One minute he’d been lying down, reading because he couldn’t sleep, and the next, he’d heard the commotion in the other part of the house. A barrage of gunshots had made him jump into action. Layla’s security detail had exchanged fire, killing one of the hit men, but unfortunately, both Ace and Dax were killed before Hunter had killed the second man. The CIA team’s sacrifice had given him and Layla a fighting chance. When he’d pulled the trigger, it had been pure survival instinct kicking in, but he was trying not to think about it.

“You really did a number on that guy,” he said to Layla. “He was huge.”

“It was touch and go for a minute. He got the drop on me, and I had to fight a bit dirty, but when you’re smaller, you have to fight differently.”

“Another thing you learned at the Farm?”

“Yeah. I had some great teachers. Women my size who understood that we’re never going to be able to take on a two-hundred-and-fifty-pound man using normal techniques.”

“You weren’t really going to shoot him, were you?”

“Of course not, but I needed him to think that I would and that I wouldn’t hesitate. Sometimes half the battle is the mind game.”

“It worked,” he said softly. “Layla, I’ve never taken a life before. I’ve been on some dangerous jobs, but nothing like this.”

“You had no choice, Hunter. You acted in self-defense. You heard that guy. Their orders were to take out everyone at the safe house. If you hadn’t defended yourself, we would’ve all been dead.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I get that. It just feels a bit strange, that’s all.”

She put her hand on his arm. “You did what you had to do. We’re up against vicious enemies who will stop at nothing for revenge. They kill without any regard for human life.”

“Have you ever taken a life?”

“Unfortunately, yes. On the Honduras op, I returned fire. I saw some of the men go down. I have no way of knowing if I’m the one who killed Diego’s brother or if it was someone else on the team, but we were in a pretty hostile firefight, and we had to defend ourselves.”

“How did you cope with that?”