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Destiny was a unique place. People were accepted there. He and Cam had grown up in a typical family in the town, unlike most places in the world where there was one mom and one dad living in the same house.
There had been eight people in the Strange household. Four children. Four parents. He and Cam had two younger sisters, twins, but as different as night and day. Both were twenty-five and working on their graduate degrees, Celeste on her MBA and Caitlin on her psychology degree. He missed them. Would they come back to Destiny after graduation? He thought Celeste would, but he wasn’t sure about Caitlin.
When he and Cam had been younger, they’d talked about what it would be like to start a family together. But that was a long time ago before the CIA had recruited him after his tour had ended in the military.
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He turned off the interstate and onto Highway F, which would take them almost all the way into Destiny. Four more hours to go.
He dared another glance at Erica. Staring at her was so fucking inappropriate. He didn’t deserve her. Not after all the blood he’d spilled. Too much blood.
He moved his attention back to the road.
“How are you doing?” Erica said softly, leaning up from Cam, who was still asleep.
“I should be asking you that. Not the other way around.” He wanted to put his arm around her and pull her into him. But he didn’t. She deserved someone like Cam, not someone like him.
“Better. How long was I out?”
“Fifteen minutes, tops. Go back to sleep. We still have a lot of road to cover.”
“I’d rather keep my eyes open, if you don’t mind. It beats being in the trunk of a car with a hood over your head.” She laughed weakly, which crushed him.
Even after all that had happened to her, she was trying to grab onto any semblance of light. Erica was stronger than even she knew.
“I wanted to thank you, Dylan.”
Hearing his name from her sweet lips sparked another flood of longing, not just for sex, but also for a connection—one that was honest, open, and real. “No need. I’m head of TBK security. It’s my job.”
She sighed. “I know, but that wasn’t what I wanted to thank you for.”
“Oh?” Tell her she’s beautiful. Now’s your chance. “What?”
“For the self-defense lessons. For the gun range training.”
“I don’t understand, Erica.”
She put her hand on his forearm. Her tender touch fueled his already out-of-control emotions to overflowing. “When I was sure I wasn’t going to make it out alive and was ready to give up, your words came back to me. Yours and Nicole’s. That’s what kept me sane and kept me hoping that I would survive.”
“You did survive,” he told her, placing his hand over her delicate fingers. “You did good.”
“I survived because of you and Cam. If you hadn’t shown up when you did…they were going to…”
“It’s okay. They didn’t.”
This was one fucked-up mess, and Erica was right in the middle of it.
She leaned her head into his shoulder and looked up at him with her sky blue eyes. “I’d like to resume my training, if that’s okay with you.”
Okay? More than okay. “We’ll start back on Monday. You should rest for the remainder of the weekend.”
“Once again, I was such a fool.” The melancholy in her tone cut him like a knife. “As you know, I’m still uncomfortable with a gun. I almost put it in my purse yesterday morning, but I didn’t. What’s the use in going to the gun range in the Knights’ basement to work on my shooting if I’m afraid to have it on me when you’re not around?”
“Don’t talk about yourself that way,” he stated firmly. “First of all, those creeps were professionals. The gun wouldn’t have given you an advantage, in fact, it might’ve gotten you killed.”
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better. You and I both know I should’ve had it on me.”
Erica’s nature was to be upbeat and happy. She’d suffered so much and had been changed by all the turn of events. God, who wouldn’t be changed by them?
