Page 94 of Erik's Salvation
She frowned at the quiet house and lack of response. They should both be here tonight. She set the pizzas on the counter and looked down at her phone, only to see that she’d missed a text.
Henry: Forgive us, but we couldn’t sit around and watch you be so sad for another day.
Her frown deepened. What was he—
“Hi, Angel.”
Her breath caught in her throat at that voice…a voice she’d heard whispering in her head in the dark last night while she’d tried to sleep.
Slowly, she turned, and her stomach clenched at the sight of Erik walking through the door she’d not yet locked. He wore a gray shirt and jeans. His hands were in his pockets and his gaze firmly aimed at her.
“What are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to you.” He stopped in the living room, like he was afraid that if he crossed the remaining distance, she’d run.
She was too scared to move. Hell, she didn’t even want to blink, but not because she was afraid of him. In case he disappeared and that hole in her chest, the one that filled when he was close, hollowed again.
“Marco told me you’re an assassin.” The words that had been repeating in her head for the last day spilled out. “That not everyone you…kill is government sanctioned.”
Erik’s jaw clenched. “Only one job has ever been a private contract—the one he forced me to do. But even then, I made sure those assholes deserved to die.” He stepped forward. A little more of that hole inside her filled. “I’m contracted by a covert government agency. I’m one of many people who are called in when they need to eliminate the scum of the earth but can’t get a target through legal means.”
“He hinted that they weren’t all bad people.”
“They’reworsethan bad,” he argued, voice hard. Another step forward. “They’re terrorists. Murderers. Drug and arms dealers. Sex traffickers.”
That was so different to what she’d been told. “So you save people? Because by killing evil men or women, you’re helping others?”
“I like to think so.”
Another inch of the hole closed. She swallowed. “Do you do this job because you need it to ease the pain of losing—”
“Everyone.” One word, said so forcefully and with so much pain she almost crossed the room and went to him. “Something I didn’t tell you about that final mission as a Marine—I lost half my team that day. In a matter of minutes, they were gone. Men I considered brothers. I thought that was as broken as I could get. Then, just before my military flight back to the US, I returned a call to my mother. She told me about Vicky and our baby.”
Tears gathered in her eyes. Tears of sorrow for this man. For the suffering he went through. Wasstillgoing through.
“That kind of pain carves itself into your bones,” he said quietly. “It forces you to choose between giving in and giving up…or learning how to live a different way.”
She forced air to move in and out of her lungs. “I’m glad you chose to live.”
“But the only way I could do that was by living close to the edge of death myself. Doing a job that brought me purpose. I know not many understand it. Not everyone likes that my targets don’t get the benefit of the justice system.”
She understood. Not just what he did, but why. His job had become his reason. With every kill, there were fewer victims. Fewer Vicky’s.
He stopped in front of her, his hands still deep in his pockets, clearly trying not to touch her.
“I’m sorry…” she whispered. “About everything. I’m sorry you lost your team. And I’m so damn sorry about your wife and baby.” Her voice broke, and he finally tugged his hands from his pockets and gripped her hips. The touch was healing. It was peace and salvation.
“Hannah—”
“And I’m sorry I didn’t give you a chance to explain. I was in shock, and I was afraid that if you confirmed it was true, it would destroy me. But I should have given you a chance.”
“It’s okay.”
A tear slid down her cheek, and he wiped it away with the pad of his thumb.
“The last twenty-four hours have been so hard without you,” she whispered.
“For me too, Angel.” He lifted her up onto the counter and stepped between her thighs, then touched his forehead to hers. “Being apart from you…it made everything so fucking clear.”
