Page 61 of Savior

I couldn’t take over.

Whatever decisions she’d made were because I hadn’t been there.

“Are you done?” she asked, pursing her lips.

I nodded.

“Good. Jeremy hacked the system. I needed to know what you were being hit with and ensure that any charges against you never made it to the inside of a courtroom. Jimmy’s reaching out to his contact, and we’re working—”

“Jimmy?” I bit out through clenched teeth.

“Yeah, Tex. Jimmy. He might just be the one to save your ass here. Think about that before you say anything else. Look, I didn’t come here to fight—”

“I don’t want to fight either, but there are things you need to know. I was a shitty human and an even worse husband—”

Lauren caught my jaw as I tried to look away, bringing me back to face her. “I couldn’t stand the thought of disappointing her. That’s what I was, wasn’t it? A disappointment? How many times had I heard that in my life?”

My mouth fell open as she recited the things I’d said at my twelve-step meeting. “But—how?”

She exhaled a soft laugh. “I was there. By the way, you are completely oblivious to stalkers. It’s a good way to get yourself killed, Tex.”

I couldn’t fight the grin that stretched across my face. “You’ve been stalking me? And you didn’t think about giving me a warning or a heads up before I barged in on Torch and Louisa?”

Her eyes crinkled as she threw her head back and laughed. “I thought that if I had to learn that lesson the hard way, so could you.”

“Jesus, you saw?”

Her nose scrunched up. “Yep… twice. Eventually, they decided to keep their ‘activities’ confined to the bedroom. I hope they didn’t offer you food. I’m fairly certain that the kitchen counter has been, um, contaminated in more than one area.”

I shook my head. “Torch didn’t offer me anything but an ass-whooping, which I declined. Now, back to the matter at hand. Tell me why you kept tabs on me after everything I’ve done to you?”

“You’re my partner… for better or worse. And I think you’ve gone your whole life just waiting for people to give up on you, and many have done just that. Those people never took the time to see all the good in there.” She patted my chest. “And you have a lot of good… even if you can’t see it yourself.”

I mashed my lips together, holding back tears. “But those meetings, they’re just for addicts. How’d you get in the door?”

Her eyes grew glassy. “I learned early on that the only person I could depend on was me. Until you. Everyone keeps telling me how strong I am… how brave.”

Lauren brushed away the tears spilling onto her cheeks before admitting, “I’m not, Mike. I—”

She hiccuped through a ragged breath, and then it was as if a dam had been released. “I’m scared to death. I should be enjoying every second of this pregnancy, because we fought like hell for it, and I can’t! I can’t, because I know that they’re still out there. It could all disappear in an instant.”

I pulled her into my arms, brushing the hair back off her forehead before pressing my lips to her flushed skin. “I’m here, and I’m not going to let anything happen to you, darlin’. I swear. I know my track record is shit, but you’ve been my lifeline when I was ready to end it all. Let me be that for you now.”

Her chest shook with another sob, forcing her body closer to mine. “You want to know why I was at your meeting? Because I’m an addict when it comes to you. I can’t walk away from us without losing a piece of myself. I want to believe that you’ll stay clean, if not for me, then for the babies. Because we need you, Mike. I need you. You’re the only person on the planet who makes me feel safe.”

I reached for her jaw, guiding her mouth onto mine with a low growl. Instead of pulling away, her hands moved over my t-shirt before gripping my shoulders with a moan.

“A man protects his home,” I breathed against her lips. “Told you that once, and I know that I’ve failed you. I may have gotten lost, but I found my way back to you. You’re my home. You’re mine to protect. And if you need me to say it every day, I will.”

“Mike,” she protested. “Shut up and kiss me. After, you can tell me all those things again.”

My lips brushed up against hers as I grinned. It was a feeling I hadn’t even known I’d missed. I lifted her legs and rotated her body toward mine before pulling the flip flops from her feet. Her eyes narrowed until I kneaded along the arch of one foot.

“Oh,” she said softly, letting her head fall back with a relaxed sigh.

I used my other hand to adjust myself through my jeans with a slight grimace. Why hadn’t I considered wearing athletic shorts? Right. Because I hadn’t known my wife was going to be showing up to give me a raging case of blue balls. I’d take care of it later while picturing her just like this.

“I, uh, I came here for a reason.”

---