Chapter Ten
The local fire department included friends of Charles. Each of them, when they packed up their extra hoses the day of the fire, told them all stories of ways Titanium had been helping their department for years.
New equipment.
Trucks, gear, food, toy drives for the local kids.
Sizeable donations each year, apparently. A just in case kind of plan. So they’d be protected if something like the gas explosion on the edge of the property happened that rocked them all out of bed so early in the morning.
And all he’d ever asked in return were two things.
If he or anyone else from the Elite compound address called, the entire department would come as quick as they could, silently, and leave the same.
And the call? The event? Anything that happened would disappear into the smoke rising from the ash on the ground.
Like a Phoenix.
Not the same Phoenix resurrected in Russia. A mythical bird filled with loss, and despair, and anger.
No.
This was a different creature all together.
One of love and hope and faith.
And a future.
Raine bit her cheek and smoothed Charles’ brow with a cool cloth.
She eyed his brand and ran her fingers over it. She’d do the same with the ink on her shoulder. So he could feel it on her. Same as his. She needed them to both have something to hold onto.
He’d almost woken several times in the past two days, tried to take the oxygen mask off, mumbled something she couldn’t understand but she’d talked to him. Whispered to him everyone was okay. The compound was saved because of Annie and her somehow knowing there was a problem and alerting them in the nick of time.
A gas leak, slow and deadly had been brewing on the property for who knew how long. The fire marshal thought for months. Made worse with the new medical building coming online. It taxed an already weakened pipe.
The what-ifs had been playing through her head for almost two days. Hours of the most horrible scenarios running through her head and she was having the hardest time shaking them.
What if the explosion had killed all of them?
What if the fire had spread and the entire compound had burned to the ground?
What if Charles had died trying to save Annie?
What if she’d been burned severely if Copper hadn’t held her when she’d tried to run into the trees to get to her man and their fur baby?
She shivered again and tried to take a calming breath.
Charles’ hand, squeezed hers, and her gaze flipped to his face.
His eyes were open, unseeing, and she tried to be brave for him. He mumbled behind the oxygen mask, which was really only on as a precaution if he woke with another coughing fit.
“Wait, wait.” She spoke to him and squeezed his hand, then removed the mask. “Are you coming back to me this time?”
He swallowed hard, with a wince, and his voice was nothing but a whisper. The smoke made everything raw, so she leaned in close so he didn’t have to strain. “You’re shivering.”
She held his hand close and kissed his knuckles. “It’s been a rough couple days. Been worried about my man. He’s been in the hospital.”
“In the hospital? I’m sure he’s fine.”
“He sure will be, if I have anything to say about it.”
He squeezed her hand again and seemed to drift off to sleep. Then he spoke again. “Annie, is she…”
“Fine. She’s gonna be fine. Her broken leg had to be removed yesterday. The vet couldn’t save it.”
“In pain?”
“Only a little. Nickel and Tin have been staying with her, making sure the vets give her enough pain meds, warm towels, and love. Those two are fierce when it comes to family.”
“Oorah.” He shifted his legs beneath the sheets to try to get comfortable again and finally settled down. “Everyone else? The compound? Is everyone okay?”
“Everyone’s fine because of you and Annie. Compound is fine. Lost one stand of trees, but it was all contained before it could spread to any of the buildings. The fire department said Annie must have dug down a ways and relieved a bit of the pressure. Otherwise, it could have leveled the property.” She took a deep breath. “And everyone in it.”
His hand moved up her arm, to her shoulder, her throat and he weakly pulled her close. She kissed him gently and then looked down into his unseeing eyes.
“Everyone’s safe. My girls are alive. All we need to focus on right now. Nothing else matters.”
A tear she’d been trying to hold in slipped free and it hit his cheek. She brushed it away quickly. He didn’t need her upset. He hadn’t asked about himself. He cared nothing of what he’d been through or his prognosis, nothing.
What a wonderful man she’d fallen in love with.
“Give me your tears, my beautiful Raine. You don’t have to be strong anymore. I’m here.”
Wracking sobs shook her torso and she covered her face. He pulled her down to him and held her while she cried.
“I’m so sorry. So sorry I didn’t get there sooner. Maybe I could have saved your eyes. Maybe I could have—”
“No, love. This was my choice. My decision. I knew the risks. No blaming yourself for anything. You got me out of there.”
“You did it anyways. You gave up your sight for Annie.”
“Sacrificing her for my sight wasn’t something I could live with. And what about my legs? My prostheses aren’t on and one of them felt weak when I was trying to get free of the fire.”
“They both got damaged. One by the fire—but at least it wasn’t you—and the other the knee joint. Replacements are being built now and you’ll have them in several days. And you only had minor burns, thank gawd. A bad sunburn is what you can expect.”
He gave her a small smile. “Does that mean you’ll have to give me a sponge bath until I can get around again?”
“I made an executive decision and had Dr. Fontaine flown in yesterday.” She wanted to be jovial and happy but he didn’t know everything yet and she needed to share.
“And?” He stroked her hair and looked as if he already knew the answer.
“Because of how the implants respond to heat and how parts of it manipulate light to send to your brain…”
“No go?”
She shook her head and then remembered he couldn’t see her. “No go. The implants are non-repairable and your retinas and nerves were damaged so badly he has nothing more he can work with. He apologized and said you can call him anytime if you have any questions.”
He was silent for a few minutes and they simply held each other.
“Do you know what I’m thankful for?”
Raine tried to dry her eyes and she rubbed his chest. “What?”
He found her braid and ran it through his fist. “I got to see you. That was worth everything.”
Tears flowed down her cheeks. “I love you, Charles. I love how you touch me. I love how you see me, even when your eyes are closed. I love how you give me all of you and you treat me as an equal.”
“I’m no equal to you. You’re so far above me I can barely see you in the clouds. And I love you. I’ve loved you for years and was too afraid to tell you because I didn’t think I was good enough for you.”
“Not good enough?”
“And I still don’t think I am. But I want to be. I want to be what you need me to be.”
“You are what I need. What I want. What I’ve dreamt about for so many lonely nights. Loving you complicated my life so much but I couldn’t walk away from you. I believe in you. In what you’re doing. What you’re fighting for. I love all of you.”
“Which makes me the luckiest man alive. I’ve been fighting it but our house was a home the moment you walked into it. I didn’t want to accept it because when you left I couldn’t live with knowing how close I was to perfection.”
“Oh, Charles. I’ll never stop crying if you keep saying things like that.”
“Then you get comfy and grab some tissues, ‘cause I have some things you need to hear. Some things I thought I wouldn’t get to tell you.”
Raine sniffled, snagged a tissue and tried to dry her eyes. “I’m ready. Maybe.”
His thumb moved against her knuckles in a tight circle, showing his worry. “I lost my sense of home when my mother was killed. The father I knew before her death was killed too. I never thought I’d have a safety net beneath me again. And I honestly didn’t want it, because I knew it could be taken away.”
He paused but she knew he wasn’t finished so she remained quiet, watching the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with finally open up to her. Fully.
He was a miracle and a dream come true.
“The men and women we chase aren’t redeemable. They aren’t people who can be caught and rehabilitated. They’re the lowest of the most horrible human beings who walk the Earth. And the thought of them touching you, harming you in any way, makes me want to vomit. You are my weak link. My Achilles’ heel, if anyone were to find you. Yet you’re also my strongest link to life and everything I’ve ever wanted.”
“You’re my strongest link, but you’ll never be weak. You never were.” Shaking his head, she could tell he was completely not buying it. “Why don’t you agree?”
“Because losing you terrifies me. I’ve lain awake at night, waiting for the assholes to find us. Gun in hand, ready to defend you against an enemy I can’t see.”
“Seems it simply means we have to sleep together every night. I’ll tell you where to aim.”
He shook his head again, but at least this time it was with a smile. “You always try to make things easy on me.”
“Uh…have we met? I’ve pushed you harder than anyone else. I’ve expected more from you than anyone else. I’m not ever planning on being easy on you, Mr. Elite, and don’t you forget it.”
“This new life has scared the shit out of me and I’ve wanted to give up so many times I lost count.”
“So. Your plus one makes you a rock star.”
“Plus one?”
“You wanted to give up. It happens. But for all of those times, plus one, you decided to fight. You are a fighter. A warrior. Always will be.”
“I’m so fucking thankful. I need you. It’s as simple as one, plus one, equals us. You’re my rock and I need you.”
“Good thing. Because I love you, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“Good. ‘Cause you’re not allowed.”
“I’m not allowed? Oh, the next time I get you in the gym? Zumba for $400.”
“No, no, no.”
She smoothed his brow and soothed the lines of strain. He must be tired. “I should let you sleep. Might even lay my head down and sleep with you. Didn’t sleep real well last night. Was worried about you.”
“Does it make me a pussy liking you worrying about me?”
“No. It makes you perfect.”
He held her hand and closed his eyes. “I’m finally ready to take down the shit heads who stole my family from me twice. I have two wonderful girls to live for and I’m not waiting any longer to protect what’s mine.” His free hand touched his brand. “If you’ll have me? Even with my now permanently fucked up eyes and my metal legs and my three-legged dog. I’m not sounding like much of a catch all of a sudden.” He smiled but she could see fear behind it.
“Legs do not make you a man, Charles. They don’t make you my man.” She touched his chest above his heart. “This is all I need to love you. This is all I need to know I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
“I was thinking the exact same thing. I’m where I’m supposed to be. In exactly the body I’m supposed to be in. Kind of funny, but it took me regaining my sight to realize all I’d learned since Russia. Things I never would have known if I could see. If I could walk on my own two legs.”
“And what did you learn?”
“I’m not less than in this body. I’m not less than because I have to read bumps instead of words. I’m not less than because I need Annie to be free and independent. I learned I’m not less than, anymore.”
Raine sucked in her lips, determined not to cry again. She kissed his hand, and sniffed. “You never were.”
His lips lifted as he drifted off to sleep. “I know. Because of you, I know.”