Page 7 of Falcon’s Forever

Her face softens in a way that undoes something in my ribs. "Almost."

"Because of you?"

"Because she's starting to feel safe."

She’s so humble, not take credit for Sarah sleeping. My gaze drifts around the room. Harrier is sliding another plate toward one of the women. Ice Pick is shifting out of the way when someone crosses behind him. Rook is keeping his argument with Hustler quieter than usual.

"The club's trying," I say.

"I know."

"Does it help?"

She follows my eyes around the room. "More than I expected."

Something in my chest shifts, it’s not relief exactly, it’s closer to pride. We've hurt men, broken laws, buried problems where nobody would find them, and there isn't a decent person alive who'd put half of what we've done on paper. But women and kids have always been a line we don't cross, and watching Cara understand that shouldn't matter as much as it does.

She wraps both hands around her mug. "The girls notice the little things. Everyone knocking before they come in. Nobody touching them without asking. The men keeping their voices down near the house, and Harrier remembering which one of them can't eat eggs."

"Don't tell him you noticed. He'll be unbearable." I smile at her.

Her mouth curves, it’s barely a smile, but it still punches me straight in the gut. For one second she looks like my Cara. Guilt follows fast enough to make me sick. She isn't mine. Maybe she never will be again.

She catches whatever shows on my face, and her smile fades. "Falcon."

I should walk away. Instead, my hand lifts before I think better of it, my fingers brushing the edge of her sleeve. It’s barely a touch, but it’s enough that she inhales sharp and sudden, and I freeze right along with her. There's no fear of me in her eyes, but that would almost be easier. What's there instead is want, tangled up with memory and everything that happened while I wasn't there to stop it.

I drop my hand. "Sorry."

Her gaze falls to where I touched her. "You don't have to apologize for touching my sleeve."

"I don't know what I've got to apologize for anymore."

There, I said it. It’s too much truth, and I know it the second it's out. Her eyes lift like she might answer, and that's when Vulture's voice cuts through from behind me.

"Falcon."

I close my eyes for one second before I turn. He's standing outside his office, his arms folded, but he doesn’t look angry. Somehow I'd almost prefer angry.

"Eleven fifteen," he says.

I check the clock. Eleven seventeen. "Close enough."

The look on his face tells me that was the wrong thing to say. "Office."

Zip coughs into his fist to hide a laugh badly. I point at him without breaking stride. "You're enjoying this way too much."

"Very much."

I glance back once. There’s something lighter in Cara's eyes, amusement maybe, though I've seen so little of it lately I can't be sure I'm reading it right.

"You'd better go," she says.

"Apparently."

"Falcon."

I stop.