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“He’s gone,” Anthony admitted, his hands gentle on her shoulders as she absorbed his words. “I’m so sorry, fiamella.”
She sniffed back the tears and straightened her shoulders. “I assumed as much, but I hoped…”
“We’ll bring his body here,” he offered. “Give him the honor he deserves for helping you. Same for Corporal Palmer.” Kaylie’s face must have betrayed her confusion, because he explained. “The homeless veteran who tried to intervene at the train station.”
Kaylie buried her face in his chest at that. “So many people hurt because of me.”
She felt the rumble in his chest as he disagreed. “They were honorable men who chose to take a stand against the injustice they saw. Don’t take that away from them and put it on yourself.”
She nodded and sniffed back her tears.
“Each one of them, and each one of the men in here”—he gestured with a hand to the room behind them—“would take the risk again in a heartbeat. You’re worth protecting, Kaylie. You and Lia.”
She let herself soak in the feel of the strong bands of his arms wrapped around her as the weight of his words settled in her chest.
“I love you so much,” he murmured against her hair. “And I’m going to spend my whole life making sure you never feel afraid again.”
Kaylie’s heart was full to bursting. She tipped her head up and pressed to her tiptoes, closing the gap between them. Anthony’s lips were soft against hers, spicy and sweet with a warmth that she could get impossibly lost in.
The room behind them ceased to exist, everything fading from her awareness beyond the feel of the two of them. She’d happily drown herself in the sandalwood and cinnamon scent of his soap. She opened to his teasing advance, and he deepened the kiss, her hands fisting in the fabric of his crisp button-down dress shirt.
The insistent tug on her waistband pulled her from the moment. She broke the kiss, her breath coming in soft pants. Her eyes met the stormy gaze of Anthony, locked in for a moment before Lia’s small voice at her side broke through the haze of sensation.
She blinked and turned to her daughter. “What is it, sweetie?”
“I want kisses, too,” Lia demanded sassily.
A low chuckle rumbled in Anthony’s throat and he pulled Lia up with one hand, not releasing his grip on Kaylie’s waist.
“Princess?” Anthony said with the endless patience he always seemed to have with Lia.
“Yes?”
Her imperious little voice made Kaylie roll her eyes in amusement.
“You know I love you?” he whispered. Kaylie’s legs turned to noodles as she watched the giant, muscle-bound man dote on her daughter.
Lia nodded.
“Good. You know I love your mom, too?”
Lia nodded again. “Are you going to be my daddy?”
Kaylie felt her face go warm. It had only been a week since they’d rescued Lia. And for all the stolen moments together, they hadn’t talked about the future.
Anthony’s eyes met hers, the corner of his mouth curling into a slight smile. “That’s my plan, munchkin. As long as your mom’s okay with it.”
For years, her only plans had been for survival and a quick escape. The plan—the future—he was promising?
She nodded, catching her lower lip with her teeth. “Her mom likes that plan very much.”
Anthony’s lips descended on hers again in an instant, sealing the promise with a kiss, before turning his attention to the tiny princess in his arms.
The sacrifices of so many were what had led to this moment of pure, unadulterated joy, unmarred by fear or the shadow of her past. She’d never stop thanking God for all of it.
