Page 125 of Unbroken

“What can happen, will happen. What’s supposed to be, will be.”

“What?” she asked, spinning in my arms and tipping her head back enough for the water to coat her hair.

“My preferred interpretation of Murphy’s Law.”

“Hmm…” she hummed. She pushed her hair back and blinked the water from her eyes. Steam quickly formed around us, and I could feel the tension lifting from my shoulders. “I didn’t take you for an optimist.”

Her warm palms slid down my chest until they pressed against my stomach. I wasn’t close to a fucking optimist, but I made an exception for her. “Only when it comes to you, my little warrior.”

Her eyes softened before they dropped to where her hands rested against me.

“I hate this,” she whispered. “I feel like we’re putting everything on hold until this is resolved somehow.”

I tugged on her hair hard enough that her head fell back once again. The water streamed over her scalp, and I ran my fingers through the strands. “Then let’s make a plan. Talk about all the things we want to do.”

She took a step to the side and tugged me under the water with her. My back brushed against the cold tile, and I flinched at the contact. It was bound to happen in such a tiny space, but it was worth it to be in there with her.

“I want to go on a date. Whenever we want and wherever we want without fear of it being interrupted,” she said.

“We could travel,” I murmured, grabbing her green loofah and drenching it with soap. Blakely stepped out of the spray and kept her hands on my shoulders while I ran the sponge over her body. “You used to say you wanted to go to Greece and Thailand. I want to take you anywhere on your bucket list.”

She smiled as I washed down both her arms and over her stomach. She hiked one leg around my hip and let me scrub every inch before switching to the other. Spinning around, she gathered her hair and peered at me over her shoulder. I soaped up her back and ran my hand down her spine.

“Maybe we could get another pet. A snake or a lizard.”

“We could fill our house with as many animals as you want.”

She spun back around quickly, hair flying out around her. “Ourhouse? Are we living together in your version of our future?”

“Hell yes,” I said quickly. “No doubt. I’ve enjoyed having you in my space too much. I want you there constantly.” Back under the water, I washed the soap from her body. “You disagree?”

“No.” The word was confident and immediate. “I’d love a place that’s ours. Filled with animals and happiness and a fuck ton of love.”

She picked up my bottle of soap and returned the favor, running her hands over every inch of my body. It didn’t take much with Blakely, but by the time she was done, my cock was hard and my body was alive in the wake of her touch.

“A fuck ton of love,” I repeated with a laugh. “So well said.”

“You know what I mean,” she chastised, and I nodded.

“I do, sweetheart. If nothing else, I can promise you a fuck ton of love.”

FIFTY-SEVEN

Blakely

Staringout the partially open window, the heat and sunshine drifted in with each gust of wind. I was lost in thought, as I often was, with my journal open in front of me. I’d finished work and shifted a few feet from the desk Devon had built me and set up in the corner to the center of his bed.

I’d filled five entire pages—front and back—with anything and everything that I needed to expel from my head.

The nightmares continued the way they always had. I woke up without a clue what the contents of the dream were. But it was my thoughts during the day that really plagued me. Jade’s beaten body, molded to look identical to mine—the image of it was never going to leave me.

If he wasn’t caught soon, I worried what his next move might be. And maybe if I could just understand what he wanted, what his purpose was in all of it, then I could infer what he would do next.

But it was a question I hadn’t found an answer to in two years. It sure as hell wasn’t going to happen on a random Thursday evening. And reasoning away the actions of a madman was pointless and fruitless. No matter how much it ate at me.

Except I was determined to protect my friends, and without knowledge of his motive, it felt like I had no control. Actually, it didn’tfeellike I had no control; I quite obviously had none. That was it.

Everyone knew to be on high alert, and luckily, Marie was now on the case as well. She was more determined than I thought possible for someone who wasn’t directly and personally involved. If anyone was going to find him, it was Marie.

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