“I do?”
“Son, clean your ears out. I wasn’t kidding. Again, for the third time, D’artangnan is mine. All of my Marines are. I love them just like I love my children. That particular baby bird married you. That makes you my son too. You’re not alone. You have family now. We’re baggage, as you’ll see when we descend on the castle.”
He felt his heart skip.
“Really?”
She nodded.
“Want my advice?” she asked.
He did.
“Yes, please.”
“Stay there. Don’t run because of your past. Run because a serial killer is trying to eat you.”
He blinked.
“What?”
She actually laughed.
“Sorry. I chase killers. It’s just some Elizabeth humor. Stay there, and enjoy your lives. You have a lot to live for now, and who gives a shit if you gave yourself a reputation? I have one. I’m shacked up withFOURmen. One, I’m not even fucking, but the media doesn’t care about that. People will talk. You gotta ignore it and move on. You have to rise above it. He’s worth it. I don’t want him to be my bodyguard. I want him safe. I’ll let him go for him to be happy.”
That astounded him.
That love…
“He loves you a lot.”
She was well aware.
“Like I said, he has a special place in my heart. He tells everyone I’m his mom, and I tell everyone he’s my son. We all do. I was clearly hella young when I had him. I’m only twenty-nine. Wait, he’s older than me.”
He laughed.
“The bottom line is, that castle needs you. Christopher and Callen trusted you with it, and if it were up to me, I’d tear it down and sell the land but…”
The lights blinked behind him.
“What was that?”
Oh, he knew.
So, he played it off.
“Rats?” he asked, knowing that was a better option for Chris and Callen to survive. “Or the construction guys are working on the wiring.”
She stared at him, her icy-blue eyes piercing him. That was definitely a mom stare.
“You wouldn’t be lying to me now, would you be?” she asked, knowing he wasn’t aware she knew what was going on there.
He laughed.
“Sorry, Elizabeth, but Callen signs my paycheck. You should ask him.”
Oh, she would.
