Chapter 125 Carter
Carter
Her word—Together—hit me harder than the gunfire we’d just survived.
Every instinct screamed to lock her away, to keep her safe behind walls and guns and every ounce of training I had. That was what I knew. That was what I was built for.
But the way she stood there, shoulders squared, eyes steady, refusing to back down—I couldn’t deny it. Harper wasn’t a weakness to shield. She was strength standing beside me.
And letting her in… that was the hardest damn thing I’d ever done.
I looked at her hand resting on the table, small but steady. My fingers itched to cover it, to anchor her there. Not to protect—but to remind myself this was real. She was real. And she wasn’t running.
“You don’t know what you’re asking,” I said, my voice low, rough.
“Yes, I do.” Her answer was quiet but unflinching.
The team watched in silence, but I barely registered them. It was just her. Her fire. Her fear. Her courage.
I exhaled slow, forcing down the part of me that wanted to say no. The part of me that thought loving her meant caging her.
Instead, I nodded. One sharp movement, heavy as a vow. “Then we finish this together.”
Her shoulders eased, but her eyes never left mine, and I saw it there—faith. She believed I could carry us both through this storm. And for the first time, I believed it too.
Because this wasn’t about shielding her anymore. It was about fighting for something bigger than myself.
And Redwood didn’t stand a chance against that.