Chapter 120 Carter
Carter
Her words hit harder than any bullet ever could.
Stop thinking you don’t deserve me. Because I’m here. And I’m not letting go.
I’d spent my whole life carrying weight, burying fear, living like everything I touched would break if I held it too tight. But Harper—she wasn’t breaking. She was standing. Right here, right now, in the middle of blood and smoke, her hands steady on me, her eyes fierce.
And for the first time, I realized I wasn’t holding her up. She was holding me too.
I drew in a breath, sharp and uneven, my arms locking around her. My heart hammered against her palm, faster than it should’ve, louder than I wanted it to. She pressed closer, unflinching, as if she wanted to memorize every beat.
“You make me believe it’s possible,” I said, my voice low, gravel scraping the words. “That I can be more than the fight.”
Her eyes softened, but she didn’t look away. “You already are.”
The lump in my throat nearly choked me. I’d fought wars, led men, survived ambushes and prisons. Nothing had undone me like this woman looking at me like I was worth saving.
I brushed my thumb over her cheek, smudging dirt across her skin. “You don’t know what you’ve done to me, Harper. You’ve made me need something I never thought I could have.”
Her fingers curled around mine, her voice a whisper. “Then don’t let go of it.”
I kissed her then—harder than I meant to, but needing it like oxygen. The taste of her, the feel of her, the sheer life in her—this was why I fought. Why I bled. Why I’d keep tearing through Redwood until there was nothing left.
Because she wasn’t my weakness.
She was the only reason I was still standing.