Page 120 of Free to Judge

I look down, stunned by the way she’s blasting Ben, how her belief in my mission never wavered, even if her trust in me did.

“Declan didn’t betray anyone’s memory,” she finishes. “He honored it.”

Ben looks from her to me, haunted emotion flashing behind his eyes. Then, with a stiff nod, he turns and walks out. The door closes behind him, cocooning us in silence once again.

Then, Kalie breaks. Her agony due to her injuries fills the room when she moans before reaching for the call button. “God, can someone get me some pain meds? I think I just tore into my only chance at getting any.”

“You show up at a ball looking like the heiress you are, fought for your life and won, destroyed a man’s illusions, and the only thing you’re complaining about is a lack of narcotics?”

“I’m multifaceted.”

I reach for her wrist again, this time not letting it go. “I don’t deserve you.”

Kalie’s smile fades away. Instead, she stares at me with the kind of look that I’ll remember a year from now and hopefully at our fiftieth anniversary. It’s the kind of look that cracks a man’s soul knowing you hurt your woman so deeply, the only thing that will repair it is time.

“No,” she says quietly. “You don’t. But you’ll find a way. One day at a time.”

“You mean that?”

“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t. I don’t throw around forgiveness like Uncle Phil tosses around confetti or Aunt Cori throws frosting.” Then she frowns. “Though either is an option depending on if I do or don’t get some narcotics. Can you work on getting some for me?”

I kiss the inside of her wrist gently. “Whatever it takes.”

“Thanks,” she says, closing her eyes. Then they pop open. “Start with the intern. He seems to like me.”

“Don’t push it,” I whisper.

She smiles before easing back while we wait for Ben to return with the good stuff.

Thanks to Ben, Kalie is well on her way to drifting. Her lashes flutter against her cheeks. I know I could step away, stretch. I don’t dare move an inch.

The silence between us has shifted—no longer heavy with what hadn’t been said, but filled with what could be. I look at the hand she trusts me to hold, the one with the IV. It’s bandaged and bruised. Might be that way for a while, but she’s safe.

Still warm. Still alive.

Leaning back slightly in the chair, my eyes roam over her face in the dimmed light. Right now, the powerhouse who threw a right hook at me isn’t in sight. Nor is the glamorous woman who dazzled me earlier tonight. There’s evidence of the strength of the woman who captured the hearts of the world when she crossed the finish line first, earning her gold. But even that’s muted. Right now, she’s just Kalie.

My Kalie.

My heart.

She shifts in her sleep, a soft sound escaping her lips.

I lean forward and whisper, “I’m here. Don’t be afraid.”

Because I wasn’t certain she wanted to hear it before, I take the luxury of saying it now. “I love you. You saw me, you judged me, and you made me a better man for it.”

Her hand flexes slightly in mine, even in sleep.

“This started for justice. Closure. Maybe even revenge. But I finished it for you. Because they hurt my firebrand. And I swear to you, not one of them will get away with that.”

Sitting in Kalie’s hospital room, the weight of everything she’d been through presses down on my chest. Tears trickle down my cheeks. I don’t wipe them away as I need them to heal.

As much as I need her.

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

The achesof my body remind me all too well of last night, making me desperate for some more of Dr. Ben’s magic narcotics. Even as I wage an internal war to waste what little energy I have to seek out the nurse call button, I find myself gasping in panic when I can’t move my hand.