CHAPTER NINE
DORIAN
The hot springs are exactly as I remember—terraced pools of steaming water built into the rock formation, string lights, and a million stars above the snow-capped peaks.
Steam curls around us, creating a cocoon of intimacy. Lisette leans back against my chest, swirling the clear water with her hand. She hasn’t said much since the call with her mom, but her muscles have relaxed in the warm mineral water.
I wrap my arm around her waist, holding her close, and enjoy the press of her skin on mine. Giving her the time she needs to process before she talks. I heard the parts where Marie-Claire was yelling. She’s always had a shrillness that could get under your skin. Unlike Lisette and Florine.
The way she’s pushing Lisette to sell, trying to manipulate her with reminders of her obligations instead of treating her like an adult, tells me there’s a financial stake to this. Something she hasn’t told Lisette.
Florine was afraid they would try to gain control of the house and her money. That’s why she asked me to protect Lisette. I swore I would, even before I saw her again.
After my father died in prison, Lisette and Florine were all I had for family. Now it’s only Lisette. Our relationship has changed some, but no matter what she decides… about the house, aboutme, I’ll protect her with my dying breath.
“We moved the year after you left,” Lisette says suddenly. “Dad finally had enough and wanted a divorce. Mom packed us up, and we left in the middle of the school year to move to Denver.”
I remember the awkwardness of starting a new school well into the year, when everyone had already made friends and people didn’t talk to the new kid. I press a kiss to her damp shoulder, letting my lips linger.
“She wanted city life. Dad wanted peace and quiet, but he didn’t stay in Hollow Peak. Too many bad memories maybe.”
“Where did he go?”
“He’s living in Kawaii. He never remarried, but he’s been with a woman several years now. Mom married Richard six years ago, after I graduated college.”
I hear the ache in her voice. The loneliness of a woman whose parents didn’t choose her. We’re alike in that way.
As much as I loved my mom, she didn’t choose me either. She chose to stay with my dad, knowing the pain his daily violent outbursts caused. I used to wonder why she hadn’t divorced him. Eventually, I realized she couldn’t. She was locked in their deadly duel until it took her life. And to a degree, mine.
“I wish I knew the right thing to do,” Lisette whispers into the steam.
“What do you want to do?”
“I want to honor her memory. Preserve her beautiful house and the memories we created.” She relaxes further against me. “All the times we made cookies or madeleines with her. Or listened to her read.” She licks her lips. “If I ever have kids, Iwant to do the same with them. Because I felt loved when we were with her.”
“You were.” By both of us.
“Have you thought more about the Vet program you told me about in Montana?”
“A little.”
“What will you do?”
I press my chin to the top of her head and let my eyes slide closed.I’ll follow you anywhere. Like I did when we were kids.
But she might not want that. She hasn’t seen what happens when someone I love is threatened. The reason they call me Beast.
“Haven’t decided.”
She turns in my arms and straddles my lap. “What do they want you to do?”
“Heal. Myself and others.” I stare at the mountains in the distance and try to find the words. “Lots of men came home scarred—inside and out. Some retreat from society, unable to reconcile the warrior with the father or the businessman. Others… hurt too much.”
She traces my scar with the healing mineral water, asking without words.
Shit. I don’t want to tell her, but I’ve never kept secrets from Lisette. She’s my best friend. The only person to see past my scars. I touch the pendant still hanging around her neck and gather the words.
“A mission went wrong. Soldiers from a nearby unit were attacked, and my group was sent in.” I found a soldier bleeding out in a hut, shot in the stomach. Just like my mom. As a kid, I couldn’t save her. The Army taught me how to save others instead. “I was closing his wounds when the enemy found us.”
