“Did you think, even for a second, to answer no?”
“No,” she says thoughtfully. Then light dawns in her eyes. She’s getting it.
“And some days, we’re going to need to care for each other,” I add. “But we always need to love each other. And I love you, MacKenzie.”
“I love you too, Kyle,” she whispers.
“I know,” I tell her with a smile on my face. “Now let’s get some sleep. We can tackle the rest of the world’s problems tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay.”
And then she curls up in my arms, safe and sound, and she drifts off to sleep.
And for the first time in weeks, I do the same, confident in the knowledge that I finally have her back, and this time, I’m not letting her go.
Chapter Twenty-Four
MacKenzie
Walk through hell
One week later…
For the first time in a week, I wake up alone in my bed.
After Kyle came back, we’ve been inseparable. My brother, Ryan, was able to go home to his family in D.C., and I’ll miss him, but I will also carry the guilt with me of how worried I made him. I know he thinks he’s responsible for what happened to me, but truthfully, I have always known how dangerous flying is. Like Icarus, I flew too close to the sun and fell out of the sky.
But whether I was targeted because of the company my brother keeps or my own, I was still targeted. I’m going to have to live with the ramifications of what happened for the rest of my life. And fortunately, I was luckier than most. I was beaten and starved. I was not, however, raped nor beheaded on live video that was aired on the internet and major news outlets for my parents to see. Considering who I was taken by, I will consider myself lucky for all of my days—for the rest of my life—that was not something my family had to witness.
And even though I am home and I am whole in mind and body, there are still scars I’m going to have to carry with me until the day that they put me in the ground. Like my newfound fear of planes. I don’t know who I am if I can’t be a pilot. After I pushed so hard for Kyle to see the marine and not just the woman he met in the bar, I was afraid he wouldn’t want just MacKenzie if he couldn’t have Captain Black. I guess the joke is on me, because that’s all that’s left. So I have to admit that waking up alone in bed, after he vowed to walk through hell with me, makes me feel a little vulnerable. Did he change his mind? No. Kyle would tell me face-to-face if he had.
I make my way downstairs and see he’s left a full pot of coffee and a note propped up on a clean mug he’s pulled down from the cabinet and set out for me. He didn’t leave me. Thank God. I pluck up the note and read it.
Mack,
Do you trust me? I have a surprise for you.
Just remember, I’ll never let you fall.
Dress warm. I’ll be back soon.
Love,
K
Dress warm? That’s weird. Sure, the weather is turning cooler, but this is still San Diego. I’m not sure in all the time I’ve lived here that it’s ever been cooler than sixty. Color me a curious cat, I pour myself a full mug of coffee and doctor it with the fancy creamer I missed while I was in the desert, and then make my way back upstairs, sipping my coffee as I go and wondering what this surprise could be.
I dress in jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. I pull socks and my running shoes on my feet and then make my way into the bathroom. I quickly run a brush through my hair and pull it into a ponytail. I brush my teeth, and just as I’m turning to make my way out of the bathroom, I notice Kyle has been standing there. He’s leaning against the doorjamb with his arms crossed loosely over his chest and a smile playing around his full lips.
“Hey,” I greet him nervously. I feel weird. I haven’t been out of this house much, other than a few soul-searching walks on the beach, so wherever he’s taking me has me feeling nervous. Am I underdressed? Over? Should I have put on some makeup or maybe a real bra and not the sports bra I’m currently wearing? I just don’t know.
“Hi,” he says before sauntering over to me on loose limbs only to take me in his arms the second he’s close enough to touch me.
“Where are we going?”
“Do you trust me?” he asks before placing a kiss on my lips.
“Yes,” I answer him without hesitation.
