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And I’d identified through my surveillance on Aurora just how possessive and obsessive they were when it came to her.
Silence was the only safe option.
Her best chance at returning to a normal life.
To a safe life.
I’d gone to extremes to make it so.
And I’d continue to do so.
Picking up on footsteps approaching, I stowed my phone away inside my tactical vest, then turned just as Liv emerged from the trees.
I pushed off the tree stump and made my way to her, the two of us meeting halfway.
“Missed you,” I said, pulling her to me and wrapping her up in my arms.
She held me tight to her for several intense moments, before either of us was able to ease away. Even then, my hands slid to her hips, keeping the contact, needing to keep the contact.
“How is Ronan?”
“He’s holding up well. Out of surgery and critical condition, entering recovery now.” She grimaced. “A half inch in any direction and that bullet would’ve killed him, Lan.”
“It shouldn’t have happened.”
And it wouldn’t have if I’d had time to prepare that extraction properly.
But when I’d gotten the call to alert me that Samuel Carmichael had been enroute at Carson’s behest to apprehend my daughter in a bid to make her into his personal doll, I’d had very little time to act. I hadn’t even been able to get there myself. Ronan had been the only one of my plants close enough.
But he wasn’t just a plant.
He was a brother-in-arms.
Liv’s hand stroking my cheek had my eyes snapping back to hers, that usual understanding and wave of calm she’d always brought to me infusing me and bringing me back. “You did the absolute best you could do given the situation. And Ron knew the risks, you didn’t hide them from him, you made it adamantly clear. He doesn’t blame you. His only concern was for Aurora. He’d seen them take her and he hadn’t been at peace since. I’ve reassured him and he’s focusing on getting better now.”
“Thank you.” I tightened my hold on her hips. “As always, love.”
She rested her head on my chest. “I’m just glad we were only apart for a few days this time. The shortest parting in so long.”
“I know,” I murmured against her soft hair, breathing her in.
“So, how do you want to handle this now our original plan has been completely upturned?” she asked me.
“Not completely. The dollhouse network has been decimated. The Infidels are floundering.”
“Something you were forced from, to become a spectator to, because of this other enemy pulling your focus.”
I tightened my hold around her. “What I really want is to snatch you and Aurora up and disappear into the ozone with you, leave all of this behind. I want to pick up where you and I left off before we were forced apart for way too long. In fact, I want to rewind to a time before Carson ever laid so much as a finger on you.”
She beamed up at me. “That’s a lovely dream, Lan.”
“But not our reality.”
“No, sweets. It’s not. As much as I wish it was.” She drew in a stilted breath. “Don’t disappear from me again. I can’t do it again. I can’t.”
I stroked her hair. “I know. I can’t either.”
We stayed that way for a while and I relished the feel of her being right here with me at long last.
