Page 156 of The Defiant Curse

He continued.

“So, after seeing the text, I got Raphael to buy me time. I slipped my tracker, he played with the security, and I used up a favor from the military and the president to get me here.”

She stared into his blue-black eyes.

“I needed you to come.”

Oh, he was aware.

“You’re my wife, Elizabeth. That will never change. I know you better than anyone. Chris might have been with you before me, but I met the damaged Elizabeth, and we healed together. I may have three husbands, but I only have ONE wife, and that’s for a reason. She’s my whole world.”

That healed another piece of her soul.

“So now, we’ll heal together again. That’s the beauty of us. We can always go back to where we began and find a new path if the old one is too difficult to navigate.”

She was seeing that.

“Now, I’m here to do what you need. I’ll stay if you want, or I’ll go down to the village and get a hotel room. This is about you, and me doing what helps you heal from this. I’m not heading back to the States, though. I can’t go home without my wife, so don’t ask that of me. I implied I lost faith in you, but it wasn’t you. I lost faith in me not being enough for you. Now, I see we are enough together. WE carry this family—not you. I’m your partner in this, and that’s why we’ve made it this far.”

Her lower lip quivered.

Ethan knew there was a big pink elephant in the room.

“It was bad, wasn’t it?” he asked, referring to taking out the Devon trash.

She nodded, and there was a little sob that was tinged with pain as she said it.

“So bad.”

Yeah, Gene told him what had to be done, and what that piece of shit had planned on doing to his daughter, Charlie. It made him sick, and sad he couldn’t be the one to take that piece of shit apart.

“Thank you for saving our daughter. He would have gotten to her had you not.”

That was the ONLY thing keeping her from falling off the cliff. Her daughter’s life was precious, and as a mother, what wouldn’t she do for her children?

“You’re my hero.”

She didn’t think anyone would see that. In fact, she assumed they’d all be horrified that she’d gone so low that she felt the flames of Hell on her flesh.

“I couldn’t let him hurt her. Charlie is ours,” she said. “She’s my baby bird.”

He kissed her on the temple.

Together, they stood there, their arms wrapped around each other.

“I love you for what you sacrificed, and now, I’m going to carry you through the fire. I know you think that you always have to be strong, but you don’t. I’m strong enough to carry us when you can’t. Let me tag in for a little while. Let me be what you need, so you can take a well-deserved break.”

As she heard the words, the pain lessened, and she leaned on him.

“Come with me,” he said.

She looked up.

“Where?” she asked.

Oh, this was a magical place, and he had seen something that would take her breath away.

No.