And then it was just them.
His phone buzzed.Seriously?He fumbled it from his pocket, ready to decline whoever?—
FaceTime.Noah.
The guy had been covering his shifts for three days straight. The least he could do was answer.
Noah’s face filled the screen, ranger hat askew, uniform dusted with canyon dirt. Exhaustion lined his features. Teague appeared over his shoulder, equally rumpled.
“Found your gold cache,” Noah said. “Nineteen bars, just like Nimue described. With hers, that makes twenty total.”
“Twenty?” The words emerged louder than intended. Two million dollars. Maybe more.“Any information in the chest?”
“Yes.” Teague leaned into the frame. “Turns out it’s one of the Roosevelt chests. In the seventies, Teddy Roosevelt’s great-grandson hid three cases in one national park. Each reported to hold twenty gold bars just like this one. His thought was to encourage more exploring in the parks. No one knew which park, so the excitement died down after a few years.”
“I guess we know which park it is now,” Liam mumbled.
“Exactly.” Noah leaned back into the screen. “The money belongs to the park the chest is found in, but there is a reward for anyone who finds a chest. But we might want to hold off on collecting that reward.”
Liam’s gut clenched. “Please tell me you’re not thinking of going public with this.”
“Opposite.” Noah’s expression darkened. “If word gets out that there are two more caches somewhere in the park system…” He didn’t finish. Didn’t need to. “Park safety and rules have changed a lot in the last fifty years since they were hidden. And now…”
Treasure hunters. Hordes of them. Tearing up fragile ecosystems, ignoring safety protocols, turning the canyon into mayhem.
“We need to keep it quiet until we figure out next steps,” Teague added. “No sense inviting chaos.”
The call ended. Liam turned back to Nimue, sunlight painting her face in soft gold. The broken pencil tin sat in her lap.
“You sure about Arizona?” His voice was soft, his fingers tightening around hers, his heart thudding as he braced for her answer. “Florida’s safe now. You could go home.”
Home.The word tasted bitter. Likegoodbye.
She shook her head, amber flecks dancing in her dark eyes. “I want to stay near the canyon. Near you.” She smiled, and he felt it to his soul. “This is where we started. I’m not ready to leave that behind.”
A knock, and Emberly’s head popped through the doorway. “Going to help Coco tie up some loose ends. You good here?”
Liam nodded. “Got her.”
Forever, if she’d let him.
The door closed again. He leaned closer, thumb tracing circles over her knuckles. Then he kissed her—slow, deliberate, tasting mint and hope and home. When they parted, he rested his forehead against hers.
“I meant every word.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I’ll spend my life keeping you safe. Loving you.” His hand tightened around hers. “We’ll figure out the gold, the future, everything. Together.”
Her eyes went soft. Shining. “I’d like that.”
Exhaustion tugged at her eyelids, but her gaze stayed locked on his. Unwavering. Trusting.
Liam settled back into the torture device masquerading as a chair, fingers never leaving hers.
The Bratva wasn’t after them. Teresa was gone. The gold could wait.
He’d walked through fire and flood, but God had brought them both home.
To each other.
Noah had kissed her.