I smile, pleased with this reaction but it fades almost instantly. There’s more to that statement, a reverse effect. He’s always believed he’d one day destroy me in all the wrong ways. I curl up next to his side and say, “You don’t destroy me, Rick Savage. You save me every single day.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Savage
You save me every single day.
Candace’s words slide inside me and stir love, devotion, and self-hate for leaving her alone and exposed in the past, no matter what my good intentions. Proof that she makes me human when not so long ago, I wasn’t sure I was anymore.
Candace touches my cheek and then kisses my jaw. “I’m going to the bathroom,” she announces before scooting off the bed, grabbing my shirt, and walking naked toward the bathroom while pulling it over her head. I’m like a kid in a candy store with this woman in my life. And I love the fuck out of her in my shirt. I love the fuck out of her. And it’s my job as her future husband to protect her. That doesn’t seem like a simple thing.
I save her every day.
Bullshit.
She saves me.
And I will not let anything happen to her.
Ever.
I stand up, and grab my jeans, pulling them on but not bothering to zip them up. The moon hovers low in the sky, and I walk to the window to stare at it, reminded of a night years ago in Mexico where just such a moon led me from the cartel-infested jungle to safety. I called it my magic moon that spoke to me without one single word. Well, damn it, give me some magic now. Talk to me now. Tell me how to protect Candace and not lie to her. Tell me how to be honest with her and not ruin the wedding for her. For long minutes, that’s the battle I fight within myself.
Suddenly, Candace is beside me, pressing close to my side, all soft and sweet, her hand settling on my belly. “Hey,” she whispers.
Time’s up.
The truth or a lie.
The time of decision has come.
I turn to her, hands on her tiny waist, and pull her to me. “Hey, future Mrs. Savage.”
She smiles, and damn, she has an angel’s smile. I can’t lie to her, no matter how good my intentions. Good intentions haven’t served me well with Candace. I have never lied to her. I won’t start now.
“That’s me,” she says, “and I can’t wait to be Mrs. Savage.” Her fingers brush my jaw. “You haven’t shaved since you left. You’re about a beard instead of a goatee. You should let me shave you.”
I capture her fingers and kiss them. “Tomorrow.” My hands settle on her shoulders. “We should talk.”
“You’re very serious right now. And considering you are you, that feels rather ominous.”
“Only because I dread telling you anything that isn’t perfect right before our wedding. And I considered not telling you what I’m going to tell you at all, not until after the wedding, but that’s not who I want us to be.”
“But you want to protect me,” she supplies.
“Hell yes, I want to protect you, Queen Candace.”
She laughs. “Queen Candace? That’s new. And that makes you king, right?”
“Was that ever a question?” I tease, but I’m already leading her toward the couch and the coffee table, where there’s a bottle of wine and two glasses, that at one point, a few days back before I left for Tennessee, we meant to drink and never touched.
We sit and I reach for the bottle and open it. And while I’m pouring, she studies my magic moon. “It’s beautiful,” she says, “so close, and yet so far away.” Her gaze shifts and she angles in my direction, her eyes meeting mine as she adds, “A bit like our wedding.”
I hand her a glass. “Nothing will stop us from getting married if that’s what you’re afraid of.”
“I don’t know what happened when you were away. But I wish you would have said no to Max.”
I sip from the glass I’ve filled for myself. “I wish it were that simple.” I draw in a breath and shake my head. “I’m not sure this situation is what it seems. And I’m not sure it wouldn’t have ended up on our doorstep no matter what.”
“What does that mean?” she asks. “I mean, Tag is dead. And I thought Max was your friend.”
I set my glass down and she does the same with hers before we face each other and both settle a leg on the couch between us. “Max wanted me to grab a data drive and drop it at another location. Simple. Easy. Fast. Except we got to the pick-up location, and there were a group of men waiting.”
Her eyes go wide. “For you? Were they waiting for you?”
“One could assume so. Now did they want what I was after or did they just want me dead? I can’t say. And neither can they. We killed them all.”