Alexis held Bryce’s hand as they strolled through the neighborhood toward the tavern. Massive oak trees wrapped in twinkling white lights created a canopy over the sidewalk, and wreaths and tinsel adorned the homes along the path. Quaint, modest houses sat next to huge nineteenth century buildings with white columns and gas lamps for porch lights. The area had a cozy, welcoming ambience that she’d like to get used to.

Bryce remained quiet on the walk, giving her time to figure out how much to tell him. She wanted to spill it all. To tell him everything about herself, about her abilities. But to expose the werewolves to him would be a bigger step than she was ready to take.

Werewolves shared their secrets when they planned to make a serious commitment. While she knew, without a doubt, that she wanted to be with Bryce, the idea of settling down…of trusting someone…had her insides tied in knots.

If she could get out of her head and let her wolf take the lead, she’d be able to admit he was her fate-bound. Hell, her wolf had been trying to convince her to make the man hers since the day she met him. It was time she started listening.

She clutched his bicep with her free hand and leaned into his side. He was warm, strong, kind. He deserved to know everything, but could he handle the truth? Would he believe her?

He patted her hand on his arm. “We’re almost there. You doing okay?”

“I’m good.” She caught his gaze, and the words I’m a werewolf danced on her tongue. She bit them back. “Why don’t you have a Christmas tree?”

He laughed dryly. “I don’t do much for the holidays anymore.”

“Why not?”

“There’s not much to celebrate when you’re alone.” A sadness she’d never heard before laced his voice. An ancient pain she didn’t dare drag up for him to relive. Bryce was charismatic, friendly…everyone seemed to like him. A man like him wouldn’t be alone unless he chose to be.

“Surely there are plenty of single guys at the station throwing parties, going to bars. Why don’t you celebrate with them?”

“I do occasionally, but…” He stopped and faced her. “It may not seem that way, but I’m an introvert at heart. I enjoy hanging with the guys, but it drains me. I need my alone time to recharge my batteries.” He opened the pub door and motioned for her to enter. “And speaking of doing things that drain you, I believe you owe me an explanation.”

The wooden floor creaked as she stepped through the doorway, and she slipped out of Bryce’s jacket, folding it over her arm. Dim, green-shaded lights hung from chains above the twenty or so tables scattered about the restaurant, and an impressive assortment of whiskey bottles lined the shelves behind the dark wood bar. A hostess seated them at a small table in the corner, and Alexis ordered the shepherd’s pie, while Bryce went for an English breakfast. As the server scurried away to enter their orders, Alexis excused herself to the restroom. She hoped the extra time would give her a chance to come up with an easy way to explain to a skeptic that magic was real, but she returned to the table with nothing.

As she slid into her seat, Bryce leveled a heavy gaze on her.

Her stomach tensed. There was no easy way to say it. Bryce liked to deal with facts, so that was what she’d give him. “I healed you. I have…healing abilities.”

He blinked at her, saying nothing.

“Like how Macey can read spirit energy, I can access my own healing energy and share it with others. It takes a toll on me, though, so I don’t do it very often.”

He shook his head. “That’s impossible. You can’t heal someone with a touch.”

“I…” She paused as the waiter delivered their food. “I can, Bryce, and I did it to you. Twice.”

The muscles in his jaw worked as he ground his teeth. “Twice? You mean both hands?”

“Also when Eric hit you.”

He exhaled in a huff and scooped a forkful of beans into his mouth. She could practically hear the gears turning in his mind as he rolled over what she’d said. She’d had a hard time believing in magic herself in the beginning, even after she’d transformed into a werewolf the first time.

She gave him time to process and picked up her fork to break open the layer of mashed potatoes on top of her meal. Steam wafted out of the pie, and she swirled the utensil through the ground beef, picking up a scoop of meat, potatoes, and veggies and placing it on her tongue. The savory medley melted in her mouth, and she took another bite as she waited for Bryce to respond.

He finished half his plate before he spoke. “I’m a skeptic. Always have been. But what I saw you do today, and what you apparently did before…I can’t explain it.” He looked into her eyes with a gaze so intense it pulled the breath from her lungs. “I also can’t explain the way I feel about you. The way you make me feel. But just because I can’t explain it, that doesn’t make it any less real.”

He smiled and reached for her hand across the table. “You’ve got magical powers. I can live with that.”

If he only knew the half of it. She smiled tentatively and gave his hand a squeeze.

“Since Macey has her own abilities, I take it this runs in the family?” He went back to eating like they were having the most normal conversation in the world.

“Something like that. You know Chase’s wife, Rain?”

He nodded. “The witch.”

“Her sister thinks we might be related, so that could be where it comes from.”

He shrugged. “Makes sense.”

“Does it?”

“Not really, but if I keep pretending it does, then maybe one day it will.”

He’d taken it so much better than she’d thought he would. The way Macey had made it sound, she’d expected him to put his hands over his ears and refuse to listen the moment the idea of magic got tossed into the conversation. Maybe learning about the werewolves wouldn’t turn his life completely upside down.

They finished dinner and walked hand-in-hand to Bryce’s apartment, making a wide berth around Karen’s front porch. She was nowhere to be seen. Thank God. That was another issue she’d have to address with him, but she’d save it for another day.

Once inside, they settled on the sofa, and she snuggled into his side as he draped his arm across her shoulders. She could get used to this feeling of belonging. Of finally being home.

He kissed the top of her head and held her tighter. “Are you really planning on leaving town tomorrow?”

She sat up to look at him, and the worry in his eyes tore at her heart. “Actually, I was planning on sticking around for a while, if that’s okay with you.”

The tension in his shoulders eased. “I’d like that very much.”

“I will be out of your hair soon, though. Luke offered me a job on his construction team, and his sister has a spare room she’s going to rent me.”

“You’re welcome to stay with me as long as you need to.” He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her fingers. “As long as you want to. What made you decide to stay?”

A warm shiver raced up her spine at the tenderness in his eyes, in his touch. “I’m staying for you, Bryce. I…” She looked at their entwined fingers as her heart beat at a hummingbird’s pace. “Now that I’ve gotten to know you, I think I kinda like you.”

A look of confliction furrowed his brow, and he let out a slow breath. “You don’t really know me. Not the real me.”

“I think I do. You’re not the asshole I first thought you were.” She sighed. “Actually, I never really thought you were an asshole. Most assholes have game, and you’ve got none.” She winked and poked a finger at his stomach.

He shook his head. “There’s a lot you don’t know.”

Not the reaction she was expecting. She leaned away, narrowing her gaze. “Then tell me. Tell me everything I need to know…to know the real you.” She grinned slyly. “Because I’d like to know every inch of you.”

“Come with me.” His tone serious, he took her hand and pulled her off the sofa.

She followed him down the hall, past his bedroom, to a closed door. His hand rested on the knob. “You haven’t looked in this room, have you?”

She shook her head. “You keep it locked.”

“So you have tried?” He reached above the door and took a key from the trim.

Her pulse thrummed. Was it a sex dungeon? Or maybe a storage closet for his homemade taxidermy? She shivered. “I might have given the knob a twist the first time I was here alone. I figured it was an office or a home gym or something.”

“It is my office, but no one has been in this room but me. No one knows about this side of me but my mom, and she rarely remembers who I am anymore.” He squeezed her hand and pushed open the door.

Alexis held her breath as she stepped into the room. A large oak desk sat against the far wall beneath a window overlooking the back yard. Stacks of Sudoku puzzle books lay on either side of the laptop computer.

No torture devices. No dead animals. She released her breath.

Bookcases overflowing with paperbacks lined the walls to the right and left. He must’ve had more than a thousand books crammed into the small space. She fought the grin that tugged at her lips. Who would’ve guessed this sexy cop was really a nerd? “I was expecting whips and chains. Why do you keep it locked?”

He shrugged. “Karen and Michael come in to bring me food and take care of Sam. Even they don’t know this side of me.”

She ran her hand along the spines and stopped on a copy of George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones. “I’ve seen this show. It’s good.”

“The book is better.” He stepped behind her, so close his breath warmed the back of her neck.

She closed her eyes for a moment, the close proximity of his body making her nerves tingle. If he thought she wouldn’t like him anymore after showing her his intellectual side, he was dead wrong. “Have you read all these?”

“Every one.”

The wall opposite the desk held two large shelving units. Every type of Star Trek toy imaginable occupied the space. She stepped toward the toys, his heated gaze following her every move, and she pulled one from the shelf. “Why are the dolls still in boxes?”

He took the package from her hands and gently set it in its place. “They’re action figures, and they’re collectibles. They’re worth more in the box.”

“Why are you showing this to me?”

“If you’re going to stay in New Orleans for me, you need to know what you’re getting.” He gestured to the room. “This is me. No matter how cool and tough I try to be, this is who I really am inside. I’m a fake.” He dropped into the chair and rubbed his forehead.

“So you like to read. Big deal. I don’t understand why you think you have to hide it. And lots of people like Star Trek, obviously, or they wouldn’t make the toys to begin with. Why are you ashamed?”

Why wouldn’t he be ashamed? Why was he even telling her this? “It’s not just the books and the toys. I’m a certifiable nerd. Always have been. I’d rather stay home and work math puzzles than watch a football game at a sports bar. Everyone thought I’d end up being a computer programmer or a rocket scientist or something. Hell, I probably should’ve been.”

Her eyes held an emotion he couldn’t read. Pity maybe? “Then why did you decide to become a cop?”

He’d told her this much. He might as well go all in. “Believe it or not, I was bullied in school. A lot.”

“You? I don’t believe it. Look at you. You’re hot, and I know you know it.”

He fished his wallet out of his pocket and pulled out the photograph. “I didn’t always look this good.” He passed her the picture.

Her brow furrowed as she looked at it. “This isn’t you, is it?”

“I’m afraid it is.”

She examined the photograph more closely, a tiny smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Huh. Once you see past the braces, glasses, and acne, you’ve got the same sweet eyes. You were kinda cute.”

Yeah, right. He took the picture and slipped it into his wallet. “You wouldn’t have thought so in high school.”

“I never went to high school. You don’t know what I would’ve thought. Why do you carry it around?”

“To remind me of who I was and why I do what I do. This was my junior year. The lowest point in my life. I had to do the football team’s homework every week to avoid getting my ass kicked.”

She grimaced. “That’s awful.”

“Tell me about it. I can’t stand football. I made it through high school and decided I had two options: I could be a victim or I could do something about it.”

“So you became a cop.”

“I started working out. I went away to college and got a criminal justice degree. I decided to dedicate my life to fighting bullies. I changed the way I look. I changed the way I act. But no matter what I do or how hard I try, I can’t seem to change the person I am on the inside. This.” He gestured to his body. “This isn’t really me. I will always be the kid in that photo.”

She knelt by the chair and laced her fingers through his. The warmth of her touch tempered the chill running through his heart. Aside from his confession to Michael on the ledge, he’d never told anyone about his past. He did his job, followed the rules, enforced the law, and that was all anyone needed to know about him. But not Alexis. For some reason, he wanted her to know him. Everything about him.

Blonde lashes shielded her emerald eyes from his view as she stared at their entwined hands. How could she even want to touch him now that she knew his whole persona was nothing more than a mask?

She lifted her gaze to meet his. “You did change. I think this really is you. You’re the kid in that picture, and you’re the tough, sexy cop.”

He shook his head.

“Why can’t you be both?” She moved to the front of the chair, keeping a firm grip on his hand and situating herself between his knees.

“When I’m Bryce the cop, I feel like I’ve got Bryce the nerd locked away somewhere inside me, and he’s screaming to get out. It’s almost like this persona is invading my body and taking over, but it’s fake. You can’t be two people. It doesn’t work that way.”

Her eyes tightened. “Sure it does. The bullied kid in that picture is the reason you’re the person you are today. And this person you are on the inside…” She rested her other hand on his chest. “That you so desperately try to hide from the world. This is exactly who you should be. This is the part of you I’ve been getting to know. The part of you I’m falling for.”

His heart slammed into his sternum. “So, you’re okay with all this?”

“Well…” She leaned into his lap and traced the outline of his pecs with her finger. “It’s a little intimidating, seeing as how I never finished eighth grade. But brains and brawn? You’re the complete package. Incredibly sexy.”

He took her hand and pulled her into his lap. “Why did you run away when you were so young?”

“That’s a conversation for another day, but I will say this: I’ve been running my entire life because I’ve been scared. Now, I can’t remember exactly what it was that I was afraid of.”

He could live with that answer. She’d already opened up to him about her impossible ability, and she hadn’t run away when he’d confessed to being a fake. But how could she find him attractive? “For some reason, it’s easier to believe that you have magic powers than that you’re falling for me after seeing all this.”

“I’ve shown you my powers. Apparently, I’m not doing a good job of showing you how I feel about you. Let’s change that.” She leaned in and pressed her velvet lips to his mouth. His heart seemed to stop for a moment, then stuttered to restart. Gliding her hands up his chest, she hooked them behind his neck and slipped her tongue into his mouth. A moan rumbled from his chest to his throat, and he took her face in his hands as he kissed her. Her skin smelled like his soap, and she fit in his arms like she was made for him to hold.

Shifting from his lap, she turned to straddle him, pressing her soft curves into his chest. His core tightened, his dick hardening beneath her, and he wrapped his arms around her, crushing her body to his. Kissing her here, in the room where he kept his true self locked away, in the midst of everything he hid from the world, was enough to send him over the edge.

This part of him…the real him…had never been with anyone before. He’d always donned his mask of machismo before he’d hopped in the sack. No one ever bothered to look beneath it.

But Alexis did.

Her hips rocked, sending a jolt of electricity from his dick to his heart.

He groaned.

She found the hem of his shirt and yanked it over his head. Her tongue slipped out to lick her lips as she trailed her fingers down his chest, over his stomach, to grip his cock through his jeans. Holy shit. She fumbled with his belt, and he reached out to still her hands.

She looked at him with uncertainty in her eyes. “You want me to stop?”

He laced his fingers through hers. “Oh, no. I want to keep going, but are you sure you want to do this?”

She rose to her feet, pulling him with her. “This is exactly what I want.”

“Well, then.” He cupped her face in his hand, rubbing his thumb across her smooth skin. “Let’s slow down and do this right.” Lifting her in his arms, he carried her to the bedroom.

Alexis lay on the bed, and Bryce climbed to his knees on the mattress. Soft moonlight filtered through the blinds, washing the room in a silvery glow. Mischief danced in his hazel eyes as a slow smile turned up the corners of his mouth, and anticipation tightened her stomach.

He shifted to the end of the bed and unlaced her boots. “It’s kinda unfair, you know?” He slipped off her shoes and socks and dropped them on the floor.

“What is?”

He took her foot in his hands, massaging the sole. “That you know so much about me now.”

“And I like everything I know.” She started to sit up, so she could talk to him face to face, but his firm hold on her foot kept her in place. He rubbed his thumbs in circles on her arch, sending tingling warmth shooting up her legs.

“But I know so little about you.” He stood on his hands and knees above her, his gaze traveling from her eyes to her lips. He kissed her mouth then trailed his lips along her jaw to nip at her earlobe. “And I want to know all of you.”

He sat back on his heels and slipped her shirt over her head. She tried to sit up again to undo his pants, but he caught her hands in his. He kissed each palm and gently laid her back.

“You first,” he said. “It’s only fair.” His gaze roamed over her body. “Where to start?”

He bent down and pressed his lips to her stomach. Her breath hitched as warmth spread below her navel, and he roamed his hands up her body to cup her breasts. He continued to kiss, working his way up her stomach, stopping at the clasp on the front of her bra. Tracing his fingers along the edge of the material, he grinned.

“This needs to go.” He unclasped the garment and laid it open. “Much better.” He took his time, tasting every inch of her body, his tongue slipping out to tease her nipples into tight pearls. Then he pressed his body to hers, trailing kisses up her neck to find her mouth once more.

His warmth enveloped her, his tender touch sending shivers from the base of her neck down to her toes. Never in her life had she been touched this gently. This unselfishly. Pressure built in the back of her eyes as she finally gave in to her wolf’s demands. Bryce was the one. Her soulmate. Her fate-bound.

She squeezed her eyes shut and willed the tears away. She would not ruin this moment by crying.

“Now for the fun part.” He shifted to the end of the bed and unbuttoned her jeans, slipping them over her hips. When he pulled her panties off, she sucked in a shuddering breath.

He paused. “Are we okay? Do you want to keep going?”

She nodded, swallowing the dryness in her throat. “Yes. God, yes.”

He grinned and slipped out of his clothes. His body was lean and firm, his defined muscles sculpted to perfection. He stood beside the bed, and his dick, thick and rock-hard, had her mouth watering to taste it, her fingers twitching to touch it. She reached for him, but he caught her hand and brought it to his lips.

“Not yet. I’m getting to know you right now.”

Good God. Who knew selflessness could be this hot?

Crawling onto the mattress, he trailed more kisses below her navel as he settled between her legs. Massaging her inner thighs, he explored her body with his tongue, kissing up one hip and down the other. His mouth hovered above her center, his warm breath teasing her skin. Anticipation knotted in her core as she gripped the bedsheets, and she arched her back, raising herself closer to his lips.

He slipped out his tongue and tasted her. Warm wetness enveloped her clit, and she gasped as he slid a finger inside her. Fiery electricity shot through her veins, setting every nerve on edge.

She knotted her fingers in his hair. Dear lord, the sensation was maddening. Her hips rocked involuntarily, and he dared to slip a second finger inside. Her core tightened, the orgasm coiling inside her as he continued the tortuous pleasure. She cried out as the climax ripped through her body, wave after wave of uncontrollable ecstasy rocketing through her core.

Panting, she tried desperately to catch her breath as the elation subsided into a tranquil hum. As her breathing finally slowed, Bryce looked up at her and grinned.

She sucked in a shaky breath. “I take back what I said about you not having game.”

He chuckled and lay beside her, the length of his body warming more than her skin. This man lit her soul ablaze.

She gazed into his eyes, mesmerized as the tiny flecks of green and brown seemed to dance in his irises. He looked at her with an intensity that made her heart flutter, and a deep feeling of possessiveness stirred in her core. Her wolf had claimed him, and now it was the woman’s turn.

Rolling toward him, she took his length in her hand and stroked him. He inhaled deeply, and his lids fluttered shut as he let out an aroused mmm. She pressed her lips to his, and he opened his eyes.

“Make love to me, Bryce.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “My pleasure.”

As he started to move, he let his head fall onto the pillow and rolled onto his back. “Okay, you win. I’ve got no game.”

She trailed her fingers up and down his stomach, reveling in the way his muscles tightened and goose bumps rose on his skin. “You’ve got plenty. No one has ever made me feel the way you do.”

He let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t have a condom.”

She cupped his cheek in her hand, turning his head to face her. “Go grab my backpack. I’ve got some.”

With a grin, he hopped off the bed and returned with her bag. “At least one of us is prepared.”

Unzipping the front pocket, she took out a condom and whisked off the wrapper. “I was hopeful.”

“Nothing wrong with that.” He took the rubber and rolled it on.

Positioning himself on top of her, he settled his hips between her legs and pressed his tip against her. She bit her lip as she gazed into his soulful eyes, and he filled her. An electric tingling sensation shot from her center to her chest, and she pulled his face to hers to take his mouth in an urgent kiss as they became one.

Rocking his hips, he slid in and out, sensuous friction making every cell in her body hum. She clutched his shoulders and hooked her heels behind his thighs, driving him deeper inside her with every thrust. She couldn’t get enough of him. He trailed his mouth from her lips to her neck, searing her with kisses before nipping at her skin.

His woodsy scent. The salty taste of his skin. The warmth of his body on hers… She was on sensory overload and relishing every goddamn second of it. This man was made to be hers. It didn’t matter that he was human. He belonged to her, and she belonged to him.

She found his lips with hers and drank in his essence, giving herself to him fully. As he moaned into her mouth, the vibration sent warm shivers running across her entire body. She held him tighter, the orgasm building in her core like a river behind a dam.

His rhythm increased, his thrusts growing harder and more determined. She gasped as the dam broke and a tidal wave of ecstasy crashed through her body, shattering her senses.

Tossing her head back, she cried out his name. He groaned in response, a shudder running through his muscles as he slowed his motion and relaxed on top of her.

He nuzzled into her neck and slipped his fingers into her hair. “I like your haircut. I don’t think I’ve told you that.”

“Thank you. I like…everything about you.”

“That’s good to know.” He rose onto his elbows before sliding to his side. “I happen to like everything about you too.” Rolling out of bed, he tossed the condom in the trash and settled next to her again.

She turned to face him, and he took her hands and entwined his legs with hers—a tangle of limbs and pounding hearts. Sleeping with Bryce was nothing like she’d expected. He was unlike any man she’d ever known, and he’d forced her to reconsider everything she believed about human nature. People could change. Bryce was living proof. He’d taken the hand he was dealt and turned himself into the most amazing man she’d ever met. If he could go from zero to hero by sheer force of will, a rogue could learn to settle down and stay in one place.

So many emotions coiled and twisted through her soul. Sensations she’d never felt before. For the first time in her life, she hadn’t had sex—she’d made love.

“I’m glad you decided to stay.” He kissed the back of her hand and gazed into her eyes like he was looking into her being.

“Me too.” She had so many secrets, and at that moment, she wanted to share them all. To tell him everything about her—her past, her abilities, the werewolves. But she couldn’t. Not yet. If he couldn’t accept that his nerd side combined with his cop side to create his whole being, how could she expect him to accept that she was both a woman and a wolf?

“How was lunch with Macey? Did you talk about anything interesting?”

She grinned. “We talked about you. She warned me not to hurt you. All your friends seem to think I’m going to.”

His brow furrowed. “I don’t think you’re going to hurt me.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Well.” He glided his fingers down her side to rest on her hip, leaving a trail of goose bumps on her skin. “I believe ours are the only opinions that matter in this case. Don’t you agree?”

“I do.”

His expression turned somber. “Did you tell her about your trouble with Eric?”

She drew her shoulders toward her ears. “It didn’t come up in the conversation.”

He arched an eyebrow. “You should tell Macey. She’d want to know.”

“Tell her what? That I stupidly attempted to climb an electrical tower while trying to get away from an abusive ex-boyfriend? I’m her big sister. I should be taking care of her. She doesn’t need to know I can hardly take care of myself. Anyway, that mess is over now.” If he would stop bringing it up, maybe she could put her past behind her and focus on making a future with him.

He propped himself on his left elbow and used his thumb to fiddle with the ring on his right hand. “She’s your family. You’re lucky to have to that.”

Alexis was damn lucky; she knew that. But she didn’t know how to handle people who actually cared about her. This new life she was trying to make…staying in one place for good…would require baby steps. She was finally willing to accept that she could change, but he couldn’t expect her to dive right in and act like she’d been here all along. “What about your family? Where are they?”

He let out a sigh, untwined their legs, and rolled onto his back. She immediately missed his warmth and scooted closer to rest her hand on his chest.

“My mom is at Autumn Winds Nursing Home. She has Alzheimer’s.” A mask of sadness covered his features, and his eyes grew distant.

She sidled next to him, pressing the length of her body to his side and propping her head on her hand to catch his gaze and keep him grounded in the present. “Do you ever see her?”

“I visit her every week.” He stared at the ceiling. “Most of the time, she doesn’t even know I’m there. She…” He inhaled a shaky breath. “She doesn’t remember she has a son.”

Her own mother had died when she was six, and she would give anything to see her one more time. To ask her the questions that had burned in her mind since she discovered she wasn’t human. But for Bryce’s mom to be alive and not recognize her own child… She could imagine the hole that must have left in his heart. “I’m so sorry. That must be hard.”

“Yeah.” He inhaled a quick breath. “How do your healing abilities work? Could you…?”

She smiled sadly. “No. I can only heal physical wounds. Diseases…” She shook her head. “I can’t. I’ve tried.” Her wolf made her immune to disease, so she had no need for the ability to heal them. “Is she all you have left?”

He looked at her and rested hand on top of hers. “My dad died of a heart attack three years ago. He was seventy-six. My mom started going downhill after that. She couldn’t live without him. They had such a strong bond. So much love.” A small smile curved his lips. “No matter what life threw at them, they always made it through because they had each other. And believe me, life threw some pretty wicked curve balls.” He laced his fingers through hers. “Family is important. Don’t shut your sister out.”

Family. It was hard to believe she actually had one now. “I know you’re right, but I don’t want to be a burden on her. Luke’s already giving me a job, and…”

“Family is never a burden.” He swallowed. “I had a brother. He was six years older than me.” He sandwiched her hand between his palms and raised their hands to his lips. “He killed himself when I was seventeen. Overdosed.”

“Oh, Bryce. I had no idea.” Her throat thickened. “And then you saw me in the hospital, and you thought that I…I’m so sorry.”

His eyes began to glisten, so he blinked and shook his head.

“And then Michael… How do you do your job when it’s so personal? How do you handle it?”

He laid her hand on his chest and rubbed his ring. “It’s why I do it. The bullying is part of why I became a cop, but I became a negotiator so I could help people. So I could keep it from happening to anyone else.”

“Because no one helped your brother?”

“I didn’t know anything was wrong with him. He…” He paused and blew out a hard breath. “He had severe chronic depression, and he suffered in silence for years. Nobody knew. At least…I didn’t know. I hadn’t exactly mastered my people skills back then, so I wouldn’t have recognized the signs if he’d broadcasted them. He put on a mask around his friends and family. Pretended to be happy. To be someone he wasn’t.” He laced his fingers through hers. “His smile never reached his eyes, though. I should’ve…” He pressed his mouth into a hard line. “Not a day goes by that I don’t regret not knowing. Not helping.”

Turning his head toward her, he pinned her with a heavy gaze. “If he had opened up and let me know what was going on, I might have been able to help him.”

“But you didn’t know.”

“Doesn’t make it hurt any less. Suicide doesn’t stop the pain. It passes it on to someone else. Don’t shut Macey out of your life because it isn’t as perfect as you’d like it to be. She loves you no matter what.”

She snuggled into his side and draped her arm across him. If only her healing powers worked on broken hearts. “That ring isn’t yours, is it?”

“It was my brother’s college ring. He’d just graduated when…” He let out a hard breath. “I wear it to remind myself why I do what I do.”

“And because it keeps him close to you.”

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her even closer to his side. “That too.”

A familiar ache expanded in her chest, and she closed her eyes. “I used to have my mom’s wedding ring. It was a simple, gold band, but it meant a lot to me.”

“What happened to it?” His chest vibrated against her cheek.

“I pawned it.” She buried her face in his neck, the shame of losing her connection to her mother twisting a knife in her heart. “I was broke. Hadn’t eaten in days. I used to steal people’s junk that they’d thrown to the curb and pawn it, but the broker wasn’t interested in the busted bicycle I tried to sell him. He offered me fifty bucks for the ring and gave me a month to buy it back.”

“You didn’t make it in time?”

“No, I did. I came back three weeks later, but he’d already sold it. I lost the one thing I had of my mom’s for fifty bucks.”

“I’m sorry. I guess he wasn’t willing to track down the buyer and try to get it back for you?”

She laughed dryly. “No, he wasn’t, but I hear you about family. I’m going to do my best to repair my relationship with Macey. She’s all I have left.”