Page 97 of Serve ’N’ Protect

Soon, she’d be going back to her house and he wouldn’t be there. Ever. As much as she loved her little Craftsman, maybe it was time for a change. “I’m thinking of selling my house,” she blurted.

“What?” Kaitlyn gaped.

Brianna’s eyes flew open. “Why?”

Cassidy folded her napkin, carefully setting it on the table as she swallowed the lump in her throat. She absolutely adored her little Craftsman. What she was about to say was an admission she’d been avoiding but couldn’t put off any longer. “It’s turning into a money pit, and I can’t take care of it all by myself. Hugh and I bought it together with the understanding that he’d fix it up and, of course, he’d be paying half the bills. I can’t do it on my own anymore.” Nor did she want to. Renting an apartment wasn’t the direction she wanted her life to take, but it was the financially prudent thing to do. Numbers didn’t lie, and those in her bank statement weren’t adding up to enough to justify keeping the house.

She blinked rapidly, praying that lump in her throat didn’t launch right out of her mouth. But God, after everything that had happened, all she wanted was to crawl into the corner, curl up in a ball, and cry for the next month. Maybe even two.

“Don’t make any hasty decisions,” her dad suggested. “Why don’t you take some time and—” The doorbell cut him off. Her dad’s face instantly brightened. “I think I’ll get that.”

He went into the hall, and she heard the front door open. A few seconds later, he came back. “Cassidy, someone’s here to see ya, lass.”

Markus stood next to her dad, looking flabbergastingly handsome in slacks and a dress shirt beneath his winter jacket. His face was tense to the point where she could see the tendons flexing in his jaw. Ghost, on the other hand, seemed totally at ease, his tail wagging and the rest of his big body wriggling.

Cassidy’s ears began to ring and she felt light-headed. Breathe. Just breathe. Now she understood her father’s odd behavior and why he seemed subtly joyous this evening. Obviously, he’d hatched up this visit with Markus and hadn’t told anyone.

Every head at the table turned from Markus to Cassidy.

“What are you doing here?” she croaked, amazed that she could choke out any words at all, what with her heart being stuck solidly in her throat.

Heads turned back to Markus, as if they were watching a tennis tournament. Only then did she notice he was carrying a brown paper bag about the size of a carton of eggs.

“I, uh…can we talk?”

“Sure,” she managed. “I should thank you for saving my life.” Ghost whined and took a step closer. “You, too, Ghost.” Ghost uttered a short bark then bounded forward, running straight for her chair and straining to lick her face. Laughing, she obliged and lowered her head so he could get in a few good licks to her chin. “I missed you, too.” She dug her fingers into his thick coat, stroking his neck and back.

“Why don’t you two talk privately while we finish our dinner?” Her father practically pushed Markus into the living room, all the while grinning like he held the secrets of the world in his head. Which, she always assumed, he did.

As she followed Markus, the few bites of food she’d managed to get down decided to start somersaulting in her belly.

Ghost padded alongside her, nuzzling her hand for more attention. In an effort to maintain physical space between her and the man who’d turned her world completely upside down, she took the armchair by the Christmas tree. Ghost sat beside her, again nuzzling her hand until she stroked his ears. Markus set the paper bag on the coffee table then sat on the sofa, resting his forearms on his knees and staring at his clasped hands.

In the dining room, her family spoke in hushed tones, probably so they could eavesdrop on their conversation. After ten seconds of silence, her pulse pounded louder. After twenty seconds, she was biting her lower lip. Finally, she couldn’t take the silence. “I’m glad you came,” she said.

His head snapped up. “You are?”

She nodded. “Last night, things got so hectic, I never had the chance to thank you for saving my life.” Desperately needing something to do with her hands, she ruffled Ghost’s ears.

His dark brows furrowed, crinkling his forehead. “I didn’t come here for your thanks.”

Her fingers stilled. “So why are you here?”

He grabbed the paper bag then came to kneel before her on the rug. Ghost shifted, sitting next to Markus and sniffing the bag that he’d set on the floor. If she didn’t feel so miserable, she would have laughed at the comical picture Markus and Ghost presented. It was as if they were both there to beg.

Markus took one of her hands in his. Ghost lifted his paw and rested it on top of her other hand. As Markus’s long fingers closed around hers, she tried not to think about how warm and strong and good they felt. When she tried tugging from his grasp, he wouldn’t let her and held her hand to his lips, kissing her fingers and squeezing his eyes shut. When he opened them, her jaw dropped. Tears glistened in his obsidian eyes.

“Cassidy,” he choked out in a raspy voice. “I know you’ve been hurt before, and I know I hurt you again. That’s the last thing I ever wanted to do, and I’m sorry.”

Please, don’t do this. Why was he torturing her? Agreeing to speak with him was a mistake. Maybe he’d only come here to ease his conscience. Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter. She had to take care of her own needs now.

“You already told me that,” she said. Hearing it again wouldn’t do anything to heal her heart and let her move on. Be strong. She’d said the words before, and she needed to say them again. “I love you. I said it before, and I won’t take it back. But you need to leave, or I can’t move on.”

“I don’t want you to move on.” He squeezed her hand. “It’s taken me my entire life to see what’s been missing. You. You’re what’s been missing. I don’t know what will happen, and I don’t know if I’ll be any good at this, but I do know one thing.”

“What’s that?” she whispered, then held her breath.

“I love you.” The heart she’d been petrified would crack beat frighteningly fast. “And, if it’s okay with you, I’m never leaving you again.”