Page 65 of Her Righteous Protector

Hannah nodded. She felt numb.

“Then why in the hell are you doubting yourself?”

“Mom, when I pictured a man I would marry, he was going to be boring. He was going to work beside me at some computer screen, and we would have sex twice a week, and two-point-five children. I wanted something safe.”

Julie threw her an incredulous look. “Why in the hell would you have wished for that?”

Hannah’s lip trembled. “After Clive, and all the people I saw pair off in L.A., that’s what I wanted, especially, after watching Meghan die. I got so scared, Mom.”

Julie grasped her hand and brought it to her lips. “I get that, Honey.”

“I was doing really well with Max, I was, Mom. But then he blew me out of the water when he was able to literally vanquish Meghan’s parents. Mom, he vanquished them like one of the superheroes from the movies I’ve worked on. How woo-woo is that? And he makes love like a superhero.”

“Gorilla sex,” Julie giggled.

“Shhhh, I’m serious. What’s more, Zephyr looks up to him like a superhero…” Hannah’s voice trailed off.

“So why is any of this a problem?”

“It won’t last?” she asked. “I don’t deserve it? I don’t know, Mom, choose one. All I can say is that I’m scared as hell.”

“Hannah Rebecca Woods, you just listen to me. I raised you to be the superhero in your own story. When in the world did you forget that? When did you get scared? I have watched both Zephyr and Max look at you like the sun rises and sets on you. You love Max, don’t you?” Julie asked.

“With my whole heart.”

“And Zephyr?”

Hannah rolled her eyes. “Get real,” she said.

“Then wake up and smell the coffee. You are starting the biggest and brightest adventure of your damned life! You’re a superhero right along with Max.”

Hannah looked into her mother’s wise eyes and felt herself begin to calm down.

“You’re right,” she whispered.

“Well, of course I’m right.”

“No,” Hannah said louder. “I mean you’re exactly right.”

Julie rolled her eyes and started the car. “Let’s get going, you have a plane to catch.”

* * *

Max looked over at Hannah as they sat in the backseat of Zed’s SUV. He was the team member who had a car seat for Zephyr, so he was who picked them up from the airport.

“The house is kind of small compared to what you’re used to,” Max whispered above Zephyr’s sleeping head.

Hannah gave him an angelic smile. “Honey, you’ve only mentioned that ten times since we’ve landed. For goodness sakes, somehow you’ve managed to show me a floorplan with dimensions, I know what the house is like.” She reached past Zephyr’s feet and held out her hand so he could hold it. Max grabbed it like a lifeline. Whatever Hannah’s mom had said to her on the way to the airport had turned his woman into a new person—confident and fearless. Or maybe he was seeing the real Hannah at last, now that they were past their troubles. He felt like they’d traded places—he was the worried one now and she was his rock.

Max looked up to the front seat where Zed was driving. He’d noticed that Zed hadn’t been saying a thing since they’d gotten on the highway from the airport. He must have picked up on how anxious Max was. As they got closer to his house, Max started calming down. He realized that his neighborhood was kind of like the older neighborhood that Meghan’s house had been in. He’d been keeping in touch with Lester and Mikey, so they’d be expecting all of them in a few days. There would be that to look forward to.

Max frowned when he looked down the block.

Dammit!

He caught Zed’s eyes in the rearview mirror and his expression was totally blank, which was such total bullshit.

“Zaragoza,” he growled softly, not wanting to wake Zephyr before they had to.