superior’s desk and reached across the top to shake his hand.
“Good work, you two,” SAC Ingram grunted, a wide smile permanently in place since the moment they’d stormed the castle, cuffed the bastard and all of his men—those who were willing to be taken alive—and hauled their asses in. Currently, they had Rubio and fifty-two of his men in holding downstairs with round the clock armed security waiting for the DEA, CIA, and other departments who’d been working his case for years to come down and help tie up loose ends so they could get the bastard locked away permanently.
“Thanks, boss,” Marley beamed, her bob swinging around her ears, she was shaking his hand so damn hard.
“Are you sure you want to step down?” Ingram asked Talia, he and Marley turning their full attention on her now. “You did fine work out there today.”
“Well, I’d like to make sure that I have a home to return to first, but yeah, I’m pretty positive this is it for me. I love my job, and I always will, but it’s not where I want to be anymore.”
She’d paid her dues and settled some things within herself that needed attention, and now Talia felt like she could finally walk away from the bureau in peace, knowing that she’d left it on a good note, rather than how she had the first time. To her, it was no different than how Tucker would feel if he’d been dishonorably discharged. She had to part with it on her terms. It helped that she was also leaving the world a better place than when she’d signed on as an agent with the FBI in the first place.
They hadn’t gotten Contreras—yet—but they’d taken down the biggest fish with his help. In exchange, they had to leave him alone. At least, on the charges they had stacking up against him so far. They weren’t enough to put him behind bars for years, so it was an easy deal to make—big guy for the little guy. But just because they weren’t slapping cuffs on him today didn’t mean he wouldn’t give them enough to do it tomorrow. The FBI was going to keep an eye on him, and one day, he would give them enough to land himself in a cell right next to Rubio.
And then there was Rena Grace, who’d made it all possible. She’d put her ass on the line, and in exchange, she’d been given full pardon. Her record was already in the process of being expunged, and by the end of the week, she’d be clean as a whistle. Now, as far as her future? That was something Talia wasn’t so confident about. It was clear she’d gotten in too deep with the mark, so Talia wouldn’t be surprised if, in a few years, she saw the girl pop up again on the nightly news as an accessory or, heaven forbid, a victim. She prayed that it worked out for her as well as it had for Talia and Tucker, though.
“Well, I’ll hold onto your shield and weapon until you call and tell me otherwise,” Ingram said, and she could see in his eyes that he truly wanted her to stay.
They’d hit a few bumps in the road because of her relationship with Tucker and the Spartans, but she’d regained his trust with this assignment. That was enough for her.
“I hope you’ll be waiting by the phone,” she told him, “because I might be calling before the day is out.”
He nodded his understanding, and Talia returned the gesture to him as well as Marley before turning on her heel and walking out the door.
The drive back to the home she’d left was long and yet not long enough. She was nervous. It’d been so long since she’d stood before Tucker and looked him in the eyes. And now she was going to have to do that with the knowledge that she was also a liar.
At least she’d had the guts to call him and tell him everything beforehand. Knowing that she was following her colleagues into a hot zone, she’d sat there in the locker room, outfitted in black tactical gear and armed to the teeth, she’d made what might be her last call.
“I just need you to know that I love you. I never stopped.”
“I don’t care what your reasoning was, you’d better get your ass back home,” Tucker barked, fear evident in the tremor and sheer anger in his voice.
It was that fear that was giving her so many doubts. What if that was the only reason he’d forgiven all of her sins? What if his sheer desperation made him say things he wouldn’t mean now that the danger had passed? If he rejected her, she’d deserve it—completely—but it would kill her. It really would.
Rolling into the parking lot outside their shared apartment, Talia spotted the motorcycle Tucker had bought her for her birthday. It was big and purple and sparked some amazing memories. And it had a new few broken pieces and scrapes she imagined were probably the result of an angry outburst or two. His bike was sitting right there beside it as if it were a placeholder, a representation of everything they were supposed to be. She had a ghostly sense come over her, almost as if the life she left behind was just waiting for her to pick it back up, dust it off, and continue on as if nothing ever happened. Of course, that was impossible. So much water had passed under that bridge. Nothing could be the same again…but maybe it could be better?
With a deep sigh, Talia parked beside the bikes and made her way up the stairs to their door…and knocked. She had keys, but after being gone for so long and under the circumstances, it just didn’t feel like her right to walk in anymore.
She waited and knocked several times, with no answer. Unless Tucker had been picked up by one of the brothers, then his bike and truck in the lot meant he was there. So why wasn’t he answering the door?
Maybe he’d changed his mind about her coming back… “I ain’t goin’ anywhere, sugar,” she heard his voice in her head, remembering his promise to wait for her.
With tightness in her chest and mounting fear in her gut, Talia inserted the key in the lock and pushed her way inside.
The apartment was quiet. Too quiet. Talia took tentative steps until she reached the bedroom. The door had been left open a crack, and with a bit of hesitation and fear of what she might find on the other side, she touched two fingers to the white panel and pushed.
Her breath caught in her throat at the sight laid out before her.
On the bed was Tucker, sitting at the foot, bent over his knees with his phone in his hands. The sound of Angry Birds filled the air, and when he heard her tiny gasp, his head shot up. “I was starting to worry you’d changed your mind,” he said, his voice strained.
But Talia could hardly focus on what he was saying. She was too distracted and overcome with surprise and awe and love for this man to take her eyes away from the room. Everywhere she cast her gaze, she saw dozens upon dozens of flowers. Roses and daffodils and lilies and baby’s breath, exotic blooms and common mixed together. Bursts of color tantalized her vision, and the sweet smell in her nose electrified her senses.
Talia’s rigid composure shattered in an instant, and she started bawling her eyes out. Tucker was standing in front of her a second later, pulling her into his arms and hugging her tight enough that it was as if he’d reached inside of her and smashed all the broken pieces back together.
Talia stayed in his arms like that for so long, she lost track of time, but when she finally managed to pull herself together, she looked up at him and said the only words to come to mind: “I love you so much.”
Tucker’s denim gaze filled with emotion and he transferred those strong, capable hands to her face and pulled her mouth to his for a kiss that said both welcome home and please don’t ever leave again. It was one full of forgiveness and fear and desire, all wrapped up in one explosive moment that led quickly to clothes being torn off and growls of need and desire, and before Talia knew it, she was on her back on the bed, Tucker pounding his hard length between her legs and bringing her to an orgasm that shot her into the stratosphere. The sex wasn’t filled with finesse nor was it romantic, but it was exactly what both of them needed at that moment.
Once they both had time to calm down, still bound to one another by tangled limbs and a mutual refusal to let go, Tucker looked down into her eyes and said, “I think we’ve said everything that needs saying, sugar.”
Talia agreed with a simple nod and gentle smile. They always communicated best when they were naked, stripped bare, all the way to their souls. She loved him, he loved her, and no amount of distance or time or circumstance was going to change that.
Reaching up, she touched her fingers to his freshly shaved jaw and took a moment to just look at him. Ruggedly handsome despite being so well-groomed, and just the right amount of everything to make her heart sing.
Without words, she placed a sweet, lingering kiss to his lips, letting him know that she’d never leave his side again. She was home now, and that’s where she planned to stay. Forever.