“I’m up for the challenge.”
He squeezes my hip. “We’ll see about that.”
We put on our coats and gloves and go outside. Julian sits on the porch with coffee steam whirling around us, watching as wegather and pack the snow. It’s difficult to let the significance of this day go at first, but the further we get, the more distant the drama becomes.
Damian steps back, hands on his hips, chuckling as I add the finishing touches: two stones for eyes, a stick for a nose, and a bunch of broken sticks to form a mouth.
“Is that supposed to be me?”
I study the frowning, grumpy stick mouth, then turn to him with a big smile. “How could you tell?”
For precious seconds, it’s Christmas again, and no one can hurt us.
Then it all hits me: the fact this could be the last time I see him and my brother, the battle they’re walking into, the guilt at calling in ‘sick’ to work when they’re going to be understaffed and rushing to find cover, the fact that I might be falling in love and it could all be taken away with the cold punch of a bullet.
But I don’t let my smile falter. I keep it glued to my face, staring at my man, as snow flutters around him and settles in his hair.
CHAPTER 30
DAMIAN
The drive to the city is quiet. A pit in my stomach grows bigger with each extra mile we put between Celine and us. I grip the steering wheel, twisting my hands around it. My teeth are gritted, fixed like that. Like I’ve got rigor mortis already.
“Your FBI guy won’t come in on this?”
“He’s got his hands full with the women and girls we already rescued,” I grunt. “He can’t sanction an operation like this… especially as Mario could be leading us down shit’s creek.”
Julian sighs. “This could be the last time we ever see this skyline.”
I look up at the city, buildings scraping the sky, the air icy and blue. The snow has stopped, but it’s cold, so it hasn’t begun to melt. Everything sparkles like the inside of a snow globe. All I can think of is that Celine would love this view.
“You made things easier for her back there,” Julian mutters. “Building that snowman–taking her mind off this.”
“She makes life easier for me too,” I tell him. “Makes me feel like a human. Like I don’t have to be so damn miserable all the time.”
“When I was watching you two, I was thinking… I could do this alone.”
“No,” I say flatly.
“You could turn around and stay in the safe house with her. Be there for her.”
“This job has a higher chance of success with me involved,” I growl.
“Shit. Well–yeah. No one is arguing that.”
“So, I’m coming,” I snap.
He sighs. “I think she loves you.”
“What?” I growl.
“When she gave the snowman that big old frown…” His voice grows wistful. “She looked at you like her world finally made sense. Like she could finally just let go.”
“We need to focus,” I say.
He’s choking me up. That’s not good for a job.
I feel the same. With her, everything makes sense.
