And she did.
A heavy silence settled around us.
I holstered my weapon.
Bishop kept his in hand, his gaze sweeping around the room over and over again.
I kept an eye on him.
He’d done a marvelous job.
And it might cost him a few weeks of nightmares.
“I didn’t expect you to come.” Noelle stood straight, and I recognized the stance for what it was. She fully expected to lose us.
“Of course we came.” I tried to reassure her, but we all knew this whole thing came down to Rafe.
He stood in front of Noelle, body tense and eyes unreadable.
He raised one hand slowly and ran a fingertip along the side of her face. “I’m sorry.”
The weight of her betrayal and our rejection hung in the air.
We’d sent her away, and as we stood in a room of dead bodies, I didn’t know if his apology was enough to bring her back to us. “Can you forgive me?”
“We never intended for you to get hurt.” I added to Rafe’s apology.
We never should have sent her away at all, but I’d have to accept that it happened and do the best I could to make up for it.
If she let us.
36
NOELLE
I didn’t let myself overthink it.
I’d done enough of that my entire life.
I leaped forward and threw my arms around Rafe’s neck.
I locked my arms tight and pressed my cheek to his.
The sound of my sobs cracked the air around us.
Raw.
Desperate.
Grateful.
“You came for me. Even though you didn’t trust me.”
He cradled the back of my head. “Of course we came for you.”
“Thank you.” My words broke at the edges, and I burrowed deeper into his leather jacket. “I’m so sorry.”
His arm banded around my waist and locked me in place.
