Page 106 of Truck Stop Tempest

“Yeah?” I asked over my shoulder, hand on the doorknob.

“She your forever girl?”

Six months ago, I would’ve laughed at such a ridiculous question. Now? No hesitation. “Yes.”

Tucker laughed. “Then it’s only right she knows. About your past, and about everything we’re doing here.” He gestured around the room.

“You okay with that?” Tucker’s everything was nothing compared to my everything. Yeah, he had a history, but his list of dirty deeds was minute compared to the sins I’d racked up over the years.

He merely shrugged. “I’ve got a soft spot for that girl. We all do.”

My ticker hammered my ribcage. “What if I tell her everything and she runs?”

Bastard shot me a cocky grin. “You already know the answer to that question.”

I did. If she ran, I’d give chase. I’d found my heartbeat. Even if I wanted, I couldn’t let her go.

I couldn’t let him go. Even if I wanted. Even after his confession.

I wasn’t angry. I wasn’t hurt. Oddly, I wasn’t confused, either. He had killed his abuser. Was it self-defense? Or premeditated? Either way, he’d taken human life, and I should’ve been frightened. Only, I wasn’t scared. I was curious. And if I were being honest with myself, I wasn’t surprised.

I thought of the night Rafael Turner had taken Aida and me to that awful hotel room. I had seen the bloodbath. I remembered the look in Tito’s eyes as he stood amidst the overturned furniture, the gore, and Rafael’s lifeless body. He was stoic and calm. We’d made eye contact, briefly, as Tango had carried me out of the room. I’d known Tito was dangerous then. I’d known all along. I’d liked that about him, his fearlessness, fierceness. His willingness to do what needed to be done, no matter the depravity.

I understood why he didn’t want to tell me his secrets. I loved that he wanted to protect me from his sins.

My entire life, I’d witnessed vile, unforgivable acts, and stood silent out of fear and shame. Understandable when I’d been a child. But I was no longer a child. I had no excuse for not speaking out. For not ending Jeremy Carver’s abuse. No excuse.

True, I would wear a heavy blanket of guilt for the rest of my days. Such was human nature. Tito, too, wore his own shackles of remorse. I understood. More than most.

Difference was, I understood that I was forgiven. Tito did not. How could anyone with a conscience carry such a burden and not collapse under its weight?

A loud bang, bang, bang made me jump. Tito. No one else knocked with such authority. I smiled despite my nerves and took three steadying breaths before opening the door.

Tito stood stone still. Dear Lord, those eyes. Dark and stormy, threatening and promising all at once. “I’m an idiot.”

I sighed, my heart battering my chest like I’d run a marathon.

Warm hands gripped my hips. Weary, pleading eyes captured my soul. “Can I kiss you?”

Tears threatened and I curled my lips between my teeth, fighting for composure.

He pressed closer, his arms curling around my waist. I circled mine around his neck, marveling in his solid stature, leaning closer, trusting he would bear my weight.

“Tell me something I don’t know about you. Something big.”

He walked me backward, kicked the door closed, and pressed his lips to my ear. “The priest? He used the words you want to hear. Those three words you deserve. He used them every time he hurt me.” His breath hitched, fingers digging into my flesh. “Those words that are supposed to be precious? He ruined them. Made them ugly and disgusting.” His arms tightened, holding me upright, predicting correctly that I would buckle with his confession. “And Bunny, what I feel for you is infinite, it’s solid, it’s painful, and I’m afraid to ruin it with those words.”

Burying my face in his shirt, I let the tears fall. Tito soothed me with tender kisses.

“I wish you wouldn’t cry, Bunny.”

I looked up to find his eyes wet with threatening tears.

“A million lifetimes have passed since then.”

“Why?” I asked, choking on the emotion. “Why did you kill him?”

“So he couldn’t hurt anyone else,” was his candid answer. A truth I believed to my soul because that was the stripped down, bare bones, unpretentious man who I knew and loved. A protector.

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