My Lord.
How many times had she cried alone like this?
How many nights had she carried all this pain by herself?
Anger slid hot and vicious through me then.
Not at her.
At her father.
At lost years.
At every damn thing that stole this from us.
Felicity buried her face harder against my chest like she was trying to hide inside me.
And God help me…
I let her.
One hand slid into her hair automatically, holding her carefully while the storm raged outside.
“It hurt so bad,” she whispered brokenly.
Those words nearly brought me to my knees.
Because same.
Same.
I closed my eyes briefly and rested my forehead against the top of her head.
“Iknow.”
And I did.
Every unanswered letter.
Every birthday.
Every deployment.
Every lonely night wondering if she’d ever loved me at all.
All of it crashed into me standing there holding her.
Felicity finally pulled back just enough to look up at me.
Her cheeks were wet.
Eyes red.
Beautiful enough to ruin me all over again.
“I read every letter,” she whispered.
My chest tightened painfully.
