37. Nova
CHAPTER 37
NOVA
“Y ou’re sure about this, Nova?” Crew asks, studying the piece of paper in his hands. It’s been six months since we were rescued from that house, so all of his bruising has faded, his injuries healed. While my physical injuries have also healed, the damage Brett’s betrayal caused still haunts me.
When I combine that with the darkness I had to endure while undercover in the first place, I know that I’ll never be the same again.
“You’re really sure?” he asks again as he sits behind his desk in the Dallas Police Department while I remain standing in front of it.
“I am.”
He smiles, but it’s hesitant. “I want you happy, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sad to see you go.”
“This isn’t where I belong. Not anymore.” I turn to look out into the bullpen, my gaze landing on the desk coupling I once shared with Brett.
“You’re one of our best detectives,” he says. Since the captain was arrested after Brett sang like a canary, desperate to cut a deal for himself, Crew was promoted.
With me put into his spot as lieutenant.
Turns out the captain was taking payments from Ivan too, offering to look the other way as he attempted to become the largest trafficker in the country. Which is why they went after the shipping company. Using high-profile clients to hide guns, drugs, and people was one way to get things in and out of the country without a whole lot of attention.
I’d brought Rosalie in to help us, but Brett convinced her the payout from Ivan’s rival was far too great an opportunity to pass up.
Together, they traded information for cash, and when things got too hot for Brett, he sold her out. Just like the coward he is.
“And I appreciate every opportunity you’ve given me, sir. But this is just not where I want to be.”
The promise I made to Elliot all those months ago, standing in his dad’s office, still lingers. And while we’ve talked occasionally over the last six months, I know he’s been giving me my space. Space that I no longer want or need.
“And where do you want to be?” Crew asks. “A small town with a certain cowboy?” He arches his brows, and I feel my cheeks heat even as my stomach churns.
“Maybe. I won’t know until I try.” I can only hope the space he’s given me didn’t give him a reason to change his mind.
It’s been a whirlwind of wrapping up loose ends, packing my apartment, and praying my way through life-changing decisions that make me ill just thinking about them. I haven’t even told Elliot that I’m handing in my resignation because I wanted the decision to be one hundred percent mine.
And it is.
I’ve known from the moment we met that my life is nothing without Elliot Hunt in it.
Even before I remembered who I was, I knew that.
Crew stands and comes around the side of his desk to place both hands on my shoulders. “Well then, as your captain, I’m sad to see you go. But as your friend, I couldn’t be happier for you. Hunt is a good man. You picked well. This time.” He winks.
Smiling, I lean into his hug. “Thank you, Crew.”
“Anytime, O’Conner. Come back. Visit.”
“You too.” I pull away. “Who knows, maybe Elliot will have changed his mind and want nothing to do with me. I could be back sleeping on your couch tonight.”
He laughs and releases me. “We both know he’d have to be an idiot. And Elliot Hunt doesn’t strike me as a fool.”
Heart full, I retrieve the duffel at my feet. Everything else I wanted to bring with me is in boxes in the back of my Telluride. An entire life of belongings in the back of a single SUV. But after donating all of my furniture, there wasn’t much left since Brett destroyed and trashed most of my things when he’d tossed my apartment.
I’m truly starting over.
And it’s honestly more terrifying than getting into that trunk six months ago was.
* * *
HERE LIES MILO ANDERSON. BELOVED FRIEND. 1987-2025. GREATER LOVE HAS NO ONE THAN THIS: TO LAY DOWN ONE’S LIFE FOR ONE’S FRIENDS.
After placing a bouquet of flowers on his grave, I run my hand over the cool marble. “I miss you, my friend,” I say. He’d had such a hard life. So many cards stacked against him. But in the end, he’d made a choice that saved my life.
He’d come through in a way most wouldn’t have.
A true hero, that’s who Milo was. Tears burn in the back of my throat. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you, Milo.”
I can recall the first moment I met him. He’d stolen a loaf of bread from a grocery store I was shopping at. The moment I took him to the ground and heard his sobs, I had this overwhelming feeling that he needed me.
So, I’d taken him back in, bought him groceries, and had him over for dinner. Shortly after that, I’d worked out the deal with Mr. Kerry so he could stay in the back room of the old store as it was being renovated.
He was my neighbor. My friend. My family.
“I’m so sorry,” I say, a tear rolling down my cheeks.
The Hunts came out for the burial. All eight of them, as did Gibson Lawson, Crew, and his family. Everyone paying their respects to a man who sacrificed everything despite having next to nothing.
“I’m going to go out to the ranch. Tell me, how am I more nervous now than when I’m staring down the barrel of a gun?” I laugh as though he’s standing beside me. “I may not be here to visit as much as I have been for the past few months, but I hope you know it’s not because I’ve forgotten you. I’ll never forget you, Milo. Not as long as I live. I’ll see you on the other side, my friend. Keep a seat open in Heaven for me.”
* * *
The drive out to the ranch feels like the longest two hours of my life.
I nearly stopped to call Elliot a dozen times, just to make sure he’s okay with me coming out. But the last thing I want is to give him a chance to think I have any doubt in my mind at all that this is where I want to be.
I did, however, call Lani, who was more than happy to offer me her guest room until I could find a place. She’d wanted me to drop my stuff off first, but if things don’t go well with Elliot, I really don’t want to have to go to his sister’s place to grab everything all over again.
Not that I don’t think things will go well.
Do I?
Oh, God, please let this go well.
Parking in front of his parents’ house, I climb out and run my hands over the front of the pale green summer dress I chose to wear today. It’s one of the only dresses I had in my closet.
I even styled my hair, not that I think it matters how I look, but it gave me something to do that helped distract me.
Butterflies dance in my stomach as Ruth opens the front door. She smiles and waves. “He’s in the auto barn,” she says, pointing toward a structure just past the main barn.
“Thanks.”
She nods then heads back inside.
I turn toward the auto barn. Here we go.
On legs that feel heavy as steel, I make my way into the barn. Tucker’s standing beside an old truck, and when he sees me, he arches a brow and grins. He crosses over and offers me a quick hug then leaves the barn silently.
Elliot is beneath the truck, his legs sticking out. “Can you hand me that crescent wrench again?” he asks, holding his hand out.
His voice wraps around me, and my stomach twists, nerves taking control.
“Crescent wrench?” he asks again. “Come on, Tuck, I don’t want to be under this thing all night.”
I cross over and retrieve the wrench then squat down and offer it to him. As my fingers brush his palm, warmth radiates through me. His hand closes around the wrench, so I stand and take a step back.
Elliot doesn’t pull the wrench underneath the truck, but he doesn’t move, either. Several heartbeats pass before he’s pushing out from under the truck. His hazel gaze locks on me, and all of the fear of rejection I’d felt melts away.
Because I see the same love I feel reflected in his eyes.
“Nova.” He stands and tosses the wrench to the side.
“I’m sorry that I took so long,” I say, starting the speech I’ve memorized over the past week. “I needed to figure out how to step away from that life, how to close that door the right way.” Nerves twist in my stomach, and I toy with the front of the dress again. Why did I wear it in the first place? I’ve never been a fan of it. Why did I pick this one? “But I meant what I said in your dad’s office. From the moment we met, you’re all I’ve wanted. That old life was never going to feel like home again. Because it’s not.” Tears fill my eyes, and I raise my gaze to his. “You’re my home, Elliot Hunt.”
He rushes forward and grips the back of my hair before crashing his mouth down onto mine. The moment our lips meet, the nerves I’ve carried inside of me for the last six months vanish. His kiss obliterates the darkness still lingering around me. None of it matters.
Nothing but Elliot.
But us.
His other hand cups my cheek as he deepens the kiss. I lose myself in it. In him. In this moment.
He pulls away and rests his forehead against mine, our ragged breathing loud enough to drown out all other noises. “I wasn’t sure how much longer I could wait before I went after you,” he says.
“You were going to come after me?”
“I told you I would,” he replies. “But I wanted to give you time. That way, we could figure out where I fit in your life.”
“You are my life,” I tell him.
“And you’re mine.” He kisses me again then steps back. His eyes widen, and he chokes on a laugh. “I am so sorry.”
“For what?” I look down at the front of my dress and laugh. Grease smears the front of the pale green. “So worth it,” I reply, grinning up at him.
“It’s on your face too.”
Laughing harder than I have in months, I step forward and run my hand over the front of his shirt then wipe the grease onto his cheek. “Now it’s on yours too. Look at us, matching already.”
He wraps both arms around my waist and spins me in a slow circle then kisses me quickly before setting me back down. “I love you, Nova.”
Warmth spreads through me, heating me from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. “I love you too, Elliot. And there’s no adventure I wouldn’t take with you.”
He smiles down at me then brushes some hair behind my ear. “Same. But let’s hope our lives are rather calm for a while.”