"You don't mean that. I doubt you've ever backed down from a fight in your life." She turned and pressed her lips to his palm.
She was right. Of course she was right. She was always fucking right. And hopefully it would be that way for at least the next twenty years.
"I haven't. But for you, I'd do it in a heartbeat."
"There is so much more at stake here than me, and you know it."
He did. It was the only reason he hadn't bundled her into his truck and driven away east, back to where he'd be protected by his old team for a while as they figured out what to do next. For the first time in his military life, he was conflicted, torn between his sense of duty and his love for Louisa.
A series of loud bangs came from outside the dorm area and Six flinched.
"It's just the rest of your team getting ready," she said, and wrapped her hands around his waist. "But at some point, you're going to have to unpack what makes you react that way and deal with it."
Six nodded, letting her comfort him as much as he hoped he was comforting her. He'd realized the same thing. No matter how hard he tried, it wasn't going to go away on its own.
He pressed his lips to hers in the hope that she would understand that they were telling her everything he couldn't.
"We gotta go, guys," Cabe shouted.
Six pulled away and tugged on his body armor. He hated wearing the fucker as it constricted his breathing, but the people they were up against had already proven that they would shoot to kill every person who stood between them and Louisa. There was no fucking way he was going down and leaving her unaided. He loaded up his primary and secondary weapon systems and as many magazines as he could fit on the fucking thing. He packed in a couple of charges. There was no way of knowing where this property was or what it looked like yet, but he'd have no issue blowing the fucking doors off, literally, to get Lou out.
Shit. He needed to focus on the mission. Not her.
"Did you know Sar-i Sang in the Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan contains one of the most famous lapis lazuli mines in the world?" he asked her. "It's been mined for over six thousand years." He wanted to hold her hand but didn't.
Cabe looked over and raised an eyebrow at him, and Six shook his head subtly. No, he wasn't going to tell her what had happened while they were there. But he needed to get a lid on his emotions. He'd seen so many jewelry and boxes made of lapis while he was there, and it was a beautifully carved box made of lapis that he imagined now as he tucked his feelings for Lou inside it. He needed to stop thinking about her and start thinking about them, the ones who dared to do her harm.
"I didn't know that," she said. "See. You taught me something new."
For the briefest of moments, he stopped loading his vest to hold her hand and she grabbed it, her fingers icy cold against his. "We're going to teach each other all kinds of new things when this is over, Lou. I know we're stuck in the middle of some seriously fucked-up shit, but this will always be the period in our lives when we started dating. It's meant to be the period in our lives when we can't take our eyes off each other and the only thing we can think about is the quickest way to get from where we are to being naked on any kind of surface, which is never far from my mind."
Louisa smiled as he'd intended.
"I mean it, Lou. When this is all over, we're holing up somewhere, my place or yours, I really don't give a shit, and we're getting in bed and staying there for at least forty-eight hours so I can make a concerted effort to thoroughly take care of every single part of you." He brushed his lips against hers, but after the briefest moment, as much as it hurt more than a thousand paper cuts against his heart, he stepped away, let go of her hand, and returned to his weapons. He could soothe her, hold her, warm her later. Now, his primary objective was to keep her safe while they rescued her mom and took down those who'd harm Lou.
Cabe threw him his com equipment, and he slotted it into place on his left ear. He checked his pockets. Multi-tool. Shears. A breaching tool. Extra rounds. A couple of flash-crash. Double-ended flex cuffs so he could tie people up, assuming he didn't kill them. And his tactical gloves.
He helped Louisa slip her sweater over her vest and took hold of her hand.
A crackle came over the radio. "Confirmation that Buddha is airborne and has eyes on our location."
With Buddha in the air and Bailey staying behind to man coms, the remaining men began to pile into two trucks headed for the ranch house Lite had confirmed Vasilii had bought outside of Jamul. They could be heading to the absolute wrong location. Buddha would let them know that. They'd research the area on the drive over.