Lily moved on the sofa so she was kneeling next to him. She took his face in her hands and leaned in to kiss him. “You have nothing to be ashamed of then, Declan. They weren’t people, they were monsters—animals that needed to be put down. You might have killed a lot of people, but you’ve saved so many more from suffering.”
Declan stared at her. In his wildest dreams he couldn’t have imagined that she would be this accepting. “Damn, woman, you really are perfect, aren’t you?”
“Hardly. All I had to do was put myself in the place of one of their victims to know that you did the right thing, the only thing you could do in order to make sure they couldn’t hurt anyone else.”
Declan kissed her soundly and held her close. She might not think she was perfect but he sure as fuck did.
Lily
Lily had sat there next to Declan as he’d told his tale. That was how she looked at it, at first. A tale. A story. But it didn’t stay that way. It became very real when he told her about the warlords he’d killed, the rapists, the murderers, the men and women who thrived on the pain of others. Men and women who were so morally defunct that they were monsters.
She could hear the pain in his voice when he talked about their victims. The ones that hurt him the most were the children. Innocent lives shattered by violence and pain. They were forced to grow up too fast because of the things they were forced to endure. Those were the worst.
Later that night, when they curled up in bed together, she nuzzled him and kissed his jaw. She thought about all the things he’d shared with her. When he’d finally stopped talking and looked at her, she’d seen the fear in his eyes. Fear that she would no longer look at him the same. Fear that she would be repulsed by the things he’d done. That was how she’d known he’d taken no joy in the things he’d done, the lives he’d ended. If he’d been proud of it, maybe she would have shunned him, but he wasn’t, and that made her love him that much more. “Why don’t you check out of that hotel tomorrow and just…stay here,” she whispered against his skin.’
“Are you asking me to move in with you, doll?”
“Yeah, I am.”
“Consider it done,” Declan growled and held her tighter.
“Maybe it’s crazy. We haven’t known each other all that long, but I like having you here.”
“If it is, we can be crazy together, because I like being here. Get some sleep, doll.”
“I like that. We can be crazy together.” She laughed softly and yawned. “You too, Declan.” Lily fell asleep with a faint smile on her face.
