She snorts. “It’s also due to alotof training. We’ve been working on his self-defense and handgun skills since he was 16.”
“I can’t believe you were trying to take down a terrorist by yourself. What were you thinking?”
Camellia stares at me for a second, then shrugs. “I was fighting for my family.”
And just like that, the dissenting voices in my brain and gut go quiet. A familiar warmth begins where our hands are clasped and spreads throughout my body. I look into her eyes and see forever.
“By the way,” Camellia smiles at me. “What the hell wereyouthinking rolling up in there like Arnold Schwarzenegger with the pumper truck?”
I blink a few times at the 180-degree turn in the conversation, then smile back. “I was fighting for my forever. I’d use whatever tools I had handy to do so.”
A few tears spill over her cheeks. “You’re not mad?”
I wipe the tears away with my thumb. “Oh, I’m fucking furious you kept this from me, but only because I know it was eating you up inside. I love you, and that means we tackle the bad things, the hard things, together. Not only the good stuff. Got it?”
She nods and wipes away the rest of her tears.
I pull her onto my lap and gently kiss her bruises. “Camellia. Where you go, I go. Always. Even if it’s into the line of fire.”
