Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
“I love you too, baby. I’ll always take care of you and the kids. I swear I’ll be by your side for the rest of my life.”
“I need you. I’ll always need you.”
“I feel the same way. My dad knew what he was doing when he told me to be the man you needed.”
“I’ll be what you need too. I want to give you the peace you’ve given me.”
“Honey, you already do.”
It struck me then how much I’d missed in my life. I had two wonderful kids I loved with all my heart. Yet, I’d never had someone to stand beside me and help me, both with the kids and as a life partner. Danny had been in and out of our lives, but I’d settled for the part of himself he gave us and hadn’t asked the hard questions.
“If I’d demanded more from him early on, maybe I’d have prevented it going this far. Christ, Knox! I lived with the man for thirteen years!”
“It’s amazing what you can accept if you live with it long enough, baby. All of this is on Danny. Not you. Never you, Evelyn.”
“And poor Luke. Keeping what he saw to himself for weeks.”
“Luke is smart. And so protective of you and Aneshya. He’s a great kid. Gonna be an even better man.”
Knox was breaking my heart. Had I ever heard Danny praise Luke like that? Even if Luke wasn’t physically here, it was still more than Danny had ever said to or about the boy.
“That’s all because of you, honey. You taught him right from wrong and how you treat family. You. Not Danny.”
She sniffed, scrubbing the back of her wrist under her nose. “Your dad did too. No matter how often Danny was gone, your father was always there.”
“Dad was like that.”
“My parents were older when they had me. Mom was forty-two and Dad was forty-seven. Both of them died in their late sixties, so the kids were pretty young. They were too young to remember them, so they didn’t get a lot of quality time together. They knew Mom and Dad loved them, but it was your dad who passed on the life lessons fathers should pass on to their kids.”
“It was obvious how much he loved them.”
“It was.” I broke down again, crying into Knox’s chest while he held me. We stood in that shed, and he let me cry, never once trying to hush me. He understood my need to grieve. I was sure he was doing his own grieving. “You just got your dad back only to lose him.”
“Yes. But I got to make things right with him. Got to show him how much he meant to me. He might not have liked that I left without telling him why or where I was going, but Dad was a Marine. He understood sometimes things don’t go the way they’re supposed to.”
“Is that what happened?” I looked up at him. Knox had said he was going to take care of us, that he was going to take us to his club’s compound, but I needed to know what that meant. I’d still go no matter what, though. Because no matter how short a time I’d had with Knox, I knew I never wanted to be without him. Not so long as my kids had what they needed.
“Yeah, in a nutshell. I can’t tell you everything because it’s classified, but I can tell you that some of the things I’ve done for my country would get me killed.”
“So it was dangerous.”
“Still is. That’s why we have our own hidden little sanctuary. It’s self-sustaining for the most part, so we don’t have to leave if we don’t want to. It’s only been recently we’ve started getting out more.”
“Is everyone in Grim Road like you?”
“You mean are they Black Ops? Yeah. Every single one of us has worked on unsanctioned missions for the government. Usually the CIA.”
“I guess I’m a little naive, but I thought that kind of thing only existed in the movies.”
“It’s not something anyone really talks about. The movies make it a little more glamorous than it really is, but the bottom line is, when the lines of legality and sometimes morality get blurred.” He snorted. “Or obliterated entirely. When that happens, if it’s time for an election and a possible administration change, you try to put everything on hold until you know who’s gonna be in charge. What could earn you a medal with one president could send you to prison with another.”
“I never thought about it that way.”
“And I never want you to have to again. I disappeared not only because of what I did, but because of what I know. My handler on my last mission didn’t expect me to make it home alive. It was a suicide mission.”