Page 114 of Salvaged Hearts

They’d find nothing. We hadn’t had to tell each other as much.

My eyes found hard navy-blues, and Jax nodded.

“We’ve got some retired battle buddies headed over to reassess our security setup and team,” I pointed out, though now that I was thinking about her—what this must have done to her—I wanted nothing more than to go to her and wrap her up. Count every finger, toe, and hair on her gorgeous head to ensure all was well.

“I’ve got the guys,” Jax argued, squeezing the shoulder he still had a hand on. “You do what’s important, do you hear me? Only you can be what she needs right now.”

“Yeah,” I said numbly, my mouth suddenly sandpaper dry. Guilt tore at my insides. She’d known I was affiliated with something dicey, but she was never supposed to be in the crosshairs. Never supposed to see what that world looked like. I’d assured her I wasn’t an active pair of boots on the ground and that should have bought her some protection.

But it hadn’t.

Ihadn’t.

A bodyguard hadn’t.

Yet again, the best wasn’t enough. Nodding, I repeated, “Yeah.” I patted his hand where it rested on my shoulder, his hard gaze tracking my face as I slowly lowered his arm away and walked toward Luke, to whom I extended a hand. “Thanks for being here.”

“Anytime. Let’s not do it twice.”

Forcing a chuckle, I said, “Sounds like a plan.”

Their dulcet tones continued on as Jax saw Detective Rivera to his car, but my ears were straining for signs of Alice as I took the steps two at a time. Upstairs was auspiciously calm. However, that somehow made my nerves worse. I’d just…clung to her in the sand until police arrived. IfObsidianhad infiltrated our local law enforcement, tonight could have gone a very different direction, with me in the back of a patrol car and Alice left here alone. That concept had tortured me from the moment his body hit the sand, slowly staining it crimson.

When I finally reached our room, I crept inside with the same care as that first night we’d finally given this thing a chance. The light was off this time, and the entire space was silent. The only similarity was that the bed was empty, where it sat in the faint stream of window light.

“Baby?” A floorboard creaked beneath me as I edged into the space. “Alice?” When no response came, my heart hammered harder, but then a soft throat cleared, and I heard her voice crack from the bathroom.

“Grey?”

On tentative feet, I crept into the ensuite and found her sitting with Chip, her back against a still-draining tub, wearing a blue nightgown I would normally die to strip off her. Not tonight. Tonight, my eyes fell to the bruises blooming across her biceps, and the desire to rain down hell consumed my vision.

The gurgle of the last swirl of water filled the space as she turned to me, the numbness fading from her face as she looked me over, her lips trembling.

“Baby,” I breathed, rushing for her. I gingerly set Chip aside and scooped her up onto her feet, pulling her against me. She finally released all the fear from the night into my T-shirt. Security had brought me a change of clothes after everything had been ruled self-defense. My sweats were stained with Captain’s blood, and it took two hand towels to clean it off my skin. She’d held it together so well, but it was only a matter of time before it caught up with us. All I wanted to do was touch her. Memorize the way she felt beneath my hands, commit the lines of her exquisite face to the deepest part of my mind. She buried herself in my chest, and all I could think to say was, “I’ve got you.”

But she was sobbing. Sobbing and clawing at the hem of my shirt, pulling it over my head. Her dress went next, leaving nothing between us. Something about our skin contact finally seemed to soothe her, and she just breathed against my chest. Slowly, I leaned down to scoop up her thighs, and she wrapped herself around my neck, clinging on for dear life as I got her to bed.

“You’re safe,” I whispered, pulling the covers back and setting her down before clamoring over her into my spot. “I’ve got you, baby.”

With her cocooned inside my arms, my heart finally seemed to settle.Safe. She was safe. For now, at least, the threat had been mitigated, and we would sort this out and dismantle these motherfuckers from the top down, even if it was the last thing I ever did. “Did you take your migraine medicine?” I asked into her hair. If paparazzi had been high-stress enough to trigger one that severe, I didn’t want to know what this could do to her. She nodded. “That’s my good girl.” Stroking long lines through her hair, I just held her. Skin on skin, we just steadied ourselves in the safe harbor of each other. Alice offered me a kind of sanctuary I’d never known existed. And I’d almost lost her. I would make this right. Come hell and high water, I would make this right for her.

My fingers came to a halt in her hair when she whispered a broken, “I love you.” Every single inch of my body went rigid, the bridge of my nose stinging as I blinked away what her words did to me. “You don’t have to say it back. I just…all I could think was that I was going to die, and after all of this, you’d never know that I love you.”

It took longer than I’m proud of to steady my breathing and choke back the emotion of her declaration. Longer than she deserved for me to slowly ease her onto her back so that I could reposition myself, ranging over her, studying the sincerity in her eyes that carved the lines beside them into a timid, terrified little smile. Silver-lined gray-blues studied my face as frantically as I studied hers, her hand coming up to cup my jaw, even as I said nothing. Even as I fought to level my breathing and not crawl out of my skin.

I was never supposed to have anything or anyone worth taking. But she was here. Looking at me like I was the anchor in a tempest.

Easing onto my forearms while I held her gaze, I cupped both of her beautiful cheeks, studying her eager vulnerability. Gently, I pressed a soft kiss to her lips before finally brushing the hair away from her forehead and admitting, “That’s a relief, Mrs. Hart. Because I love you, too.”

Alice

I didn’t hidemy tears this time. My surprise at him saying it back gave way to some cosmically overwhelming, soul-deep relief when he gently pressed his lips to mine. Reverent strokes across my face gave way to desperate fingers twining in my hair as he shifted to cradle my head in his broad palms. The man looked nervous, out of his depth, which was likely the first time I’d ever seen him make a decision with any ounce of uncertainty.

Kisses growing harsher by the breath, he worked his way over my face, like he would dab all the tears from my cheeks with his lips. I melted beneath his palms as they roamed, caressing my ribs, palming at my breast and then my neck. Greyson’s hands were frantic—as if he was still reassuring himself that I was with him, his eyes surveying each inch of skin.

Confirming my suspicions, he muttered, “I almost fucking lost you.”

“But you didn’t.”

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