Page 73 of (Un)Spoken

“Early,” I answered, dropping my head to his firm chest. “Get some more rest.”

“Trying,” he said, rubbing his hand over his face. “Tell me something good to help me fall asleep.”

I chuckled as I ran my nails up and down his arm. “What do you want to know?”

“One more thing from your list. The most extravagant one.” He leaned over to kiss my forehead. “So we can do it when this whole thing is over.”

“Honestly?” I said, furrowing my brow. “I’ve always wanted to travel. Go off to one of those island resorts I see on social media all of the time.” I shook my head, “But it’s always been a pipe dream. There’s no way I can afford it, even when I’m done with school.”

“Well, then it’s a good thing you’re with a guy who has some money tucked away,” Adam chuckled. “Because that’s what we’re doing. A week away, just you and me. At one of those beach resorts with the glass floors so you can see all the fish swimming underneath.”

“That’s not somewhere you just go.” I grinned against his skin. “That has to be like a special occasion, like a honeymoon or anniversary or something.”

“You proposing to me, trouble?”

“Not yet, Rice,” I giggled. “I think maybe we should wait a bit for that, don’t you? After I’m done with school,and we’re more settled. Besides, I think I’d like to get a house maybe first. Somewhere near Fox Creek so we can see the lake in the morning and stay close to everyone.”

Adam’s eyes popped fully open, and he shifted so he was on top of me. “Does that mean you’re staying?”

“Yes,” I said, unable to hold back my grin. “We’re staying here. I talked to Cam about it a couple of days ago, but I was waiting to tell you until we were alone. He’s going to make it work so we can live here full-time, and he’ll visit. With any luck, he’ll be in Boston, so that’s only a couple of hours away. I still have to figure out how to ship all of our stuff?—”

My words were cut off when Adam’s lips met mine in a passionate, soul-consuming kind of kiss. It was the type that became a core memory, one I’d look back on years from now and forget all the darkness surrounding us. All I needed was my family—my daughter and the loving man in my arms. We’d find a way through everything else. Together.

“Shit, Tor,” he smiled against my skin. “I didn’t think it was possible for anything to make me happy today, but you just made me feel like the luckiest man in the whole damn world.” He kissed me again, softly, slowly. “I can’t wait to find a home together, baby.”

“Yeah?” I chuckled. “Are you sure you’re ready for Emilia and me full-time?”

“More ready than I’ve been for anything in my entire life. You just wait, Tor. I’m going to find you the house of your dreams, and we’ll make it a home. Fill it with animals and more babies, if that’s what you want.”

“Slow down,” I chuckled, pressing against his chest. “Maybe for now, we should start with more sleep, and then we can figure out everything else later.”

“Fine,” Adam groaned, flopping back onto hisside of the bed. “But just so you know, the moment we’re alone again, I’m showing you exactly how much you staying means to me.”

“Now that’s the best motivation I’ve ever heard.”

A couple of hours later,I reluctantly rolled out of bed, feeling like I hadn’t gotten a single moment of rest. The entire time, I dreamed of unseen people stalking Adam and me, interrupting all our happy moments with their vile and wicked ways. I reached out to the other side of the bed, finding it cold and empty. With a frown, I sat up, sure everyone else was probably downstairs still working.

I pulled on the clothes Cole had set aside for me and made my way down the stairs, stopping at the landing at the sight in front of me. Overnight, it was like Alex and Cole’s living room had turned into the set of one of those crime scene shows, complete with a whiteboard and photos lining its edges.

I shook my head as I walked downstairs, stopping in front of it to see what they’d come up with while I was sleeping. There were dozens of names on the side, some scratched out, others circled.

“Good morning,” Calla said as she handed me a giant cup of coffee. “How’d you sleep?”

“Terribly,” I sighed. “Where did all of this come from?”

“Theo,” she chuckled. “He called in every single favor and cleared out his office. He had Eloise bring this thing over at 5 am.” She glanced over my shoulder, frowning at her husband, still working hard in the kitchen. “I’m starting to get worried about him. He hasn’t closed his eyes, not for amoment. He’s going to crash pretty soon if he keeps going like this.”

“Guessing he’ll refuse to go home even if we ask?”

“Oh yeah,” Calla sighed. “He feels responsible for this whole thing, as if he should have been able to see the signs of what was going on with Adam.”

“No one could have known,” I said, my hand on her arm.

“I’m just glad we do now.” Calla smiled, placing her hand on top of mine. “I’ve been meaning to thank you. I’ve known Adam for a while, and this is, by far, the happiest I’ve ever seen him. Even with all of this…” She motioned around the room. “You brought a light back into his eyes, and I can’t thank you enough for that.”

“He did the same for me,” I said, finding Adam watching me across the room. “The least I can do is make sure he has someone at his side while we figure out what’s going on.”

Calla smiled at me as Adam walked over, dropping a light kiss on my lips. I ran my hand through his hair, taming his erratic waves. “Any luck?”

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