“No, everyone’s fine.”
I was starting to panic, but I clamped it down and tried to be patient.
“What?”
Brady’s eyes locked on mine, and the look in them made something inside me shift.
“I love you.”
Yup, that was the sound of my heart hitting the floor.
“What?” I whispered, my eyes already filling with tears.
“I realized that I love you, and I had to come tell you. I didn’t want to wait until tonight, and I didn’t want to say it over the phone. I had to see you.”
A startled laugh passed my lips as I catapulted into his arms, knocking him back a foot. His arms wrapped around me and held on tight as I peppered his face with kisses.
I felt his laugh against my chest, his smile under my lips.
“I love you, too,” I said, when I was done kissing the hell out of him.
Brady lowered me to the floor, then bent to bring his lips to mine, tilting his head to get better contact. I opened my mouth, urging him to come inside, to claim me as his own.
This kiss. This kiss … It was everything.
Physical, emotional, spiritual. He conveyed his love for me with this kiss, and I threw myself into it and gave him the same.
I never wanted it to end. This feeling of sublime happiness, total contentment, and the knowledge that I’d finally found the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
When we finally broke away from each other, panting and needy, I ran my tongue over my lower lip to get one last taste of him and said, “I’m happy you came by.”
Brady chuckled, the dazed look gone, replaced by a serenity that I’d never seen in him before.
“Me too,” he admitted. “I was sitting at my desk in the precinct, thinking of everything that’s happened between us … How close I came to losing you, the seven months I wasted, not knowing what I had that entire time, and it hit me. I love you. I left my desk and walked out, not saying a word to anyone. I just knew I had to see you, to tell you in person.”
“I love that you did that,” I said, my heart a pile of mushy goo.
“I should probably go back,” he said, his voice full of regret. “It’s my first day back and I just walked out.”
We both laughed happily, and I said, “Okay, get out of here. We’ll celebrate tonight.”
Brady kissed me again, told me he loved me again, then turned and walked out, leaving me staring after him with stars in my eyes.
Epilogue ~ Brady
I walked down the long corridor, feeling an elation I’d never felt before, my hands still shaking slightly from adrenaline and excitement. I rounded the corner and entered the room, my heart expanding at the sight of everyone Ming and I loved in one room.
“It’s a boy!” I shouted, laughing as excitement filled the air, and my brothers came rushing toward me. It felt different being on this end of things. Better. So much better.
My nose burned as my face slammed against Brock’s chest and he patted me on the back, hard.
“How’s Ming?” Bronagh and Cass asked in unison.
I struggled to get out of Brock’s grasp and turned my head to face my wife’s best friends.
“She’s great. They’re taking her to her room now, but she’ll be able to have visitors in a little bit.”
I was good now, but earlier I’d been petrified.