Page 125 of Defending You

This beautiful woman amazed him. “I never doubted you.”

There were no more gunshots coming from outside or below. The helicopter’s rotors began to wind down, the deafening roar gradually fading to a mechanical whine. Shouts and footsteps echoed across the factory floor, but they seemed distant, muffled by the bubble of quiet that had settled around Cici and him.

“Status report,” Grant’s voice crackled through Asher’s earpiece. “Rhodes, you got Cici?”

“I got her. She’s…” He paused through a wave of emotion. “She’s safe.”

“Thank God,” Alyssa said.

“Mercenaries are surrendering,” Bartlett said. “Law enforcement’s here.”

“Copy that,” he said into his comm, then removed his earpiece. The team could handle the cleanup. Right now, all that mattered was the woman in his arms.

Cici tilted her head back to look at him. “Who are you talking to?”

“The team.” At her raised eyebrows, he remembered that she didn’t know what’d happened outside the factory since she’d been taken. He gave her a quick rundown on everyone who’d come and all they’d done to get her back.

Her eyes were wide. “Alyssa’s out there?”

“And safe. She’s the one who cut the power and got the layout of this place. She worked with your dad to get satellite coverage.”

Her eyes widened. “Dad. He must be furious with me.”

Furious? “Why would he be? You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I mean… I’m sure I did. I just don’t know what.”

“Nobody’s angry with you, sweetheart.” If Gavin Wright blamed anybody for this, it would be Asher. “Your father just wants you safe, like the rest of us. Thanks to him, we knew the helicopter was coming.” He studied her face in the dim lighting, cataloging each bruise, each sign of what she’d endured. “Tell me what hurts.”

She closed her eyes, maybe taking inventory. “My ribs. My head.” Her fingers skimmed over the darkening bruise on her cheek. “But I’m alive. We’re both alive.”

Against all odds, despite his failures and mistakes, they’d survived.

“I thought I’d lost you.” The admission scraped his throat raw. “When I woke up in that ravine and you were gone?—”

“I thought you were dead.” Her voice broke on the last word. “They threw you over that cliff, and I was so sure…” She pressedher face against his neck. “I couldn’t bear it, the thought that you died because of me, because of my need to prove myself.”

“Hey.” He cupped her face gently, forcing her to meet his eyes. “Don’t do that. You did something heroic, something amazing.”

“Something stupid.” But a slight smile crossed her lips. “But you came for me anyway.”

“I told you I’d choose you.” The words came easier now, without the fear of rejection—and the weight of imminent death—hanging over him. “I meant it, Cici. I know it’s crazy, but…” He forced his lips to shut, not giving voice to the admission that wanted to escape.

She inched closer, holding his eye contact. “I love you, Asher.”

Fireworks that rivaled the craziness of the past few hours exploded in his chest. This woman he’d secretly longed for since he was a high school student somehow loved him back.

He could hardly fathom it.

He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, afraid he might hurt her. Afraid whatever this was would splinter and crumble. But knowing the truth, deep inside. “I love you.”

Who knew how she’d feel when this was all over? His feelings, though, weren’t fresh or new. He’d been fighting them since he was eighteen years old, or trying to anyway.

He didn’t want to fight them anymore. He’d walked away from her once, smarting from her casual rejection. He’d found her, then almost lost her.

He didn’t know what it was going to look like or how they’d make it work, but he’d figure it out. No way was he letting Cici go again.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN