Page 31 of Echoes and Oaths
Mateo sat heavily on the edge of the examination table, the years and weight of his decisions etched into the lines of his face. "I’m going into town today," he said quietly. "I’m going to start a war. It might not reach you, but I won’t take that chance. Raven will stay here. She’ll protect you. She’ll protect Teo and your mother."
Eira crossed her arms, her eyes burning into his. "And what if I say no?"
He met her gaze without flinching. "Then she’ll wait in the shadows. She’ll watch the edges of this place. And if you need her, she’ll be here."
From the other side of the door, Raven’s voice floated through, dry as ever. "I don’t think I’d like that too much."
Mateo shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, frustration riding him hard. "Eira," he said, voice rough. "If you ever loved me, let Raven stay here and protect you. I’m not asking as a soldier. I’m asking as the man who loves you and never stopped. If you ever felt anything real for me, please let me protect you, your mother, and my son."
The sheer gall of the man hit her like a slap. "IfIever lovedyou?" she repeated, incredulous. "The unmitigated nerve?—"
Before she could unleash the storm building inside her, Raven opened the door and stuck her head in. "Dude, that was absolutely the wrong thing to say," Raven announced as she stepped inside and shut the door behind her. She leveled her gaze at Eira. "Look, I know Mateo is complete shit when it comes to relationships. And no, not because we have one." She waved a dismissive hand. "He’s like a brother to me. I don’t find him sexually interesting at all. He’s just a big, broody hunk of muscle who’s not nearly as smart as he thinks he is."
Eira's lips twitched despite herself at the shock of the woman’s words.
"But here’s the sitch," Raven continued without missing a beat. "He loved you so much … he left you. I know, stupid. I told him so. And for the record, none of us knew about you. Not one of us. Not until last week."
Raven crossed her arms and lifted her chin.
"I’m the only woman on his team. And no, I’m not involved with any of them, sexually or romantically. They’re my family. They keep me alive, and I keep them alive. Big lunk-headed brothers." Her gaze softened for a brief moment. "But I’ve known thisman for ten years. I’ve seen him kill without hesitation. I’ve seen him walk through hell without flinching. But when he returned from that mission … something in him had been broken. A part of him was ripped away.You." She glanced at Mateo, then back at Eira. "He’s been suffering every damn day since because he wasn’t here with you. Because he thought it would protect you if he stayed away."
She paused, and when she began speaking again, her voice was quieter, razor-sharp. "Yeah, I know it sucks for you, too, sweetheart. But he stayed away because he loved you. That’s the bare truth. What he does, this war, the violence, that’s his job. And he’s damn good at it. But it’s not who he is when it comes to you." She turned on her heel without waiting for a reply, slamming the door behind her as she left. Silence filled the room like a vacuum.
Eira blinked, staring at the door, then slowly turned back to Mateo. "Okay," she said finally, her voice quieter. "I believe you don’t have a relationship with her. That’s obvious."
A small smile ghosted across Mateo’s mouth, the tension easing from his shoulders.
"She’s …" Eira added, unable to stop herself. "Loud. Ballsy. And pretty damn obnoxious."
He laughed, and the sound slipped past herdefenses, making her stomach twist in ways she didn’t want to acknowledge. After a long moment, she breathed and looked at him, her heart still raw.
"She can stay," Eira said softly. "If things start to get bad, if this war you’re about to declare starts creeping toward us, I’ll send Teo and my mother with her."
She paused, her gaze locking with his.
"But understand this, Mateo. When you returned, you said you were here to stay and never stopped loving me. Prove it. Show me the truth in your words, or leave now and never come back."
Before he could answer, she turned on her heel and marched out the door back toward the barn. Her steps were stiff, her hands shaking as she grabbed a pitchfork and began shoveling manure and straw out of the milking area like her life depended on it.
Tears burned behind her eyes, hot and angry, blurring her vision. She didn’t hear his footsteps until his boots were beside hers. Without a word, Mateo wrapped his arms around her from behind, folding her against his chest like he could somehow hold her together.
Dear God, the warmth. The strength. The protection. The scent of sweat, hay, and the manshe’d loved and sometimes hated in equal measure broke her.
Standing there in the middle of a cow barn, Eira let herself fall apart. All the pain. All the anger. All the confusion. Her loneliness and fear fell in each crystal drop of tears. Tears she hadn’t shed when he went missing. Tears she hadn’t shed when Teo was born without his father. Tears she refused to shed because she’d had to be strong. For too many reasons, she cracked open and let all the emotion out. And the man she had never stopped loving held her while she did.
CHAPTER 11
Jinx held Eira close as her body trembled against him, each sob slicing through him like a thousand knives. He hadn’t known pain like that. Watching the strongest woman he’d ever met unravel in his arms and knowing he was the reason.
When she finally pushed away, wiping at her tear-streaked face, his arms instinctively twitched to pull her back in, but she turned away, her shoulders hunched and tense, her shame thick in the air as if she couldn’t bear to let him see her broken. As if he hadn’t already seen the cracks he’d put there.
Jinx closed the space between them, the wooden floor of the old barn creaking beneath his boots. Heplaced both hands gently on her shoulders, feeling the fine tremor in her muscles.
"Will you ever be able to forgive me?" His voice was low, rough, and edged with desperation. It wasn’t a question he wanted to ask, it was one he needed to.
Eira took a shaky breath, her shoulders rising and falling as she let it out in a shuttering sigh. She didn’t look at him when she whispered, "How can I answer that question?"
Slowly, she turned to face him. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, her cheeks blotched and wet. The rawness in her expression gutted him.
