Chapter One
“Do you, Carson Rhodes, take Skylar Reid as your wife? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and health, forsaking all others, and be faithful to her for as long as you both shall live?”
“Yes. A thousand times, yes.”
Bull’s response was as heartfelt as anything Gramps had ever heard. The great room of Silverstone Towing was packed as everyone watched Bull and Skylar finally get married. Gramps glanced to the left and saw Smoke and Molly waiting their turn to walk down the aisle.
The ladies had agreed to have a double wedding ceremony right there at the garage. The timing was rushed a bit, as both Bull and Smoke wanted to tie the knot before they headed down to Jamaica on their next mission.
The last year or so had taught all four Silverstone men that nothing was guaranteed in life. While they were proud of the job they did, it also came with the potential for a very high price tag—their lives.
It wasn’t something any of them wanted to risk, though all four were prepared to give up everything if it meant making the world a safer place. But now that Bull, Eagle, and Smoke had women they loved more than they could’ve ever imagined, their missions had taken on a different feel.
Gramps sensed things would be changing for Silverstone in the very near future, and he wasn’t upset about it. He was forty-five, and his body was letting him know in subtle—and not-so-subtle—ways that he wasn’t as young as he used to be. And now Molly was expecting. And Eagle and Taylor already had a beautiful little boy. Heading off to the ends of the earth to eliminate bad guys had a hell of a lot of strings now. And the last thing any of them wanted was to have to come back to Indiana and break the news to one of the women that the love of their life hadn’t returned with them.
So changes were coming.
But there was a big mission to complete before the team would have that conversation.
Cassidy Hewitt.
Gramps’s stomach lurched at the thought of her name.
The two of them went way back. He’d known her when she was a freshman in high school and he was a senior, nearly thirty years ago. Even then he’d been drawn to her. He’d seen her now and then since he’d graduated from high school, mainly when he had gone back to El Paso for short visits with his parents, and the chemistry between them had lingered. She’d also written him when he’d been deployed in the Army, and he’d loved hearing from her each and every time.
She’d gotten married, had a child, and then divorced. Then, for some reason, she’d gone to Jamaica. And that had gotten her into her current predicament. The one that Silverstone was going to get her out of.
“Do you, Skylar Reid, take Carson Rhodes as your husband? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and health, forsaking all others, and be faithful to him for as long as you both shall live?”
“I will,” Skylar said with a huge smile on her face.
“By the power vested in me by the State of Indiana, it’s my honor to declare you husband and wife. Bull, you may kiss your bride,” Bart said. He was one of Silverstone Towing’s employees, and Skylar and Molly had asked if he might want to officiate. The big burly man had cried and immediately agreed. He’d researched and taken the necessary steps to get ordained, and now he was standing in front of the group grinning like a fool while doing the honors to marry Bull and Skylar.
Bull smiled at his new wife, then bent Skylar over his arm and kissed her. He ignored the catcalls from his friends and employees and took his time showing his wife how happy he was that she was now his, legally.
“Enough!” Smoke called out, clearly impatient. “Some of us still need to get married, you know!”
Everyone laughed, and Bull brought Skylar upright. He put his hands on either side of her face and whispered something to her. She nodded, and they both turned toward the group.
“Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes!” Bart announced.
Then Skylar and Bull walked back down the aisle—which was really nothing more than a short space between two groups of people. Skylar stopped to kiss her parents, who were grinning from ear to ear, then headed for the back of the room.
After a moment, Leigh—another one of their drivers—hit play on her phone, and the wedding march once more sounded through the speakers.
Molly was glowing, Gramps could see that from where he was standing near the kitchen. It was obvious being pregnant agreed with her, and he couldn’t be happier for Smoke. When the team had first met Molly, she’d been in rough shape. After she’d been kidnapped, starved, and thrown in a hole to die while in Nigeria for her job, they’d all wondered if she’d be able to bounce back. And not only had she done so, she’d flourished.
It was Molly who’d suggested sharing a wedding day with Skylar. The women had decided to have the ceremony at Silverstone Towing, where their friends and families could hang out in a relaxed atmosphere and rejoice in their love. They hadn’t wanted anything stuffy or formal. And this was as laid back as it could get.
When Smoke and Molly were standing in front of Bart, he began the second ceremony of the day. Gramps couldn’t be happier for his friends. No matter how impatient he was to get to Jamaica and see for himself that Cassidy and her son were alive and well, he didn’t begrudge his friends this special moment.
Bart once more spoke of love and happiness, of soul mates, and then both Molly and Smoke vowed to love each other through thick and thin, sickness and health. When Bart pronounced them husband and wife and invited Smoke to kiss her, instead of bending Molly backward, he got down on his knees and pressed a gentle kiss to her belly.
Everyone knew she was a few months pregnant, and what Molly and Smoke had gone through to get to this point. There wasn’t a dry eye in the building. Then Smoke stood and kissed Molly so passionately, even Gramps was a bit embarrassed.
After the legal papers were signed and Bart had packed them away to submit to the courts the next day, the party really began. All the Silverstone Towing employees and their families had been invited. As had Tiana, Maria, Susan, and other neighbors from Southpoint Apartments, where Skylar had lived before moving in with Bull. There were also teachers from Skylar’s school and other people Gramps didn’t know.
It was a festive atmosphere, but Gramps wasn’t surprised when Bull and Smoke took their wives home before the party was over. They were leaving for Jamaica the next day, and both wanted a wedding night to remember before they had to get back to business.
Gramps regretted they had to leave their wives so soon, but Cassidy’s last letter wouldn’t leave his mind. She’d begged the FBI—who she’d been sending the letters to—to do something to help her. She was obviously desperate, and Gramps didn’t want to think about what she might do in that state.
“You okay?” Eagle asked as he rested a hip against the wall next to him.
“Yeah,” Gramps told him.
“You sure?”
Gramps looked over at his friend. “I’m sure. Everyone needed this. After everything that happened with Sky, then Taylor and Molly, it’s good to see everyone so carefree and happy.”
“Agreed. Everyone except for you.”
“I’m happy for them,” Gramps assured him.
“I know you are, but you can’t stop thinking about Cassidy.”