Chris let it go at that.
What he thought, or what anyone else thought, didn’t matter. Elizabeth carried them all more days than not, and if his wife said she needed a break…
She needed a break.
“Go. Just be safe, and rest. I’ll make sure the kids are good, and so is Ethan and Callen. Gene and I have this.”
She appreciated that.
And that was why she called him.
Yes, Callen would likely say the same thing, but Ethan…he wouldn’t. He’d blame himself, and the cycle would continue. The last thing she needed was to carry someone’s guilt.
She couldn’t even lift her own.
“I love you, Orion. To the moon and stars, and back again when I return.”
He made a vow to her.
“Until my dying breath, my love.”
Elizabeth didn’t doubt that either.
Hanging up, she handed Gene the phone after walking back into the warehouse.
“Thanks,” she said. “I just needed to tell our family that it’s done. That they are now safe.”
Oh, somehow, he believed it was more than that. He’d been watching her from the inside of the warehouse, and she looked…burdened.
What she should be feeling was victorious. Call him crazy, but his gut said this was far from over.
For her.
“No problem. Want me to handle him?” he asked, pointing at the man sitting in a chair, his head covered in a pillowcase.
Did she?
Yes.
Would she?
No.
Elizabeth knew that she had to finish this up, completing the promises she’d made. Then, she’d get a clean break.
A fresh start.
She was walking away for a while, and if she came back, she’d need a new beginning where shit like this didn’t happen.
Because she wasn’t above the badge.
“No, but thank you, Boo. I appreciate it. I really do.”
He touched her face.
“Hey. You know you can tell me anything, right? I’m a really good listener.”
She paused.
