Trevor had been outspoken in favor of women Special Forces operators, particularly when they’d first arrived and the other guys had been skeptical. He’d argued that women would be a hell of a force multiplier and able to infiltrate areas of operation unavailable to male soldiers. Not to mention nobody, nowhere, knew to look for women operators. The ladies could slip under the radar in ways men couldn’t.

Thankfully, Anna and the other women had proven him right so far. As they’d started running full combat simulations, the ladies were surprising everyone.

Jojo refilled everyone’s glasses, and Lily lifted hers, saying, “To Sam and Kenny.”

Trevor froze beside Anna. A wave of pain rolled off him so hard it slammed into her like a physical blow and was so intense it stole her breath away. Under the table, she touched his leg just above the knee, lightly, silently questioning if he was all right.

Sam Dorsey and Ken Singleton had been lost on a mission in a Pakistani hellhole called the Swat Valley. They’d been set up. Ambushed by a terrorist named Abu Haddad. Sam had died, and Kenny had been injured. When reinforcements arrived, Kenny had disappeared without a trace. Nobody knew what had happened to him. Which was almost worse than knowing he was dead.

Trevor and Kenny had been close friends. The way she heard it, Ken had adopted the British exchange officer when he’d first arrived and shown the new guy the ropes.

Below the table, warm, strong fingers gave her hand a quick, hard squeeze. Trevor’s hand withdrew, coming up above the table to reach for his shot glass.

A somber mood enveloped everyone in the booth as they raised their glasses and clinked them together. Anna murmured, “To Sam’s puppy dog smile and Ken’s terrible country music lyrics.”

Trevor added, “As my Irish grannie used to say, ‘May they have been an hour in Heaven before the Devil knew they were dead’.” The words were spoken lightly, but she heard the underlying grief. It was rare that he let out his real feelings, let alone ones as raw and painful as these. An urge to throw her arms around him and hug him nearly overcame her.

Leo leaned forward, his face grim. “To revenge.” He’d also been on the disastrous mission where their brothers had been lost. And, he’d been a changed man since he came home, silent and angry.

Anna echoed Leo’s toast along with the others. To revenge, indeed. Every one of them carried a mental bullet with Abu Haddad’s name on it.

Trevor tossed back his scotch, and she caught the odd expression that crossed his face. Over the past year, she’d made a private hobby of studying him when he wasn’t looking at her, or she probably wouldn’t have noticed the faint flicker of…something.