Page 71 of Her Chosen Protector

“I don’t know, that sounds a lot like what my mom would do.”

“But the woman she was, shut down. We didn’t have her for a couple of years. Don’t get me wrong, she functioned brilliantly. Never once did she start leaning on us, she was always Maman. But her heart was missing. Not mean or anything, but not the woman we had grown up with. But when Xavier left for the Army, she snapped out of it. It was like she realized that she wasn’t experiencing her time with her sons. I feel bad that for the last four years he was home he missed out on her spark.”

The entire time he’d been speaking, Eden had been drawing circles on top of his t-shirt, providing him comfort. His lioness cared.

“And Law?”

“God, I’m worried about him. He’s so angry. He doesn’t talk.”

“Like you?” she asked softly. There was no hint of a smirk, which he would have expected. Then he realized of course she wouldn’t. Underneath the hard smart-ass exterior was a soft, compassionate creamy center.

“No. I’ve talked to some of my teammates, and I’ve done a lot of reading on the subject so I could wrap my head around why he did what he did. I also talked to one of my old psych professors from college to get some perspective.”

“But have you really made peace with it?” she asked.

“No, and I never will. But do I forgive him? Do I love him? Am I not angry anymore? Yes, to all three.”

“Peace is hard to come by. What would get you there, do you think?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t know. But not being angry, that was big.”

“How is your mom handling it?”

Shit. She had to ask that, didn’t she?

“She doesn’t know. I lied to her. She lives in Belgium now, I didn’t see any reason with burdening her with the fact that Xave killed himself. She’s had enough in her life without knowing that.”

Eden’s arms clasped him tighter and she kissed the middle of his chest.

“You don’t have anything to say about that?” he asked.

“Sweets, you know your mother better than anyone. You know what’s best for her.” He loved her confidence in him.

“Tell me about your brother Law.”

“When we get done with this mission, I’m taking some leave and going and kicking his ass.”

She looked up at him again. “Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

“I’m pretty confident in my team getting us out of here. We’re getting out of here, no sweat. But kicking Law’s ass? We’re kind of evenly matched, we both might end up in tatters.”

“So, why are you kicking your brother’s ass?”

“He is not dealing. He’s angry as hell, and he can’t get over it. He can’t even get to the sad part.

He’s torn up inside. I want him to see someone. Anyone.”

He looked at his watch. It was time to check in.

“Showtime, Eden. Are you ready?”

She took a deep breath. “Always.” She untangled herself from Asher and got up. “Need help?”

she asked as she held out a hand.

“I think I’ve got this,” he smiled.

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