Page 83 of Consequences

She blinks but nods. “It’s why I know I can’t break the rules. If you leave me again, I don’t know what I’ll do. I don’t know if this is what was supposed to happen, but I’m in love with you.”

He cups her face and rubs her cheeks with his thumbs, spreading her tears beneath them. “I told you that night it’s you and me. We’re going to figure out how this works, and it kills me to know you’re this scared of me walking away. I’m not walking away, baby doll.”

“I never quite know what you’re thinking or how you feel. I try and pick up little cues here and there, but you always keep at enough of a distance that I don’t know. Then I started wondering if the rules were somehow to keep you at a distance. Didn’t work for me, but what do I know?”

“I don’t mean to do that,” he whispers. “You amaze me, baby doll.”

Chuckling, Jamie shakes her head but doesn’t force his hands away. “I do?”

“I was in foster care,” he says. “My mom killed my dad and then hung herself while I was in the house. I was only four.”

Her eyes widen, and she blinks out a few more tears. “I’m so sorry.”

“Foster home after foster home brought the harsh reality that nothing’s permanent. Each house was worse than the last until I got bigger and could take care of myself. And once I got tough, I could protect my foster siblings.”

“You’re a natural born protector.”

Turning her head, she kisses his palm. It’s nothing big, but it’s a small token of affection that makes him never want to see her cry again.

“When my foster sibling didn’t come home, it was a crap shoot whether something bad happened or not. Some ran away, some joined gangs, and I had one foster sister who died at the hands of our foster father. Not knowing where the people I care about are—the people I’ve taken on the role of protecting—makes me restless. Helpless. And I hate feeling that way.”

“Is that who Aaron is?” she asks and points to his chest where his tattoo sits. A cross engulfed in flames with the name Aaron across it on a banner. “Was he a friend or brother you lost?”

“He was my best friend. A firefighter, and he died when I was overseas. His sister, Nina, has the matching one.”

The tears have stopped, but he knows she wants to cry for him. It goes without saying that being in the military means he lost even more brothers and sisters.

“Do you still talk to Nina?” she asks.

“Uh, no. Nina was the first woman I ever truly loved. One of only two, but she couldn’t handle my rules. She was convinced I’d change, and she went out of her way to defy them. When I didn’t, she walked away.”

Swallowing, Jamie looks scared again as she searches his eyes. “Do you still love her?”

“Part of me will always love her,” Undertaker answers honestly. “Aaron was the closest thing I had to a family, andshe’s the only person in the world who understands the pain I feel from losing him. We found a way to grieve together, but we weren’t meant to be.”

She forces a smile and nods. “That makes sense.”

“I’ve never told anyone about my past before,” he says. “Not even Aaron, and we’d known each other since we were fifteen. I don’t trust many people, but I do trust you, baby doll.”

A real smile spreads across her face. “You do?”

“I love you, too,” he whispers and kisses her softly. “I hadn’t planned on it. Hell, everything with us I didn’t plan, but I also can never walk away.”

Lunging into his arms, she clings to him as she buries her face into his neck. He smiles as she says, “I’ve been trying to figure out if you felt the same way for so long now. It’s been killing me not to tell you how I feel.”

“Why didn’t you just say it?” he asks with a chuckle.

“Because I was scared of what you’d say if you didn’t love me back. I love you, Undertaker.”

“Frances.”

She leans back and looks at him with her face scrunched. “Pardon?”

“If you’re going to love me, you should know my birth name was Frances before it was changed. The only two people on this planet who know that are you and Nina, and she only knows because she knew me before I enlisted.”

Tilting her head, she gives him a watery smile. “You trust me enough to share two things you’ve never told anyone else?”

“I do.”

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