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“I won’t ever sleep with you here and me there.”
“I can’t leave.”
“Then it’s settled.”
“I guess it is,” Ziva answered softly.
Alex put a finger under her chin and tipped her head up to meet his gaze. “We stay in Tabiq.”
She blinked. Stunned and not sure she heard correctly.
We?
Ziva knew she was tired and her emotions were playing tricks on her mind. There was no way Alex Henderson told her he was staying.
“You heard correctly, Ziva. If you won’t come with me, I’ll stay with you.”
“Why?” The question was so simple, but such an important one.
He chuckled. “For one of the most intelligent women I know, do you really need me to tell you?”
Yes.
I need to hear the words.
“Alex, I don’t want to have misread anything.”
Alex smiled at her. “Then, my sweet, let me clarify for you. I am staying with you because I can’t picture my life anywhere but with you. I know we haven’t known each other very long, but in that short time, for the first time in my life, I want to be a better person, and I want to be that person because of you and what you’ve made me feel. I love you, Ziva Gryzb. And if this is where you want to be, then here is where I’ll be. Your fight is now mine. Besides, if you think two are better than one, can you imagine what three can do?”
Ziva couldn’t think past the words I love you. “Say it again.”
“What part?”
“That you love me,” she said, smiling and beaming from her toes to the top of her head.
Lifting her off the floor so they were face to face he said, “I love you more than I ever thought possible. What do you say about facing our tomorrows together?”
“I’d like that.”
Pulling her even closer he lowered his voice. “Is that a yes?”
She hadn’t recovered from him telling her he wanted to join her on her mission in life. Everything happened so fast she needed to slow it down a bit. There was no question in her mind that she loved him. Spending the rest of her life with him would complete her. This wasn’t something he should rush into. She wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly in the first place. “Wait, what was the question?” She hadn’t heard one that required a yes or no.
“Not very romantic, I know.”
“Alex, it’s not about romance. I don’t want you to feel... pressured... in any way. You can stay here with me, and we can do this together. You don’t have to mar—”
Alex kissed her briefly, muffling her words. Then he let her slip from his arms. Instantly she wanted to throw herself back in his embrace. It was the one place she felt safe. Loved. She hoped she didn’t push him away. The walls she kept around herself so she couldn’t feel pain were the same walls she’d built so she couldn’t feel love. Since Alex entered her life, the mortar had cracked and each stone had been removed. He was in, and without him there, the void would be impregnable.
When she stood on her own two feet, he dropped down to one knee.
“Ziva Gryzb, will you marry me?”
Her heart was pounding so fast, she barely caught her breath. This man’s name was synonymous with much torment for her country. A name that to this day instilled fear and caused mothers to hide their children. How could she consider taking that name as her own? But this is not just any name. It’s Alex’s.
With tears rolling down her cheeks she choked out the word, “Yes.”
Alex peered at her. He was still on a bent knee, so he gave her a slight tug, bringing her closer as she now sat on his knee. Now they were eye to eye. “You hesitated. Are you sure?”
