The moon cast a dim glow over the back of Cassie and Damien’s house. The place was fucking huge, with a massive outdoor patio and a big-ass pool.
How the hell did they afford a house like this? He worked in finance and she didn’t work at all. Not anymore. She had been an executive assistant at a big law firm when Cassie and Aidan had been together. She’d loved the job. Why she’d given it up, Aidan had no idea.
Another damn question he had for her. One of many.
Like why armed guards sat in cars on the street, watching the place. Why there was a high-tech camera planted on the front door and surrounding the property.
“The front door just opened. People might be starting to leave,” Tyler said through the earpiece.
About damn time. And cutting it way too close. Damien had told them to enter the house at ten p.m., but there was no way they were performing an extraction if there was still a house full of people at go time.
Tyler watched the front, while Callum and Liam were stationed on either side of the house. Aidan stood behind a large bur oak tree that sat at the back of the huge yard.
Damien’s words came back to him.
If you don’t do this, they’ll kill her.
Fuck. The words felt like acid in his chest.
Cassie had been his entire world. Then he’d been taken, held hostage by the people who ran Project Arma, and just months after he’d disappeared, Cassie had married someone else. But there was no off-switch on his emotions. No way to shut them down. He loved her. He’d always loved her.
“You okay, Aidan?”
Aidan could have laughed at Callum’s question. He was about to kidnap the woman he still obsessed over. Touch the woman he hadn’t touched in years. Would anyone in his situation be “okay”?
“Ready.” Lie. Big-ass lie that his teammates would see right through.
Callum said something, but the words faded when the back door of the house opened and Cassie stepped outside, trash bag in hand. His world stopped. Every part of him stilled and tensed. Even his breathing paused.
Cassie. His Cassie.
She wore a high-necked, long-sleeved black dress with black stockings. The dress fit her like a second skin, showing off every curve. Her hair was pulled up into a tight bun, which was strange. She’d always hated wearing her hair up. Said having it down was like a part of her soul being free.
But that wasn’t what really had his gut clenching. It was her face. Her eyes. Eyes that haunted his dreams. They were a jade-green shade that lightened and darkened with her mood. Very few would be able to see her eyes so clearly through the dark and the distance. With his altered DNA, he could see everything, right down to the small marring of her brows.
She dumped the trash, and he expected her to walk straight back inside. She didn’t. She stopped and looked up at the house. He couldn’t see her face anymore, but the action was strange, and he was almost certain he saw the muscles in her back tighten.
What’s going on in your head, Cass?
When she turned back toward the door, she scrubbed her eyes. That’s when he noticed she wasn’t quite so steady in her heels. Not only that, but her breaths were too shallow. She almost seemed to be struggling to remain upright.
Fuck. She looked tired. Was it stress? Or had she been on her feet too long? He was all too aware of the NMH. Hell, how many times had he forced her to rest, made her leave a party early—or not go to an event at all—when she wasn’t in a good way?
Too many.
“She’s tired,” he said quietly to his team. “I think she’s on the verge of passing out.”
Not good. For a second, he considered calling this entire thing off. But then those damn words repeated in his head again.
If you don’t do this, they’ll kill her.
Damien had given them no details. But he reluctantly trusted the guy. He’d been best friends with Cassie since they were kids, and even though Aidan hated that he’d married her, he did trust Damien with Cassie. If he said she needed to get out, he believed him.
“What do you want us to do?” Liam asked.
The team knew about Cassie’s medical condition.
“We get it done quickly,” he said quietly. “If she passes out, I know how to take care of her.”
Rest would help. The woman always needed rest.
When Cassie stopped and scanned the yard, Aidan shrank back behind the tree. She wouldn’t be able to see him, but she was looking out at the yard like she knew someone was there.
Can you feel my presence as strongly as I feel yours, Cassie?
He wouldn’t be surprised. The connection between them… God, it had been like nothing else. Exactly why he’d been so damn shocked that she’d married another man.
When she wobbled on her feet, Aidan almost gave up his cover.
“Stay down,” Callum said quietly through the earpiece.
Damien stepped outside and slid an arm around her.
He ground his teeth, clenching his hands into fists. Her husband. The man was her damn husband. His insides coiled at the reminder. She shouldn’t be married to Damien. She should be married to him. That had been the plan. Marriage. Kids. They’d spoken about all of it so many times.
You gave up on me so quickly, Cass.
Six months. He’d only been missing six damn months when she’d married Damien. Had it all been a lie? Their entire relationship?
She would have seen him on the TV when news of Project Arma broke less than a year ago. Everyone had. But she hadn’t come to him. She hadn’t contacted him at all.
Damien’s arm remained around Cassie the entire walk inside the house. The lock clicked as loudly as a gunshot in the quiet night air.
He didn’t plan to enter the house through the back door, though. No. When Damien had sent this address—an address Aidan already had—he’d also given them instructions on which windows he’d leave unlocked.
“People are filtering out,” Tyler said quietly.
He shot a look at his watch. Five minutes. Five minutes until he’d be infiltrating the house. Five minutes until he’d be taking Cassie.
His legs itched to go to her now. But he shut it off. He switched everything off. He had a job to do. Get in. Get her out. Make sure she stayed safe.
Aidan stared at his watch for the remaining few minutes. Then he heard Tyler’s voice.
“They’re out, and it’s ten o’clock. Time to move.”
