Chapter 10
TWO WEEKS LATER.
I did it.
I spent a whole month away from work. Even though half of it was spent fighting for my life and the other half was spent missing and falling in love with a man. The point is, I feel energized and refreshed and ready to go back to being the badass female I know is inside me somewhere.
But before that, I’m going to spend the entire weekend with my boyfriend because I missed him a lot.
He’s waiting to pick me up at the airport. I run into his arms, not caring how it looks. He smells like pine needles and men’s Cologne. There’s a bit of stubble on his chin, but it only makes him look sexier.
“Hey, babe," I greet.
He raises an eyebrow.
“What happened to your hatred of generic nicknames?” he questions.
“I thought about it, and it makes me seem pretentious. Plus, it sounds really good when I’m talking about you.”
He chuckles.
“Okay then...how was your trip? And how’s Greg?”
He pronounces my friend’s name with barely concealed distaste.
I have to smile. It’s cute that he gets jealous over my relationship with Greg, but we’re really just friends. I probably won’t see him again for a few years, but it was nice to catch up.
“Greg is great. He got himself a girlfriend, actually.”
As expected, Ethan beams at the news.
“I’m happy for him.”
I almost roll my eyes. “Of course you are.”
“I found Capa's family,” I tell him as he leads me to his rented car.
He doesn’t live in New York. That, coupled with his job and our relationship, is the embodiment of long distance. But we’re both adults. I’ll be busy with work as well. I have no doubt we can make this work.
“Really? That’s really good. How did they take the news, and please tell me you didn’t go looking for them alone,” he says as he starts the car.
“I didn’t. Greg came along. They were relieved to hear news about him, and they seemed really grateful. His mom cried, of course. It was brutal. But I think they got some closure. They know he died a hero.”
“And you gave it to them. Well done, baby.”
“I just did what I had to do. For Capa.”
Even now, I can’t say his name without feeling an ache in my chest, but hopefully, it’ll get better with time.
We head to my apartment, and as it turns out, Ethan’s a phenomenal cook. He feeds me before carrying me into bed so I can sleep off the jetlag. When I wake up, he’s in the room, working on something on his computer. I stand up to hug him from behind.
“You’re up,” he says, and I’m pretty sure there’s a smile on his face.
“How long was I asleep?” I mumble.
“About two hours,” he says, turning the revolving chair around and hugging me.
“Oh, okay. What are you doing?” I ask, referring to his laptop.
“Nothing important now that you’re awake,” he says before lifting me bridal style and carrying me onto the bed.
He begins kissing me slowly, softly. Then he abruptly stops.
“I just remembered something. You mentioned something a while ago about you experiencing something similar to what I went through with Jeff. What was it?”
I really wish he didn’t choose this moment to bring it up, but I know he deserves to know.
“I was on a case. A guy that murdered two people. Stabbings. He took off when he realized we were on to him, so we had to pursue him. I was faster than the others, and I managed to corner him in an area very close to an amusement park. It was an abandoned warehouse of some sort.
A shootout ensued, and in the process, a kid walked in. His name was Daniel. 13 years old. I don’t know what Daniel was looking for or how he got in. He probably roamed away from the amusement park.
Anyway, Daniel got hit by one of the bullets.
I stopped shooting as soon as I caught sight of the kid, but the bastard didn’t.
Daniel died. I’ve blamed myself for it a lot, I guess.
If I hadn’t been there if I hadn’t chased the bastard to the warehouse.
The kid would still be alive. It was a really big thing back then, but in the end, I learned to forgive myself.
It has already happened, and the past is in the past, all we can do is move on.”
Ethan nods in agreement.
“Move on. And make sure that the lost lives mean something,” he tells me, kissing my cheek.
Then my lips. The moment his tongue darts in, I moan loudly, ready for him to be inside me.
He does so quickly, and soon, we’re lost in a cacophony of moans and thrusts.
“Ethan,” I whisper as I feel my orgasm looming.
“Hm?”
“I love you,” I moan just as the overwhelming wave of pleasure hits.
After a few more thrusts, he comes as well. He waits till his breathing is steady before pulling me into his arms.
“I’m going to marry you one day, Audra,” he says, kissing my forehead.
His words make me beam.
“So you love me too?” I ask.
“Always and forever,” he promises before kissing me lightly.
I fall asleep again, happier than I’ve ever been before. Despite the tragedies that have brought us here, there’s no other place I’d rather be.
******
We're awoken the following day by the continuous ringing of my doorbell.
“Audra, are you expecting company?” Ethan groans.
“No, but I’ll go see who it is,” I tell him, kissing his cheek.
I find shorts and a shirt before heading for the front door. When I look back, Ethan’s right behind me. I shake my head with a smile before opening the door.
“Dustin?” Ethan asks in confusion. I recognize Dustin as one of his teammates.
There’s a massive frown on his face, but he manages a smile as he greets me.
“Hi, Audra,” he says.
I wave back. Then he turns to Ethan.
“We need to go, man. Sorry.”
“What’s up? And why are you so mad?” Ethan asks.
“Task force meeting. And I’m pissed because Madison's back.”
“Ohhh,” Ethan says with a pleased smile.
“Who's Madison?” I ask.
“She’s Dustin's ex-girlfriend. Also, the daughter of the commander of our unit. They don’t get along. Things are about to get interesting.”
Dustin can only scowl at his friend.