Page 43 of Viking
He handed the locket back to Karoline.
“Kris knew what he was doing.Sending you to me.Making sure I’d be the one to protect you.”I looked around at my brothers, at the men who had fought and bled for us last night.“He knew I wouldn’t be alone in it.”
The planning continued around us -- Wire and Atlas diving into the encrypted data, brothers discussing security measures and defensive positions -- but I remained focused on Karoline and Athena.
In that moment, with danger still hovering on the horizon and the taste of last night’s battle still fresh, I made a silent vow.Whatever it took, whatever price I had to pay, I would see this through.For Kris, who had trusted me with his most precious treasures.For my brothers, who had put their lives on the line without hesitation.For Athena, who deserved a chance at a normal life.
And for Karoline, whose strength had only grown in the face of danger, whose presence in my life had shifted everything I thought I knew about myself and what I wanted for my future.
They were mine to protect now.And God help anyone who tried to take them from me.
Chapter Twelve
Karoline
I watched Viking gear up inside his house as pale moonlight slanted through the blinds and painted shadows across his face.His movements were precise, methodical -- checking each weapon before securing it to his body, testing straps on his tactical vest, counting spare magazines before slipping them into pouches.The Lief I’d known as a teenager had been golden and invincible in my eyes, a hero from some Norse legend.This Viking, preparing for war in the quiet of his bedroom, was something else entirely -- a man of flesh and blood who could bleed, who could die.The thought sent a chill through me despite the warmth of the room.
“The safe house has good sightlines,” he said without looking up, checking the action on his pistol before holstering it at his hip.“Tank and Tempest know what they’re doing.You’ll be safe there.”
I sat on the edge of his bed -- our bed now -- watching his ritual of preparation.“I’m not worried about me.”
His gaze flicked to mine briefly before returning to his gear.“You should be.”
I studied his profile as he worked.“How many times have you done this?Geared up like this, knowing you might not come back?”
His hands stilled momentarily before resuming their task.“Too many to count.”
“And you’ve always come back.”
A ghost of a smile touched his lips.“So far.”
He slid a knife into a sheath at his ankle, then straightened.The man who stood before me now was transformed -- leather and steel and deadly purpose.But his eyes, when they met mine, were still Viking’s eyes -- blue and deep and filled with everything he couldn’t say.
He crossed to where I sat and knelt before me, bringing us eye to eye.The position should have diminished him somehow, this massive man on his knees, but instead it only emphasized his strength -- that he could make himself vulnerable before me and still remain unmistakably powerful.
“I need you to promise me something,” he said, his voice dropping to that gravelly register that sent shivers across my skin.“If anything goes wrong, you take Athena and you run.”
I started to shake my head, but he caught my chin with gentle fingers, holding my gaze.“I mean it, Karoline.The club has resources -- money, IDs, safe houses.Wire has it all documented.If this goes sideways, you don’t wait, you don’t try to help.You grab Athena and you disappear.”
His voice cracked with worry on the final word, the first sign that his calm preparation was a facade covering deeper fears.I reached out, brushing my fingertips along his beard, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath.
“Nothing’s going to go wrong,” I said with a conviction I wished I truly felt.“You’re coming back to us.”
His eyes closed briefly at my touch, his head turning slightly to press his cheek more firmly against my palm.“You don’t know that.”
“I do,” I insisted.“Because you promised to protect us.And you never break your promises.”
He caught my hand in his, turning it to press a kiss to my palm that sent heat spiraling through me.“There are some things even I can’t control.”
The fear I’d been holding at bay surged forward -- fear of losing him just when I’d found him, fear of Athena losing another protector, fear of being left alone to finish what Kris had started.
“I know,” I whispered, my voice catching.“But I need you to come back.Because…” I swallowed against the lump in my throat, gathering courage for words I’d never said to any man.“I love you.I think I’ve loved you since I was just a kid.”
His eyes widened, surprise and something deeper washing across his features.His grip on my hand tightened.
“It’s different now.It’s not that schoolgirl crush anymore.It’s…” I struggled to find words adequate for the feeling that had been growing inside me since I’d arrived at the compound gates.“It’s knowing who you really are.The man who fights for his family, who sees me -- really sees me.”
Viking brought his hands up to frame my face.For a heartbeat, he simply looked at me, his gaze searching mine as if making sure I meant every word.Then he crushed me against him with that familiar fierce, desperate kiss I’d come to crave.
