Page 130 of The Rancher's Secret Relationship

Flint barely gets the words out before eighty pounds of boundless canine energy tackles him to the icy ground.

Sunlight barks nonstop, tail wagging furiously. Is he thanking Flint for rescuing him...or is he holding a grudge after being stabbed—-oh, good, it's the first.

I'm absolutely sure of it, with how my baby's licking Flint's face nonstop, and all I can do is laugh as Flint shoots me an exasperated look.

How long is this going to last,his violet eyes seem to ask.

I lift my shoulders in a helpless shrug.Forever, maybe?

His gaze narrows.You're having fun seeing me attacked like this, aren't you?

I look at him chidingly.He's just being affectionate—-oh!

Flint effectively distracts my baby by taking off one of his shoes and throwing it in the distance.

"Fetch, boy."

Sunlight has barely loped off when Flint yanks me down, and I land on top of his chest with a gasp.

"You—-"

Uh...oh.

"—-really are an angel, aren't you?"

Oh, Flint.

The gentleness in which he runs his knuckles down my cheek makes me cry anew.

"I don't deserve you," he whispers. "I don't think I ever will. But if you'll give me a chance—-"

"Y-You know I w-will," I say between sniffling back tears.

"I love you, Elizabeth."

"I love you, too..."

His expression turns guarded. "Why do I have a feeling there's a but coming?"

"I...just want to ask."

"What is it?"

"What exactly does 'Culo' mean anyway?"

Epilogue

MEMORIESstream into my mind as I cast one last look around our apartment. This has been our home for over half a year, and so much has happened in that short span of time.

Flint quit his job at the FBI and now works freelance. I’m still not entirely sure what his current job entails, but I trust him when he says his work is on a need-to-know basis.

Sunlight is still with us (naturally!), but now he’s a big brother to Chico, a three-year-old Dachshund who also suffered a not-so-good life with his first owner. It makes me sad every time I remember the patches of burnt skin that marred his body when he first came to us. But that’s all gone now, and just like Chico and Sunlight, Flint and I don’t allow our hearts to be poisoned by bitterness and grudges.

Judge not, lest ye be judged.

Forgive as you have been forgiven.

Because vengeance is the Lord’s, and Miguel Dantes’ murder in the Cayman Islands two months ago is proof of this.

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