Page 91 of Tactical Revival

Daniel and the lions. I can do this. It’s going to be okay. Jaxson is here.

Michael lunges for Lanetti, taking her to the ground as Silas tends to Patty. Jaxson comes straight for me, setting his weapon down beside him as he kneels at my feet.

“Hey, stay still, okay? You’re going to be okay.”

“I don’t know what’s in it,” I tell him. “She was going to kill me, though.” I’m barely keeping it together, barely managing to keep myself from trembling as he reaches up and tugs the needle from my neck.

“She didn’t inject you, okay? It was just a stick.”

I nod, tears streaming down my cheeks, because I know that speaking right now is not going to lead to anything but me losing it altogether.

Jaxson uses a knife he’d tucked into his tactical boots to cut the ropes binding my legs and arms. As soon as I’m free, I fall forward, both arms going around his neck. I bury my face against his chest, my entire body trembling from the adrenaline.

“See! It’s always about Margot! It should be me!” Lanetti roars.

“Keep all questions and concerns to yourself until the end of your prison sentence,” Michael snaps as he marches Lanetti out of the room.

Silas reaches down and lifts Patty, carrying her out, and soon it’s just Jaxson and me.

He pulls away and cups my face, leaning his forehead against mine. “Thank You, God. I thought I’d lost you, Margot,” he says.

“I wasn’t sure I was making it out of here, either. I kept thinking about Daniel and the lions though,” I choke out. I’m rambling as my body begins to tremble. “Jaxson, I—how did you know? How did you know where we were?”

“Lanetti told me her dad had a fishing boat she wanted to take me out on. Then, when your abductor called, they told me to have fun fishing. We raced back to the house and discovered that Bianca had been drugged and Lanetti was gone.”

“I’m so glad you found me,” I choke. “Thank you for finding me.”

“I will always find you. Do you hear me? I love you, Margot Anderson. With everything that I am and everything that I will be, I am yours. And this might not be the best time to tell you, present circumstances and all, but there is no one else I want to be with. It’s you. I think it’s always been you.”

He kisses me, not waiting for a response. But if he had waited, I would have told him the same things. That I love him with everything I am. With all of my heart and soul. He’s my person. My promise of love in this world.

“I love you, too, Jaxson,” I reply, leaning my forehead against his. “I love you, too.”

“How are you feeling?” Jaxson asks as he sits up from the couch he’s been sleeping on for the past two hours. We’re still in the hospital since Doc wanted to watch me overnight just in case. And even though I sent Matty home with my parents, Jaxson insisted on staying around.

“Hopeful.”

“Yeah?” he asks.

“Yeah. It’s funny, but it took being abducted for me to realize that everything is going to be okay. I’ll find a way to open the B&B again, and it’s going to be better than ever.”

Jaxson gets up and crosses over, then leans down to press a kiss to my forehead. “You amaze me, Margot.”

I beam up at him, unable to even put into words how he makes me feel. Like my heart can’t help but beat fast and slow all at the same time.

Someone knocks on the door.

“Come in,” I call out.

It opens, and a man walks in wearing jeans and a leather jacket, his hair longer on top and shorter on the sides. I’ve never seen him before, nor do I recognize the redhead walking in alongside him, her belly swollen.

“Hey, heard she was up,” the man says.

“And you thought you’d come interrogate us?” Jaxson hugs the man and the woman, then turns to me. “Margot, this is my former partner, Alaric, and his wife, Wrenley.”

“Hi, it’s so nice to meet you both.” I sit up a little straighter and offer a smile. “You’re here all the way from LA?”

Alaric nods. “Flew out when Jax told us you were missing. There’s not much we wouldn’t do for the man. After all, it wasn’t too long ago he was helping me track down my lovely wife.” Alaric smiles and wraps an arm around his wife.

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