Page 133 of Lethal Weakness

Linden

Afew weeks later…

The door swings open in front of me, and I stand immobile, staring at the new patch of carpet on the floor.

Turner died right there, and every day I walk past this spot as if it doesn’t exist. I step over the place that was stained with his blood, and I don’t feel guilty about it.

He tortured me for years. The mood swings and drinking took years off of my life. Being shoved around and having a gun pointed at my head sealed his fate… I refuse to mourn someone willing to hurt me and my daughter.

My steps take me inside, and I glance up the stairs. We’ve already made so many memories here; it’s hard to believe we’ve only known Kay for a short time.

When so much of my life has been a cold shoulder, she’s been a warm hug. She helps entertain Avery and has already gotten her to try new foods that I never could. The sailboat room has gotten an upgrade that we jokingly refer to as the royal sailboat room, with pink blankets and princess paintings added to the walls.

Avery even asked me last night if she could sleep in her room by herself like a big girl. Of course, I said yes even though my heart broke a little. I’ve always co-slept with her, but I respected her wishes and snuck out of the room once she fell asleep.

Jack slept on the floor in the hallway so that he would be close by if she woke up scared, but she did great.

I climb to the top of the steps, smiling at the spot next to the door where I found him this morning.

Jack has saved me in so many ways. I can’t wrap my head around the changes that have happened in such a short amount of time.

We have a trip planned to visit my parents. I started researching preschools in the area. I have a partner to share all of this with.

I knock on the door frame as I enter the main bedroom, our bedroom, but as always, he already knows I’m here. He’s putting the pieces of a gun back together that he must’ve been cleaning, and I eye the pink bracelet that he’s never taken off.

“I thought you guys would be at the community center a little longer. I was going to come walk you home.” He stashes his gun in the firearm safe next to the dresser. It arrived a few days ago, and he’s been a stickler about keeping dangerous things out of Avery’s reach.

“Kay wanted to let Avery see the puppet show, but I was ready to come home.”

He looks at me, tilting his head slightly. “Everything okay?”

A smile grows on my face, and he steps closer to me. “Avery wanted me to give you this.” I hand him a green piece of construction paper, and he turns it over.

There aren’t very many words on it, but he stares at it for a long time. “She made this for me?”

“All on her own. She saw the other kids’ pictures hanging on the wall. Happy Belated Father’s Day, Jack.”

He nods tightly before placing the paper gently against the framed photo he has of his parents on the dresser, and then stares at it another minute. “I love it.”

“I knew you would.”

“I love you,” he murmurs, wrapping me in his arms.

“They probably won’t be home for at least an hour–” I whisper, but before I finish, he’s hauling me onto the bed.

One thing about Jack O’Connor… Black ops has made him resourceful. Any spare moment when we could get some privacy, he made it work. Whether he had five minutes or thirty.

In a closet. Behind a closed door. In the shower. He even snuck into the basement when I was doing laundry just so he could eat me out on top of the dryer. He didn’t even get an orgasm out of it, but I got three.

He rips his shirt off, and I let my head fall to the side, enjoying the view. Every muscle that flexes as he undoes his belt and drags my shorts off of my legs is foreplay for my eyes.

By the time my panties come off, I’m already burning with need for him. He crawls between my legs, pushing my shirt up and over my head before he sucks my right nipple into his mouth.

His tongue swirls around my peak until I’m squirming against his erection, but he’s still wearing his jeans, and I’m too trapped under his body to rip them off of him.

“Jack, please,” I beg, clawing at his back.

“If I have an hour. I’m using all of it.” He switches to my other nipple, and I whimper when it floods my core with heat.