Chapter One Hundred Sixteen

Colton’s new home reminded him of the place he’d just moved from—a modest rancher on a quiet street in a rural neighborhood. The backyard was fenced and shaded.

He would start working immediately on an escape plan. Old habits, and all.

Justin, his handler, showed up the first morning to make sure everything was in order.

“You’re all set up to start teaching in the fall,” Justin announced as he plopped onto the sofa. “I have some great news. You might want to sit down.”

Colton fought the urge to run out of the house screaming. What if the great news was about Angel? What if she was getting married? He wanted her to be happy, but he didn’t know if he was ready for her to be quite that happy.

It had only been a few weeks. Not enough time to meet someone and fall in love.

Not that it had taken him long to fall for her.

“Viktor Kulakov was arrested yesterday.”

Colton whipped his attention back to Justin. “Are you serious?”

The other man nodded with a grin. “It will be a few months until he goes to trial, but once you testify and he’s locked up, we might be able to relax some of your cover enough to make contact with your family.”

Colton wouldn’t mention he was already in contact with John via Messenger. It still wasn’t the same as seeing his family in real life.

“You’re sure the charges will stick?” he asked hopefully. Viktor was a slippery bastard.

“Yes. It was a good arrest.”

Which meant he must have been caught with hard evidence. The trial wouldn’t just come down to Colton and his testimony.

He let out a breath and rested his head back against the sofa in relief. At least this part of his life was working out. “Thank you.”

After a beer and some more easy conversation, Justin smacked him lightly on the leg, stood, and headed for the door. “Let me know if you need anything else to settle in.”

For a brief moment, Colton almost asked about Angel. But he let it go, knowing it wouldn’t matter. She was gone from his life. He was moving on.

When Justin left, Colton slumped back onto the sofa and turned on the television.

Pudge sniffed the house and came back to stand in front of him, looking unimpressed. The dog was getting better with time. They both were. They were still a little gloomy, but he hoped they’d be all good in a month or two.

“Yeah, I know. But it’ll be okay. We’ll make some friends in the neighborhood and soon you’ll be the center of attention again.”

Colton swallowed, unable to talk about his other plans. Especially the one that included finding someone to move on with. He wasn’t ready now, but he was making it a goal. Maybe in a year or two. He didn’t want to be alone for the rest of his life, pining over someone he couldn’t have.

Pudge whined at the back door and Colton opened it to let him out onto the large deck. Pudge trotted down the steps and ran across the yard as Colton went back inside to start the task of unpacking.

He was just opening the first box when Pudge was already barking at the back door. The quickness of his excursion could only mean one thing. Colton rolled his eyes and opened the door, ready to stop the dog from running inside with some dead offering locked in his jaws.

But Pudge was just sitting on the deck looking at him, his tail wagging.

“Where is it?” he asked the dog. “Where’s the disgusting carcass you’re so proud to show me?”

Pudge barked once and went to the steps.

It wasn’t a dead squirrel.

It was Angel.

“I know I’m not at my best,” she said with a lopsided smile. “I’ve been driving for twenty straight hours. Even so, ‘disgusting carcass’ is a little harsh, don’t you think?”

My God. She was here. Grinning at him.

He didn’t grin back.

How could she do this to him? Rip his heart out over and over and over?

“You broke my dog,” he accused, unable to give voice to what he was really feeling.

Though, it looked like Pudge was fixed now, his tail wagging and that sparkle in his brown eyes as he gazed lovingly at his true master.

Damn her.

“I didn’t break him. He loves me,” she said.

So did Colton, but he didn’t say it. He was trying so hard not to love her.

“Did you wake up next to another dead guy?” he asked.

He was only half joking. With Angel, you never knew what she might get into.

“No. I woke up alone. And I don’t like it much.”

He swallowed. She looked…serious. Like she had something to say to him. That maybe involved not waking up alone.

A trickle of optimism ran through him.

“I don’t like it much either,” he said honestly. “Do you want to come in and tell me about it?”

She stepped into his kitchen and looked around, brows hiked. “I thought you wanted an exciting life. This is not going to be exciting.”

“I changed my mind,” he told her. Then he decided to take a big risk with the truth. She was here, and he’d be damned if he let her walk away without knowing how he truly felt. “I decided I want a normal life. No guns. No excitement. Well, no excitement other than maybe my students winning the next State Math Bowl, or something.”

“So do I. Want a normal life, that is.” Her voice was casual, but her eyes were serious and intent on his.

This was too good to be true. He tamped down the hope that surged through his body.

“What if you change your mind again?” she asked. “About the guns.”

“Then we’ll figure it out.” He shook his head. “But I won’t.”

“I don’t know if I can sit here waiting for you to come home after some dangerous job. I’ll worry myself to death.”

His heart swelled. She’d worry. About him.

That must mean—

“Can you wait for me to come back from class?” he asked, his whole body filling with a brand-new kind of excitement. “I generally get home about four, but I was thinking about maybe coaching basketball. I was always good at it. That might take me away some evenings. Of course, you’re welcome to watch. Do you like basketball?”

“Yeah, I like basketball. A lot.”

They gazed at each other. And he wondered what she was really trying to say.

Then he remembered his promise to Kenny. That he would go for it if he had the chance.

This was his chance.

“I love you,” he said. That was what they should be talking about. Not basketball. “I love you. And I need you in my life.” He swallowed and kept going. “I don’t need action and danger to make my life exciting. I need the challenge of helping my students achieve their dreams. I need someone to talk to about my day when I get home. I need an engaging sex life, and someone to hold at night. I need you. You’re everything I want. And hopefully, you’ll be my everything for the rest of our lives.”

Her eyes grew shiny and a wobbly smile broke out on her face. “I love you, too. I wish I would have stayed with you when you asked last year. I wish I would have shown you how important you were to me. How important you still are. I’m ready to show you now, if you let me.”

He stepped up to her and took her hands in his, joy filling his entire being.

“Hell, yeah. The last time I asked you to stay with me, I wasn’t clear about what that meant. I know now. Will you marry me, Angel?”

Somewhere in one of the moving boxes was the diamond ring he’d purchased in the hopes of convincing her to stay with him. He’d find it later. Now it was just about them. This moment.

“Yes. God, yes, I’ll marry you. But actually, it’s Cassandra now.”

He shook his head and smiled down at this woman who was his life. “Maybe. But you’ll always be my Angel,” he whispered. “You were sent to save me.”

She smiled and pulled him closer. “We’ll save each other, every single day for the rest of our lives.”