She swallowed convulsively. He could see how much she wanted to believe him.
In due time, she would.
Blowing out a windy breath, she wrinkled her nose and said, “Felix Graves, huh? I figured it had to be someone above his pay grade.”
“Sometimes the smallest mouse does the most damage.”
She nodded, her expression remaining troubled and sad-looking. “I guess so. And I guess I should be relieved right? Comforted the corruption didn’t go any higher?”
“It went plenty high enough.” He thought of the lives that’d been lost thanks to Graves’s access to classified information and his association with Siderov.
“You’re right.” She sighed heavily. Then, she shook her head in wonder. “It’s over, isn’t it? It’s really over?”
“It is. Thanks to you.”
“To you too,” she was quick to add. And before he could downplay his role, she cursed and squeezed his fingers. “How’s your motorcycle? Don’t I remember it being—”
“It’ll be fine. Becky’s been working to fix her.”
“I know how much you love that thing.”
Not as much as I love you, he thought hopelessly. He loved her and yet, if the past week had proved anything, it was that he wasnotthe man for her.
She needed someone who not only knew how to navigate being part of a big, boisterous family, but who also would give her the babies she seemed to think were a foregone conclusion. Someone who could make all her dreams come true and then help her make even bigger, better ones.
His gaze strayed to the only thing he possessed that had any sort of sentimental value. As if he needed another reminder of howdifferentthey were, he realized she probably had dozens, maybehundreds, of such items. All passed down through the generations of a family that had loved and laughed and made more Beachams year after year.
“That’s the second time you’ve glanced at your watch.” She canted her bandaged head. “Do you have to be somewhere?”
“I have a flight to catch. Dale and Sissy’s funeral is today.”
“Oh my god.” Her hand jumped to her mouth. Her eyes instantly filled with tears. “I’m so sorry, Hunter. I didn’t…” Her voice trailed off. “If I could go back and undo—”
“None of what happened is your fault, Grace,” he assured her, his heart hurting for the blame written all over her face.
“But if I hadn’t—”
“Don’t.” The word came out gruffer than he’d intended. This was the part of her waking up he’d dreaded. The guilt. The self-recrimination. “Don’t do that to yourself.” He softened his tone. “The kind of work we do comes with consequences beyond our control. If we bear the burden of those consequences, we’ll never be able to get out of bed in the morning.”
He grabbed her hand and gave her fingers a squeeze. “You need to get out of bed in the morning, Grace. You need to keep thwarting the Michigan Militia and exposing traitors. You need to remind yourself that thegoodyou do outweighs any of the bad that’s happened.”
Her nostrils flared wide as tears streaked down her face. Her voice was barely a whisper when she said, “Is that what you do?”
“It’s what Iendeavorto do.” He gave her his truth. “I don’t always succeed.”
She wiped the wetness from her cheeks with the back of her hand. “I wish I could go with you today. I didn’t know Sissy and Dale, but I feel like I did after being in their house. After seeing all their pictures. They looked so happy together.”
They’dbeenhappy together. Just like the former Black Knights were happy with their partners. Just like the members of Grace’s family were happy with their spouses.
In the last three and a half years, he’d been shown just what true, imperfect,lastinglove looked like. And now that he knew what he’d been missing, there was a part of him that never stopped aching.
“They were the best.” A lump formed in his own throat when he thought of the couple, how gracious they’d always been to him, how generous. “Their lawyer called to say I should be there for the reading of the will. I think maybe they left me something.”
“Ofcoursethey did. I think they considered you an honorary grandson. I saw the photo of you with them at their fiftieth-fifth anniversary.” Her smile was so sweet. “See, Hunter? More family for you. No matter where you go, family to find you. And do you know why?” When he shook his head, her smile grew wider. “Because you’re one of the good ones. Because it’s impossible to know you and not love you.”
He'd always thought it was simply a phrase. But now he knew it was possible for a heart to actually skip a beat. And the lump in his throat pulled a total Grinch move and grew three sizes.
Could she mean—
