Page 117 of Lethal Weakness

“I’m sorry you had a nightmare about your team.”

I filled her in but didn’t include the details about her and Avery being there. But that’s because I couldn’t say the words out loud. Even a hypothetical scenario where they might be hurt doesn’t deserve to exist.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had any type of dream at all.”

“It’s all those emotions getting stirred up in here.” She pats my chest, and it makes me smile.

“Shit, tell them to tone it down then. I need more sleep.”

She shrugs. “They said no. You’re stuck with them now.”

I barely contain my laugh, muffling it against her hair. “I love you,” I breathe the words out before I register them, and my fingers go still in her hair.

“It’s okay. Don’t freak out,” she whispers.

“I’m not.”

“Your entire body just turned to stone.”

“No, it didn’t.”

She chuckles. “You’re new to feeling things again. Sometimes things slip out before we are ready. It’s okay.”

She’s giving me a free pass to take back what I said.

But I won’t take it back. That would be an incredible disservice to the way I feel about her.

“I do love you.”

She tilts her head back to look at me. “You do?”

“I wish I would have said it in the daylight. When I could see your face a little more clearly, and look you in the eyes so you know I mean it.”

“You can say it again. In all lighting,” her voice quivers, and I realize she needed to hear those words just as badly as I needed to say them. “But what about your job?”

“This is my final op.”

“Really?”

“I am in love with you, Linden. I want to be here to protect you from everything, so you can live your life to the fullest. So Avery can thrive in safety and comfort. I love you guys.” Her entire body clambers on top of mine, and I hold her close. “I’m choosing you. I’m always going to choose you.”

Chapter Forty-One

Linden

Hearing those three words from him cracks something inside of me. After years of putting on a brave face for my daughter and fearing what each new day would bring, being loved by Jack makes me feel safe enough to believe that everything is going to be okay.

I never thought I’d get my happily ever after. I assumed I missed my chance and I’d have to be content pouring all of my love into Avery. But I’m still just a girl who wants to be loved.

Jack loves me. The tears pool in my eyes as he cocoons me in his arms, kissing my face gently between his murmured admissions of love.

“We wuv you, too, Mr. Jack,” Avery’s quiet voice says from the bed, and my head whips to the side to look at her.

Her head is resting on her hands as she looks at us with a smile on her face.

I expect amusement to rumble in Jack’s chest, but when I look at him, his face is hard like he’s struggling to steady his breathing.

“We love you,” I whisper, forcing him to look at me, and he nods stiffly. “Are you feeling a lot right now?”