She curled closer to his side, resting her head on his shoulder. “I already knew some of it,” she admitted after a moment.
His brow furrowed. “What?”
“Cari did a little digging.” A faint smile touched her lips. “Dev isn’t the only crack investigator in the family, apparently.”
Leland said nothing. She braced instinctively for anger or withdrawal. Neither came.
Instead, he said quietly, “The shower. Cari told you that day.”
“Yeah,” she whispered. “My heart broke for that little boy. For the soldier. For the man. I wanted to hold you.”
Vulnerability moved across his face. “It changed me.”
“No one walks through that unchanged.”
His gaze searched hers. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“I asked about Erin. That was hard enough.” Her fingers tightened around his. “I hoped you’d trust me with the rest when you were ready. And you did.”
His hand came up, cradling her cheek before he dipped his head and kissed her gently. “I should know better than to underestimate you.”
“You really should.”
That surprised the smallest huff of laughter out of him. When it faded, something heavier settled in its place.
“When I lost my parents, I knew logically how it worked,” he said at last. “But I was a kid buried in grief, and there was no arguing with it. Then it happened again. And again.”
“Oh, Leland…”
“I kept my distance, thinking if I stayed alone, no one else would pay the price for caring about me. But last night proved how wrong I was,” he said roughly. “I pushed you away and nearly lost you anyway.”
Julia’s chest ached hearing the quiet conviction behind it.
“If losing people is inevitable,” he said, “shutting everyone out doesn’t change the ending.” His thumb brushed over her cheek. “It just steals everything that could have come before it.”
She blinked back tears, asking softly, “You know what I think?”
“What?”
“I think you’ve spent years punishing yourself for surviving.”
His eyes locked with hers. No denial. No deflection. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”
“Do what?”
“Pretend you’d be better off without me.”
Her breath caught hard; she couldn’t hide it.
He noticed because Leland didn’t miss much. He gathered her closer, eyes bright with emotion. “I want a future with you, Julia.”
Her eyes burned instantly. “Good,” she whispered, echoing him. “Because I already started imagining one with you.”
“Fair warning,” he murmured. “After this, I’ll probably be overprotective as hell.”
“If it means not getting stalked and kidnapped again, I’m willing to make concessions.”
That earned a genuine smile from him. Small, tired, but capable of undoing her completely.
