“I helped him gather some information about your sister.”
I frown, thinking about him working with my dad when Maggie had been hurt years ago by those she trusted.
“When your agent called, I checked you out. You’re a good man, just like he was. I knew I could trust you with her.” He shakes his head. “I can’t say that about many people.”
He set this up.
His eyes glisten with tears. “Loving her has been my biggest challenge and my greatest reward. I want her to have a chance to be seen for so much more than she will ever see herself. To envision a different kind of life. The life that was stripped from her with her first breath.”
He runs a hand over his jaw again. “But she has to decide if she’ll ever allow herself to be worthy of anything more than battling the world that took everything it could from her. If she’s finally done punishing herself for a life she had absolutely no say in and take up a new one.”
I watch his Adam’s apple bob as my own grows so tight it might suffocate me.
I have no words other than the ones I already know to be true. “I will love her even when she won’t let me. I promise I can do that.”
He blinks a few times and swipes at his nose.
I have to do the same. “I just want her to let me do that up close.”
His grey eyes meet mine, shiny with tears again. “I don’t know if she’ll ever let you do that.” His blatant honesty hurts. “But it’s what I want for my girls. A chance. Thank you for caring about her enough to let her be scared and push so damn hard to get you to stop. She’s in constant battle with herself, but for someone born into a world where love didn’t exist, she has more to give than most will ever see. Especially herself.”
He rests against the wall and clears his throat.
I stare at the floor, trying to absorb a lifetime of horror.
A nurse opens the door and steps out, sending us wide eyes and a stiff smile. “She’s resting again.”
“Thank you,” Tracker says with a soft chuckle.
He pushes off the wall but stops, gripping my shoulder. “I’m getting some coffee and checking in with Hope. Just remember, keep your fists up and hold your ground.”
I nod, trying to force a smile, but I can’t. My mind reels, and my heart aches with a kind of grief I’ve not felt before.
I remain outside her room and press my eyes closed, processing it all, and every piece breaks my heart over and over again. It hurts so damn bad, and all I want to do is push through the door and steal her away from every harmful thing that has ever touched her.
I want to take it away. Show her a different kind of life. I want her to let me love her and fight with her. It won’t rid her of the pain and suffering, but maybe she’ll let me stand beside her, hold her, and love her anyway.
I push away from the wall, knowing if there is anyone on this earth worth fighting for, it’s her.
I knock, and she grumbles. I accept it as an invitation to enter.
She lies elevated with her eyes closed, her damp blonde hair falling over her shoulders. I take her in, and after everything Ijust learned, all I see is beauty and strength beyond compare. Love for her swells, threatening to overwhelm me.
I blink a few times, pulling myself together and activating all defenses. Tracker is right. There is no one like her, and I want her for myself. But only if she’ll let me.
I move toward her. One eye cracks open, then quickly the other, and it’s clear she wasn’t expecting me.
I’m confident in what I want, and I need her to know that.
She lies perfectly still as I lean down and press my lips to her forehead. I hold it for only a moment, breathing her in and relishing the warmth of her skin.
“Where’s Tracker?” Her voice is tight.
I pull away, giving her space, but not too much. “Not sure.” It’s not a complete lie. He could be anywhere.
I meet her eyes. It’s the stony, closed-off gaze I’ve grown to recognize. I’m not intimidated.
I’ve kissed and held this woman. She’s trusted me enough to let me comfort her and has fallen asleep with her head on my chest. That hasn’t happened with anyone else because she feels safe with me. I want her to know she’s safe to be afraid with me, too.
