“I want to know the whole story. I’ve known this girl from the day she was born, and I’ve never seen her care about anything the way she cares about you.” He paused. “You. A chauvinist with a penchant for killing anyone different than you.”
My mouth fell open. “Theo!”
Unapologetic, Theo crossed his arms while Lucas set his faint smirk in place, reminding me of the killer I’d met on day one. He stared at Theo a moment, then turned to me with danger glinting in his eyes. “How much would you like me to tell him?”
“Tell him everything.”
So he did. Lucas told the entire story—starting with what happened to his sister—from his point of view, and it was…eye-opening. He thought I’d lied about my name, that I used his sister’s name to get in his head. He kept waiting for me to turn on him and analyzed every facet of our relationship until he fell in love. Then he stopped caring about my motives. Instead, he just wanted me to live.
His voice was atonal; his expression flat.
Hopeless and in love. That’s what he was.
The story unfolded, and Theo’s posture unwound. He had to snap his mouth shut when Lucas finished.
A needle of hope unknotted the icy fear in my chest. “I told you.”
“I can’t believe this.” He leveled a stare at Lucas. “I’ll have to discuss this with Williams. I don’t know what she’ll think.”
“She’ll think I’m a moron and he should die,” I muttered.
Theo did not disagree. “I assume you’re carrying weapons?”
“You assume correctly,” Lucas said.
“You’ll need to surrender them.”
Lucas nodded.
“I’ll have to place you under arrest.”
I shot to my feet. “Theo?—”
He raised a hand. “He is a colonel in the NSF, Sophia. He cannot roam free in Defiance headquarters. Not only is it against every rule and regulation within theArticles of the Defiance, but it’s also for his safety. He wouldn’t last the night, and that would putyouin direct danger.”
“I don’t care?—”
“I do!” both men snapped, and I wanted to growl at them.
Lucas stood and began removing the weapons from beneath his clothes. Theo’s jaw clenched, but he came around the desk and took me into a gentle hug, putting no pressure on my back. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”
I hugged him back, burying my face in his chest. The faint scent of coffee clung to his shirt along with the familiarity of Theo, and I breathed in deep, relief squeezing out tears.
“Please don’t hurt him,” I whispered.
Theo sighed. After a moment, he murmured a soft, “Thank you.”
I thought he was speaking to me until Lucas responded. “I didn’t do it for you.”
“Yes, well, you aren’t the only one who loves her.”
“You do a shitty job of showing it.”
Theo released me, brown eyes boring into Lucas like knives. “Anything you want to say before I call in the guard?”
Lucas glanced between me and Theo, eventually deciding on the latter. “Don’t let her be alone. She’ll need someone, even if she says she doesn’t. And a doctor needs to look at her back as soon as possible.”
For the millionth time, tears flooded my eyes. He was about to be imprisoned, and still, all he cared about was me.
