“We do,” she says, most agreeably.
Omar holds up a hand. “I'll go with them. Someone needs to make sure we all come back alive.”
Anthony nods, his arm still wrapped around me.
I look up at my precious man. “So when you said you would kill for me…you weren't kidding.”
He gazes down and, without losing a beat, says, “I told you. They were dead the second they put their hands on you.”
I’m too exhausted, traumatized, and hungover from whatever drug they gave me to be turned on, but once I recover, I’m going to climb him like a tree.
After finalizing clean-up and ensuring anyone who needs to be paid off is, we go our separate ways. The Texans go in Rand’s plane, Olga takes her own transport back to Ukraine, and the Manhattan contingent takes my plane back to Teterboro. Hopper and Luca, thankfully, say nothing when I spend the bulk of the trip back in Anthony’s lap.
We land in the middle of the night, and it's raining, but we’re grateful to be on home ground. Hopper smiles as we walk into the private terminal, and I follow his line of sight. His RICO agent is waiting for us.
Anthony stiffens.
“What’s up?” I whisper.
“I don’t want to kill anyone else, but if he tries to arrest Hopper right now, I'll have no choice.”
Yeah. I really can’t handle any more violence.
“Do we have a problem?” Luca asks, the thin set of his lips dangerous.
The agent holds up his hands. “I was asked to verify that Dr. Laghari has safely made it back onto American soil.”
“I’m here,” I say, my patience fraying. “Do you need anything else?”
The agent shakes his head, startling when Hopper puts his arm around him.
“Sir, what are you—”
“Hop! Don't…” Anthony says, reaching out.
Hopper winks at us. “Oh, it's fine.”
It's not fine, and my nerves are a frayed mess, but…yep. Hop holds up his phone and takes, of all the goddamn things, a selfie.
“I'll text it to you,” he says, patting the man’s cheek.
The agent turns a bright red, and if I had to guess, doesn't quite know if he's angry or confused. Both seem reasonable reactions to being in Hopper's presence.
Thankfully we make it out of the terminal without arrest or incident. Hopper goes with Luca’s guys in a separate car, and Luca comes with us.
“Can we stay at your place?” I ask Anthony, snuggling into his side, unable to imagine being anywhere else.
“Of course.”
We arrive at the building as the sun begins to peek over the Eastern horizon. We step out of the elevator to drop Luca off on his doorstep.
“You two want to come in for some coffee?” he asks, looking as exhausted as we do.
I shake my head. “Thank you, Luca. I need to sleep for the next week. But truly, thank you for everything.”
“You’re welcome, Mads. Anyone who makes my Anthony look like a lost puppy in love is worth an entire rescue operation.”
Anthony turns to his friend and gives him a hug, touching their foreheads together. I love that these two men don’t shy away from physical affection.