“Grant, do you hear me? You’ve been punishing yourself for an event that may not have even been what you thought.”
He searched her eyes, his own intense with things he held back.
“I know,” he roughed out at last. He scrubbed a finger under his eye, but they were dry as he locked away all his emotions. “I hate that this might change what you remember about him.”
The tenderness in his words undid her.
Her eyes burned with tears. “He didn’t do anything wrong—that much I know. None of this changes who he was to me,” she said thickly.
His grip on her tightened. They stood there for a while, supporting each other. Just touch and truth and being here for each other.
He drew her close and rested his chin lightly on the top of her head. “We’re going to deal with Lucian.”
“What happens next?”
“We hand everything over to the authorities. The letter, the card, the information about the wallet. All of it.”
“And Lucian?”
“This kind of crime doesn’t go unanswered.” The force behind his hard tone sent a shudder through her.
She wanted to believe that men like Lucian—if he really was behind Matt’s death—didn’t get to take someone’s life and change those of everyone who loved him without some justice.
“What if he really is regrouping in Colorado and comes back?”
He slipped a fingertip under her chin, lifting her gaze to his. “You’re still safe. With me. On the ranch. That doesn’t change.”
Her chest tightened with the love that blazed from his gaze.
“I won’t let anything happen to you, Zee.”
She covered his hand where it rested against her face. “You can’t promise nothing will ever happen.”
“No. But I can promise that nobody gets to you without coming through me first.” The ruthless declaration sent a spike of love through her.
She rose on her toes and kissed him. Their mouths melted together with all the tenderness they needed in this moment.
When they drew apart, he locked his arms around her and yanked her tight against him.
“I don’t know what I did to get so damn lucky. I don’t know what higher power brought you to me, Zee. But I’m so damn glad it did.”
Chapter Fifteen
Movie production was winding down, and the atmosphere on set carried that excitement. The crew seemed lighter, laughing a little louder and carrying equipment more slowly instead of the rat race it had been for weeks.
Still, Church couldn’t shake the sense that things weren’t right.
The set looked the same. The crew moved the same. Conversation carried on the air as they all loosened up as things started winding down.
But his instincts only sharpened more.
His gaze moved across the set and the landscape beyond automatically by now, taking in movement and noting faces. One of the grips made several trips carrying equipment. A truck idled somewhere nearby.
He shifted his stance and placed himself where he could see both Zee and the road leading to the set at the same time. Just in case. After all, Colorado was only a drive away.
If he’d learned anything from his time as a SEAL, it was that the worst hits came when everything looked normal.
Church took note of Miss Collins’s position before his attention drifted back to Zee.
