Page 84 of Stand Fast

“Yeah? What about?”

“Nasar. He finally broke this morning and told us why he’d done it.”

“And?” Not that there was any reason on earth good enough to justify his actions, and the cost.

“His young son. He suffers from a progressive heart condition that is fatal in over ninety percent of cases. Nasar was working with theVenenocartel becauseEl Escorpionpromised to get the boy a heart transplant if Nasar could get enough shipments through to pay for it.”

Zaid stilled in shock. “Whoa. So that’s who flew to Veracruz that day. Nasar’s wife and son.”

“Yes. I don’t condone what he did, but…I understand why he did it.”

Yeah, Zaid wasn’t seeing the situation in plain black and white now either. “And did his son get the surgery?”

“No one knows. But Nasar will never see him or his wife again, regardless.”

A heavy price to pay, but he’d cost many men’s lives.

Jaliya was quiet for a long moment before speaking again. “What did you mean earlier, when you said you’d scare me if you told me what you really wanted.”

He stroked a hand down her spine, savoring the silken softness of her skin. “Sure you wanna know?”

“Yes.”

Okay then. “I want it all.” Simple.

She tipped her head back to look at him and raised her eyebrows. “All?”

He gave a slow nod. “Everything.”

“As in…” She let the sentence trail off, as if not wanting to make a fool of herself by making assumptions in case she was way off. As though he couldn’t be saying what she thought he was.

But he sure as hell was saying it. “Yeah. That.”

Her eyes widened. “What, marry me?”

He nodded. “That’ll make it easier for you to get posted to D.C.”

She laughed again. “You can’t marry me just to get me a posting in D.C.”

He hugged her close. She might not want to admit it to him right now, but he knew damn well her conscience would be pricking at her even now for sleeping with him without a ring on her finger at least. “I can if I’ve found the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with.”

A startled smile curved her lips. “You really mean that?”

“Every damn word. You’re mine, Jaliya. I’m not letting you go.” Not today, notanyday.

She bit her lip and tucked her face into his neck, pressing as close to him as she could get. “That was really beautiful,” she said in a choked whisper.

A low, primal growl came from the back of his throat and he tightened his arms around her. Even though he would put her on that plane in a couple hours, the distance wouldn’t change anything. She was still his. Forever. And he wanted the whole world to know it. “So you’ll make an honest man out of me, then?”

She drew her head back to meet his eyes. Hers shone with a glimmer of tears, but the smile she gave him told him they were happy ones. “Zaid. Have you really thought this through? Are you sure? We’ve only known each other a few months.”

“Longer than that, counting the time we spent getting to know each other online.”

Her lips twitched. “Well,sortof getting to know each other.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “I’m sure, and I know everything about you that matters. We have similar backgrounds and values. We like each other as people. We understand and respect each other. Wefit. Do you know how incredibly rare that is?” He’d had a lot of time to think it over the past week, and coming face to face with the Grim Reaper sure had a way of putting things into perspective. He wanted to make Jaliya his wife.

“I do.”

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