She looked at me.
“I’ll be right outside,” I said.
She nodded.
I stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind me, and that was when I felt it. The full weight of the last two hours landed on me all at once. My legs were fine. My hands were steady. But somewhere between the vehicle, the hallway, breaking Corvane’s hold, the shot, and then the quiet aftermath,I’d been running on something, probably adrenaline. And now that something was fading fast and leaving the ordinary tired version of me standing in a hallway in Houston at midnight.
I took in a deep, steadying breath and went downstairs.
The guys were in the kitchen. Jackson was leaning against the counter. Hawk and Gator were at the table. Jackson looked up when I came in, and he gave me a tired, tight smile. The one that told me he was glad to see me, but that I’d scared him half to death.
I sat down at the table, and someone put a glass of water in front of me.
“Imogen okay?” Gator asked.
“She’s with Chance,” I said. “She was holding it together.”
“She’ll be okay,” Hawk said. “Chance is good at this part.”
I looked at my hands on the table. The bracelet on my wrist that Mars had given me for protection, the dark stone catching the kitchen light, and the watch on my other wrist that would’ve tracked me if Corvane had gotten away with me, and just sat with the relief I felt that I wouldn’t need either of the two. All because of the choice Imogen made a couple hours ago.
“Will he take care of her? I mean, actually take care of her. She killed someone. She’s pregnant. She—”
Jackson slid into the chair next to me and took my hand. “Chance will do everything he can to make sure she’s protected. He’s good people. He knows what she was walking away from, and he knows what she brought with her.” He held my gaze. “She’s not going to fall through the cracks.”
I nodded. I believed him. I believed him because he was Jackson, and he didn’t say things he didn’t mean.
I looked at him. “Are you mad at me?”
“No.” He said it without hesitation. “I was scared to death. Those seconds between him grabbing you and you breaking the hold were the longest seconds of my life.” He held my gaze. “But I’m more proud of you than I can say, baby boy. You protected her. You saw what was happening and you took action, then you used what I taught you, and you got yourself free.” He paused. “I’m starting to realize that you’re never going to be someone who puts his own safety first, and I love you exactly the way you are, so the only thing I can do is make sure you’re as prepared as possible for when you get yourself into trouble.”
I looked at him for a long moment.
“So more training,” I said.
“More training,” he agreed.
Chance came out of the room about an hour later with Imogen beside him and Michael Troy behind them. She wasn’t in handcuffs, which I took as a good sign. She was carrying theportfolio and her bag. She looked exhausted, like someone who’d been through a long conversation and come out the other side of it changed.
I was on my feet before she reached the bottom of the stairs.
“Hey,” I said.
She looked at me, and for a second, her composure wavered before she pulled me into a hug. Then she pulled herself back and said, quietly, “It’s going to be okay. He’s going to help me.”
I nodded.
“I’m going to have to go with them tonight. There are things to sort out, statements to give.” She glanced down at the portfolio. “But Chance says what I have is—” She stopped. “He says it’s significant.”
“You knew it was.”
“I knew,” she said. “Thank you, Noah. For the card. For tonight. For all of it.”
I didn’t know what to say that wasn’t insufficient, so I just said, “Take care of the baby.”
She nodded once, and Chance put his hand briefly at her back and steered her toward the door, and she walked out of the house and into whatever came next.
I watched her go.
