Collateral Damage

It was also the first real break she’d had since the attack at JBLM, so she’d been looking forward to it for weeks now. Especially because it meant spending more time with Liam.

“All accounted for,” Erin said to her, “I’m glad we’re finally all together again—pretty sure we’ve all been looking forward to having something to celebrate.”

“Tell me about it.” The country was still in mourning but begi

Safir was dead, killed by a drone strike along with his i

Andrews’ story had been deeply disturbing to her. She’d first learned the gist of it after visiting Smithers in the hospital a few days after the attack. Investigators had dug into Andrews’ financials and found he had racked up large gambling debts, one of the reasons why his marriage had begun to unravel.

The captured hacker Omar had helped fill in the rest. Between the severe financial stress and his resentment toward Honor, blaming her for his stalled military career, Andrews had been ripe for the picking when Safir’s network had approached him and offered him a large amount of cash to help them pull off the attack.

Honor took a fierce satisfaction in knowing that he’d died before he’d been able to touch a cent of the five hundred thousand Safir’s network had wired to an offshore account in Andrews’ name.

“Dev, Maya and I are civilians now, but I consider it a minor miracle that the rest of you were able to be here for the weekend,” Erin said. She smiled up at Wade as he crossed to her. The former undercover CIA officer handed her a glass of wine and slid a proprietary arm around her waist. “And lucky me, I’ve got the hottest man here,” she added.

“Keep talking like that and you’ll get anything you want from me,” Wade told her in a low voice.

Erin smiled wider. “I’m counting on it.”

Honor gri

“Hey, what are you doing ogling Wade when you have your own man to drool over?”

Honor spun around to find Maya striding toward her. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of the other woman in a pale pink dress with a fluffy skirt that hit her just below the knee. Her dark hair was pi

Maya’s lips quirked and she raised an eyebrow. “What, you thought I only wore camo?”

Honor laughed and walked over to hug her. “God, you look freaking amazing. Seriously. Stu

She eased back to study Maya’s face, her friend’s deep sea-green eyes even more arresting with the artful touches of makeup. “Holy hell, Jackson’s never go

“Oh, he will, because if he tries any fu

“Uh-huh,” Honor said dryly.

She wasn’t worried Maya would actually do it. The former Security Forces officer talked big, and while she could definitely back up her tough talk with action, more so than any other female Honor knew, she’d never do anything to hurt Jackson. She was putty in that PJ’s hands and everyone knew it, including Maya. It warmed Honor’s heart to see her so happy after all she’d gone through. “Did you guys come with Ace just now?”

“Nah, she’s been with Dev all morning and Jackson’s been with Cam. Maid of honor and best man stuff, you know how it is.”

“Wait, there’s Ace now,” Erin said excitedly, waving behind them.

Honor and Maya both turned to see the gunship pilot gliding toward them in a pale blue sleeveless gown, its skirt flowing to her ankles in layers of tulle, each step showing peeks of the silver strappy heels on her feet. Ace’s honey-blond hair was set in loose waves that fell around her face and shoulders, bouncing slightly with each step she took.

“Holy shit,” Maya breathed.

Ace gri

“Good thing there’ll be lots of pictures,” Erin added, “otherwise nobody’d ever believe it.”

“Wait ‘til you see Spike,” Ace said, referring to Devon by her nickname. “Won’t be a dry eye in the house and I’m betting even Cam will tear up when he sees her.” She frowned at Honor. “Hey, where’s your hot date?”

“Parking the truck, so I didn’t have to walk a mile in these heels.” She gestured to the red four-inch, peep-toe stilettos she’d chosen to go with her form-fitting little black dress. Liam had taken one look at her when she’d stepped out of the bathroom this morning and told her he wanted her wearing them and nothing else when he got her to the hotel tonight, and she was totally okay with that plan. She loved seeing his expression turn all hungry when he looked at her, and these heels were going to drive him wild.

“It was so great of him, to get time off and then fly all the way back from overseas to be here,” Ace said.

“He wouldn’t have missed it.” They hadn’t had much time together after the base attack, only thirty hours before he’d been sent back to Afghanistan. So his being here was as much about spending time with her as it was to be at his friends’ wedding.

“Hey, there’s my date,” Ace said, smiling fondly as Ryan strode over, his big frame filling out his black suit jacket.

“Just when I think you can’t be any more beautiful,” he said and shook his head as he gazed at her, earning a chorus of awwws from Honor, Maya and Erin.

Ace choked on a laugh and playfully batted his arm. “You’re a terrible flirt.”

Ryan gri

“As long as it’s only with me, I don’t hate it,” Ace admitted. “And you just remember not to encourage my cousins when you see them at the reunion tomorrow. They tend to get overzealous with the whole flirting thing.”

Ryan pulled his head back, his smile fading. “Wait, reunion? You said it was a family gathering.”

Ace shrugged, setting her golden waves swishing against her shoulders. “Reunion, gathering. Whatever, same thing.”

“For which side is this again?” he asked, his expression carefully neutral.

“My dad’s.” She frowned at him. “Why?”

“So your grandma’s go

At that Honor burst out laughing. “Oh, please, Ryan, you can’t still be scared of Ace’s grandma.”

Ryan shot her an oh-yes-I-can look. “You didn’t get your face slapped off in front of everyone, six seconds after meeting her.” He looked at Ace. “Please say she’s not off the wagon at least?”

Ace rolled her eyes. “Grandma’s never even been on the wagon, Ryan.”