Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
The way Lou would.
It didn’t matter. The revelation came upon her suddenly. She loved TJ and she always would. She wasn’t sure why. Maybe it had been his sweet smile combined with his tender heart when he was a boy. Maybe it was the friendship they’d formed. It didn’t matter. Her love wasn’t selfish, and she made it less when she allowed it to be.
Theo joined his wife and son, forming a circle around TJ.
That was what she wanted. What she had, in a way. She was the center of that circle for her parents, and she was so grateful, but she wanted more. She wanted to be the strong arms protecting their kids.
She wanted everything with him, and she had to be brave enough to risk disaster.
“I love you guys, and this is one of those moments,” TJ was saying. “One of those family moments that I’ll never forget. But it’s not complete.”
For a moment she thought he was talking about the fact that his sister wasn’t here, but then she realized he was looking at her. He opened his arms, giving her entry to the circle. “It’s never complete without you, Lou.”
“It’s not, sweet girl,” Erin agreed. “It hasn’t been since he was twelve years old. He’s a late bloomer. Forgive him.”
Forgive him. Was there anything to forgive? They hadn’t been ready if one of them hadn’t been ready. If he’d given in, would they still be together or would they be broken like Kala and Cooper? Did she want that for them? No. She wanted this. She wanted inside that beautiful circle, and with tears blurring the world, she walked to them, letting them surround her utterly.
“We’re going to get through this,” Theo promised. “It’s going to be okay.”
“We can get through anything together,” Erin added, and Lou felt her tighten her arms around her.
Then there was another body behind her as Big Tag joined in.
Theo looked up at his brother, a brow cocking.
“Hey, I like a good hug and this one is a long time coming,” Big Tag said. “Now we have to find a way to fix the rest of them. Also, I like how TJ called his mom elderly and got this big hug out of it. Erin’s mellowing.”
“I’ll get him back,” Erin promised, but leaned her head against her son’s.
“And we shouldn’t forget that she killed that monster with the power of her thighs,” Big Tag added.
Theo laughed and hugged them all tighter. “That’s my baby.”
“And you’re mine,” TJ whispered, nuzzling against her.
A sense of peace settled over Lou.
And she was buying a thigh master because she was going to be as fierce as her mother-in-law.
* * * *
TJ wanted the moment to never end because when Lou had joined them, it had felt like forever, but like all things, time moved on and his parents pulled away.
Damn, but he loved them.
He prayed that had been more than a moment for he and Lou. She had to see how much love was waiting for her.
“All the familial love aside,” his uncle began, his voice softer than before, “was there anything interesting on the tapes?”
Lou’s eyes widened as though she was remembering they had a job to do. He wished they could go to lunch and sit with his parents and maybe afterward go over and hang out with hers. He would toss whatever ball Jayce was playing with this season—football, baseball, basketball—he could do any of them. He liked having a younger brother to mentor. They would have dinner with her parents and then he would take her home to their bed where his cousins would gag and pretend it was all too much for them, but he would know how happy they were he was finally able to properly take care of Lou.
Endless days of being with Lou was all he wanted. He’d proven himself, found a place where he belonged, and that was at her side.
Which he couldn’t do if he was in prison.
She wiped at her eyes as she walked back to the desk where half an hour ago he’d eaten her pussy.
He moved in beside her, unable to stay away.
She gave him a watery smile and squeezed his hand before turning back to her laptop. He watched as she took a long breath and seemed to try to get professional again. But when he put a hand on her hip and got close, she didn’t push him away.
He wanted to be in that moment where she’d joined them and he finally fucking felt complete.
“TJ mentioned he thought someone was behind the scenes,” Lou began. “This isn’t intel we got from MI6. This is what Kala and Cooper managed to get from the mercenary base. I’ve had the AI working on it for hours.”
“You talking about the man who was interrogating TJ?” his father asked.