We waited on the outskirts of the border, the chopper ready to take us away the second Bones showed up. I was still disturbed by what he told me, that he wanted to kill the wife and children of his enemy. He butchered everyone in that palace and accomplished the impossible. I didn’t want bloodshed, but I understood it had to be done.

But to hurt the family was a line I wouldn’t cross.

I couldn’t let him do it, regardless of how angry he was. He was a different man when I spoke to him, his rage clouding his judgment. The second those men took me, Bones turned into another person. He regressed back into the man he used to be, the man I originally met. The second I was taken from him, all his civility was gone.

My father stayed by my side, keeping his hand on my shoulder to comfort himself more than to comfort me. When I was back in his arms, he didn’t hide his tears. He told me he loved me, squeezed me as he wept, and showed a vulnerable side to him that I’d never witnessed before.

It broke my heart.

He squeezed my shoulder, keeping his hand on me like he might lose me. “You did the right thing, tesoro. He would have regretted it.”

I looked across the desert, waiting for a car to appear with Bones inside of it. “He wasn’t thinking clearly.” I had to believe he would have come to his senses on his own, that he wouldn’t have murdered innocent people.

“When it comes to the people we love, we never think clearly. If the same situation happened to your mother…I would probably do the exact same thing.”

“I really hope not.”

“It’s hard to understand, tesoro. But when a man wants to protect his woman…he’ll stop at nothing.”

I would stab a man in the heart for hurting Bones, but I would never stab his wife. I crossed my arms over my chest as I waited, wanting to touch the man who’d saved me. I was never afraid he wouldn’t come for me, but I still wanted to feel him, see that he was safe without bullet holes in his flesh. “I hope all of this doesn’t change your opinion of him…”

He lowered his hand and followed my gaze across the horizon, watching the sun rise. “No. He got you back. That’s all that matters. He quit that line of work, so this should never happen again.”

“No, it shouldn’t.”

“I was so scared, tesoro. But I also felt better knowing he would stop at nothing to get you back. He’s a strong man, one of the strongest I know. If anyone could save you, it would be him. I know he’ll protect you for the rest of your life.”

“He will.” My eyes narrowed at the horizon when I finally saw a black vehicle in the distance. Dust kicked up into the air as the wheels propelled the SUV forward. It approached quickly, covering the distance rapidly because it was driving as fast as it could. “That must be him.”

Father walked away and shouted to the crew. “Get the chopper ready. We need to leave as quickly as possible.”

The rotors started to circulate, and my hair began to fly in the wind.

The SUV finally arrived, and Bones hopped out of the driver’s seat. He looked like he was in perfect condition, not a drop of blood anywhere on his clothes. His eyes appeared to have sustained the most damage, the pain and rage still throbbing from my kidnapping. He closed the door then marched toward me, the same look in his eyes as when I shot him in the snow. His shoulder took the bullet, but my insanity only made him want me more. With nostrils flared and a fire in his eyes, he closed the gap between us then grabbed my face with both hands. He kissed me hard, just the way he did right against the van in the middle of the snow. Indifferent to my father and uncle standing right there, he embraced me like we were the only two people in the world. With crushing force from his mouth and a tight grip with his hands, he held me so fiercely, it seemed like he would never let me go. Words failed him, and he expressed himself the only way he knew how—with his touch.

Once I felt him hold me like that, all the fear I’d held for the past twenty hours evaporated. I knew he would save me, but now that we were together, I felt at peace once more. He annihilated everyone who wanted to do us harm so there was no one left to haunt us.

He pulled his mouth away and looked into my face, still possessing that maniacal gleam in his eyes. He breathed hard as his fingertips dug into my neck. He moved his lips to my forehead and kissed me as he wrapped his arms around me and held me close. His heavy breaths fell against my skin, and he gripped me so tightly I could hardly breathe. His palm moved to the back of my head, and he cradled me like I was fragile. “Fuck. I’m so sorry, baby.” He rested his chin on my head, his chest pressing against my body every time he took a deep breath. “I’ll never let anything happen to you ever again. You have my word.”

“It’s okay—”

“It’s not okay.” His voice broke, the emotion entering his words and forcing him to stop speaking.

I knew he didn’t want me to look at him like that, so I kept my face against my chest. I remembered the day he’d left me, the way his eyes glistened and turned red. He was a man of limited emotion, preferring anger and rage over anything more vulnerable. But with me, he wasn’t the same man. “I knew you would save me, Griffin. I knew you would come.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“It’s over now.” I pulled away and lifted my chin to look into his face.

His eyes were so wet, a tear formed and dripped down his cheek. He maintained a serious expression, his mouth still and his eyes unashamed. He couldn’t combat the emotion, but he didn’t let it increase either. The tear made its way to his chin.

I kissed it away.

He closed his eyes at my touch, and when he opened them again, the emotion was cleared away. “I slit their throats. Every last one of them.”

I didn’t want to hear this, but I didn’t interrupt him.

“I didn’t go for the quickest kill. I forced them all to their knees, and one by one, I put a knife to their throat. They pissed and shit themselves. They begged for their lives, but I didn’t flinch. They took you away from me—and I made each one pay the price.”

“I know, Griffin,” I said gently.

His hand cupped my cheek again, and he stared into my eyes. “That will never happen again. This, I promise you.”

“I know.”

His thumb brushed across my cheek, and he sighed quietly under his breath. “Did they hurt you?”

“No.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

I held his gaze, showing my sincerity. “I’m not, Griffin.”

“Did they…?” He took a deep breath because he couldn’t finish the sentence. The thought pained him too much, more than the idea of them hurting me.

“No.” Thankfully, that didn’t happen. But if Griffin had taken an extra day to arrive, I probably wouldn’t have been able to give the same answer. “That man I asked you not to kill…”

His eyes shifted back and forth as he looked into mine.

“He tried…but I told him I would protect him if he stopped. I told him you would come for me, and when you did, I would make sure you spared him. So he didn’t do it. He changed his mind…because of you. Even when you weren’t in the same room, you protected me. That’s how powerful you are, Griffin.”

He closed his eyes and stepped back, unable to swallow the grief that filled his body. Crisis had been averted, but the fact that I had to leverage my freedom still killed him inside.

“Whether we’re together or apart, you always protect me, Griffin.” I pressed my hand to his cheek and willed him to open his eyes again. “We’re together now. Everything is alright. Let it go.”

He refused to look at me. “Losing my mother was the second worst thing that ever happened to me. She never came home, and until I was taken by the orphanage, I didn’t understand what had happened to her. It wasn’t until years later, when my classmates had birthday parties and celebrated holidays, that I understood what I was missing…that my mother should still be there. The worst thing that ever happened to me was losing you.” He opened his eyes and held my gaze, the fury deep within the look. “I can’t go through that again, baby. If I couldn’t save you…I would have put a barrel in my mouth and pulled the trigger.”

“Don’t say that—”

“It’s true.” His fingers moved into my hair. “I never would have forgiven myself. And I certainly couldn’t live with that guilt, with your memory haunting me. I will protect you as long as I live, because whatever happens to you, happens to me too. And I promise that I will never let anything happen again. Never.”

“I know…”

“It shouldn’t have happened at all. I should have listened to your father sooner. He was right.”

“It doesn’t matter now. It’s over.” My hands wrapped around his wrists. “Everyone we love is safe. All our enemies are dead. So let’s go home…and have that quiet life we’ve always talked about.”

He pressed his forehead to mine. “You’re forgiving me too quickly, baby.”

“There’s nothing to forgive. No matter what happens in our lives, I know you will always save me. I’m not afraid of anything. Why would I be when I have you?” I closed my eyes as I felt him, felt the connection between both of our souls. “Now take me home.”

He kissed my forehead before he finally released me. The emotion that was in his eyes was gone because he quickly bottled it up inside, refusing to show that kind of weakness to anyone but me.

My father walked up to him. Instead of carrying resentment for the man who had caused all of this in the first place, he wrapped his arms around Griffin and hugged him tightly, treating him the way he would Conway. “I’m glad you made it back okay. Was worried there for a minute.”

“Don’t ever worry about me, Crow.”

Seeing the way Bones interacted with my father always brought tears to my eyes. The two men I loved most in the world were close now, and that gave me such happiness. It was what I always wanted, for them to have their own relationship.

“Not possible.” My father pulled away and gripped his shoulder. “You’re my son. I will always worry about you.”

Bones held his gaze and couldn’t hide the hint of emotion in his eyes. Those words clearly meant the world to him, even if he wouldn’t say it out loud. I recognized his slight movements, the subtle cues he naturally emitted. He said nothing, at a loss for words.

“And thank you for saving Vanessa,” my father continued. “I knew you would get her out of there.”

“Don’t ever thank me for that,” Bones said quickly. “It’s my fault she was there in the first place. I should have listened to you. I should have walked away from that job a long time ago—”

“It’s in the past. Leave it there.” My father lowered his hand. “It’s time to bury the past for good. It’s time to move forward into our new lives. It’s time for peace and quiet. It’s time for the next stage in all our lives.” He shook his head slightly. “It took me forever to listen to my own advice, to not live in the past. You can beat yourself up over this, or we can go home and start over. What do you want to do?”

I hooked my arm around Bones’s and rested my face against his shoulder. I could feel the guilt in his heart, feel the anger in his limbs. He blamed himself for all of this, but he shouldn’t. We were walking away from that life. We were finally getting everything we wanted. It was time to focus on that—not the people we used to be.

Bones didn’t make another argument and only gave a slight nod in return. “Let’s go home.”