Hostile Ground (The Arsenal #7) - Cara Carnes Page 0,119
girl from Dylan’s arms and kissed her cheek. He leaned down and brushed lips with Ellie. “Where’s our angel?”
“I was going to bring her out so she could play with Jessie and Destiny, but your mom wasn’t about to give her up. She’s in the corner behind the salad bar if you want to go commando and exfil her.” Ellie swatted his arm when he looked over at Dylan. “Don’t you dare.”
Exfil. Addy smiled. Ellie had picked up The Arsenal’s jargon quickly since arriving at the compound and now ran the front office so efficiently she rarely required any of the Mason brothers to help.
“Hold my niece,” Jesse said as he handed the baby over to Mary. “We’ll be back. Come on, brother. Time to secure my kid.”
Dylan laughed and fell into step beside his brother. Addy couldn’t help but smile. God, she’d missed the camaraderie of this place so much the past few weeks. Ellie wiped her hand down her face and sat at the table. Dark circles stood out in stark contrast to the woman’s pale complexion.
“You okay? You look exhausted,” Addy said. “You did way too much for this lunch.”
“It was fun. Honestly, it feels good to have everyone back home. Jesse’s been so worried—not that he’d ever admit it.” She picked up the pile of plates beside her and started filling each with the meat near her.
“Dylan was too,” Mary said. She added potato salad and beans to each plate as Ellie passed them to her. “Neither of them is used to being the ones left here when we’ve got a mission. He’ll adjust.”
“I just hope he doesn’t regret giving up the team.” Ellie looked at Addy. “You don’t think he does, right?”
“There’s no way he’d rather be anywhere than right here with you and Ariana. Heck, he wouldn’t even let his mom keep her for an hour so he could eat.” Addy ran her hand down Ellie’s back. “You should go back home and get some rest after we eat.”
“Yeah. I think I need a power nap,” Ellie admitted. “A real one, not the kind you and Dylan take.”
Addy smirked. Dylan’s not-so-subtle commandeering of his wife for “nap time” was infamous on The Arsenal compound. He always found a way to pull Mary away from whatever troubled her for a while.
Olaf hit the green button on the pad and grinned as it translated what all they’d just said. None of it would make sense yet because he hadn’t met everyone, but Addy was glad to see him willingly interacting with the strangers.
Ellie and Mary introduced themselves as they handed out plates. Kristof joined in with the conversation and loaded down a plate for Olaf, then another that he passed to Addy. He leaned over and kissed her lips. The soft caress spiked her pulse.
Mary and Vi both raised their eyebrows. Ellie grinned wide. Great. She sensed a conversation with the female contingency once the meal was over. She was surprised she hadn’t been cornered at the airstrip.
Jesse appeared with Ariana in his arms. Love shone in his face when he looked down at his daughter. He kissed Ellie and sat beside her.
“I take it there weren’t any casualties?” Ellie asked, amusement in her voice.
“Ha. Mom didn’t stand a chance. We entered, fully intent on a stealthy exfil, but Nolan and Marshall both kept her attention on them. She didn’t even see us come or go,” Dylan said. He sat beside Mary and kissed her mouth.
“Such a hero. Stealing a tiny baby from her grandma,” Mary teased.
“She’s had plenty of baby time the past few weeks. It’s our turn,” Jesse said. Ariana reached for her mom but kept her gaze on Addy.
She likely didn’t recognize her with the blonde hair. “I need to dye my hair back, a temporary color until it grows out.” Kristof loved her red hair, had mentioned it several times since the mission began. That was definitely a priority.
“Riley will know a good hair person. We can ask her,” Ellie said.
Addy looked over at Olaf, who was frozen, his gaze on the full plate in front of him. Tears streamed down his cheeks. She moved to sit beside him and wrapped an arm around him, leaning in until their heads touched. “Hey. It’s okay. You’re safe.”
“I wanted this. Kids. Family. Love.” He signed the words then fisted his hands in his lap. “I won’t ever have that. Because of him.”