Page 65 of His Wild Storm
“He still listed you as the beneficiary,” Duncan reiterates, his voice gentle.
“I don’t want his money,” Haven snarls. Duncan and Blake share a look as the fight leaves my woman just as quickly as it came. “I’ll distribute it to the shelters who have helped me over the last year. At least then something good will come of it all.”
I nod and cradle her against my chest while the guys look on with pride written all over their features. My woman’s eyes get a faraway look in them as if she’s reliving everything she went through when she was with her ex.
She’s told me little things here and there, but not much. Maybe one day she’ll be ready to let me in on that part of her life, maybe she won’t. It’s up to her to decide. She has the power when it comes to the scars she bears.
“I’m,” she starts before swallowing hard and trying again, “I’m free.He’sdead and will never come after me.He’llnever be able to find me. I’m,” her voice cracks, “we’re free.”
“You’re free, my little storm. Free to live your life however you want,” I tell her honestly.
Her blue eyes, bright with tears I hope have nothing to do with regret or grief, stare straight into my soul. “Free to love,” she whispers.
The clicking of the door closing behind us has us both looking around to find Blake and Duncan nowhere to be found. If they thought this was going to end up with us naked and sweaty, they chose to make a hasty retreat. I can’t really blame them, but I know my woman, and she needs time to process before we lay our feelings out in the open and I help her forget with orgasms.
Many, many orgasms.
We sit in the stillness of Cole Howard’s office for a while, the only sound us breathing and the beating of our hearts. When she’s ready to rejoin the party, that’s exactly what we do, the few tear tracks on her cheeks wiped away and the echo of true freedom surrounding us.
CHAPTER 20
HAVEN
He’s dead.
He’s dead.
He. Is. Dead.
I feel like I should be doing something right now, but I’m barely capable of sitting up. I’m grateful Knox is holding me because he’s the only thing keeping me upright.
I’m not even sure how to explain what I’m feeling. It’s an odd mix of sensations I’ve never experienced before. For the most part, I feel relief. Withhisdeath, I don’t have to keep looking over my shoulder and wondering whenhe’sgoing to track me down, even though I wasn’t surehewas looking for me at all.
The thought ofhimcoming after me because my bank fucked up and sent a letter when they shouldn’t have makes me a little sick to my stomach. I hadn’t been as cautious since coming to Denver because I had convinced myself I was safe. Finally safe.
Ifhewould have found me, I wouldn’t have been ready. I would have been a sitting duck.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, my little storm,” Knox’s voice is gentle. “Talk to me.”
“Is it okay to be happy about this?”
“Yes,” he answers without any hesitation. “You can feel whatever you feel about this. You can be glad. You can be sad. You can even feel regret or grief. No one gets to tell you how to feel and just because you feel one way now doesn’t mean it won’t change. And that’s okay too.”
I look up at this man, my man, the man I never saw coming but managed to sneak into my life and make space for himself effortlessly. The way he’s accepted my emotions being all over the place, even though my ex hurt me, is remarkable.
When I reach over to his arm and pinch him, he jumps and shouts out, “Hey!” His face screws up into a scowl as he stares at me. “What was that for?”
“I needed to make sure that you’re real and I’m not dreaming you up,” I explain.
“Aren’t you supposed to pinch yourself when you think you might be dreaming?” His voice is incredulous, but there’s still a softness in his eyes which is always there when he looks at me.
“I guess,” I admit with a shrug, “but if I wasn’t dreaming then it would have hurt.”
I pout and bat my eyelashes at him, everything wrong in the world disappearing for a moment. Knox chuckles before closing the distance between us and peppering my face with kisses.
With a deep breath I tell him, “I’m ready to go back out there.”
“Do you want to head home? No one will be bothered by us leaving early?”
