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A tear slipped down her cheek. “I really don’t care. I just want to be close to you.”

He pulled her to him as she maneuvered her way into his lap. He wrapped her up and held her. It didn’t surprise him that she clung to him, letting the tears fall for all she’d been through tonight. Some of it he was sure was relief that he was finally here. He’d seena lot of victims hold it together, until they just couldn’t anymore.

Jax put his hand on Viper’s back. “I’ll be in the waiting room down the hall. Take all the time you want. Come get me if you have to leave. She won’t be alone, ever, until we get who did this.”

“Thanks.” Viper would talk to Jax later about protecting Lyric going forward. Right now, she needed him to be her boyfriend, not an FBI agent. He wanted to be so much more for her.

Alone, he held her until the tears faded, her breathing evened out, and she sat content in his arms.

“I don’t know what happened.” She sounded so confused.

“We don’t have to talk about it right now.” He wanted her to rest and feel safe. But he knew both those things would take time to come, because right now she was locked in the trauma of it all.

“I just wanted to help her.”

“I know you did. You got the kids away from him. You kept them all safe. You called for help. You did everything right.” And that asshole would pay for hurting all of them.

“I knew I needed to be careful. I saw it coming.”

“And you stopped him.” He held her tighter, seeing that man hit her all over again.

“Melody showed me the video. It felt like that was someone else.”

He understood that, too. “Nick thinks you can take me.”

She looked up at him. “You would never give me a reason to defend myself like that.”

“Never.” He kissed her softly to seal that promise. “All I want to do is take care of you.”

“You’re doing a really good job right now.”

He found a grin. “You make it easy.”

“I liked that song you sent me. It’s one of my favorites.”

He hadn’t even realized his words were the song title. But he loved that she knew it and found comfort in it. “I like our song thing. It makes it a little easier for me to tell you how I feel. You’re better at it than me.”

“It says a lot that you rushed back here to be with me. I’m sorry I took you away from whatever you were doing.”

“Don’t be. I’d rather be with you.”

“How did it go? Did you finish, or do you have to go back?”

“It went as planned. I don’t have to go back, but I’m not done. Yet.”

She snuggled closer. “What happens after it’s over?”

“I tell you everything. And hopefully we stay together, only without all the secrets and subterfuge.”

She eyed him, serious and concerned. “Do you think telling me the truth will make me break up with you?”

“No. It’s not that,” he assured her.

“Then, what is it?”

“I don’t know. You’ve known me one way for months. I guess I’m not sure you’ll like the real me.”

“I know the real you. You’re right here.Iget the real you. Everyone else gets someone else. Viper is another part of you, but not the real you.”