Page 88 of Duty Bound

“Joe would understand.” Sadness crept into his eyes.

“Would he?” She shook her head.

“You know he would. He’d want you to be happy.”

She closed her laptop. “You know I’ll never forget what you and Val did for me.”

“You’re like a daughter to me, Lily.” His voice was gruff, very unlike Pat.

She got up and hugged him. “Thank you, for everything.”

“I only wish it had turned out different. I feel responsible for sending him over there.”

“It’s not your fault,” she whispered. It was nobody’s fault. God, why did she have to say that so much?

“If it’s any consolation, he’s a tough bastard, and with Stitch helping him, there’s a good chance they’ll make it out alive.”

Lily knew he was saying that to make her feel better, but she prayed he was right.

CHAPTER 32

Lily perched on a wrought-iron chair on the front porch, thumbing through a magazine without much interest. Pat had cleared out, leaving her to stew alone in the quiet, empty house.

The sun bore down, unforgiving, slanting through the branches to splatter the grass with harsh shadows and spots of blinding light.

It matched her mood—patches of clarity cut through with stretches of dark unease, the kind that comes when you're left to think a little too long about things better left buried.

She didn’t know when she’d started to give up on the idea that Blade was ever coming home. Accepting the inevitable was better than dwelling on the possibility he might still be alive. Her heart couldn’t break anymore, and she was all out of tears.

A motorcycle pulled up outside the house. Strange, as she wasn’t expecting anyone. It roared quietly, more like a hum, while the man on it stared at her through his helmet from across the lawn.

A surge of anxiety shot through her. Who the hell was this? Should she be worried? Should she run inside the house and lock the door?

He climbed off the bike. Something about him was familiar. His stature, his stride…

It couldn’t be.

Her heart surged. She leaped up, the magazine falling from her hands.

He took off the helmet, placed it over the handlebars, then squinted into the sunlight.

She’d recognize that hair anywhere.

With a squeal, Lily sprinted down the steps, crossed the lawn, then threw herself into his arms. “Oh, my God! It’s really you!”

Blade winced, then laughed and hugged her gently.

Tears streamed down her face, but she didn’t care. He was here. Standing outside Pat’s house. In the flesh.

She could scarcely believe it.

“I thought you were dead,” she sobbed.

“Takes more than a bunch of armed guards to kill me.” He held her at arm’s length so he could take a good look at her. “Damn, you look amazing.”

“So do you.” She smiled up at him. Kissed him on the lips. Hugged him again.

He wrapped his arm around her. “God, I missed you.”

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