Just One Touch (Slow Burn #5)(76)

He nodded, unable to give voice to the statement she'd barely managed herself.

"What are we going to do?" she asked, her eyes begging him for a miraculous solution, and God, he wished he could give her one. He wanted to give her everything her heart had ever desired, but this was out of his hands and there were no miracles, save those God chose to bestow on the worthy, and Isaac had proved his unworthiness long before Jenna had swept into his life and restored the faith he'd discarded along the way.

"We knew as soon as we saw the newscast why the cult was eliminated, and in all honesty, the hit had most likely been ordered long before you escaped. It occurred mere days after the exchange was supposed to have happened. The cult still wanted access to you even after they turned you over to a drug kingpin and there was no way Jaysus would ever let anyone have use of his prized possession. If the exchange had taken place and you were now in his hands, the massacre would still have occurred because he didn't want to chance leaving anyone who had knowledge of your existence or your ability to heal alive. With no one left who knew you existed, no one would have ever asked questions about your disappearance and Jaysus would never have to worry about anyone but him knowing anything about your gift."

Her expression grew fearful once she realized how close she came to being swallowed up in a hole she could never escape from and having absolutely no one who would ever look for her.

"We have a plan that's already been put into action," he soothed. "Caleb, Beau and Zack took their wives to a safe house and they'll have heavy guard at all time. Tori is with Dane and he has money and connections, not to mention firepower, that likely will come damn close to matching Jaysus's own. Wade Sterling has taken Eliza to an undisclosed location not even known to us, and like Dane, he has not only a lot of money but a lot of power and an entire security team of trained professionals."

"And us?" she asked anxiously. "The rest of the men?"

"We're staying right here. It's heavily fortified, stocked with six months of provisions, not to mention a very impressive arsenal, courtesy of Dane. We're hiding in plain sight, and I don't think even Jaysus would think to look for us in a downtown high-rise building, and even if he did, we have a safe room that he'd need serious firepower, as in military-grade weaponry, to breach it, and there are multiple escape exits if we ever need to get the hell out fast."

"So we just stay here?" she asked hesitantly, biting into her bottom lip.

"That's exactly what we do," he said, injecting confidence and reassurance into his tone.

"But we can't just hide forever," she said doubtfully.

"No. We wait for him to come to us. He's desperate, and desperate men eventually fuck up. They always do. Eventually he'll grow tired of waiting for us to go out and he'll be furious that he's been thwarted, and he'll make a move to come after us. And we'll be watching and waiting and when he does rear his ugly head, we'll take him out."

Her breath hiccupped in a sigh of relief and she sagged against him, resting her cheek on his chest. "As long as I have you with me, it doesn't matter where we are," she said, sincerity audible in every word.

"You'll always have me, baby. I'm not going anywhere and neither are you. I need you, Jenna. I'm not ashamed to admit that I need you in order to breathe, in order not to lose the last vestiges of a soul you restored with your love and your light. Before you I existed in the shadows, never seeing the sun until the day you touched me and filled me with the most beautiful peace I've ever known."



       
         
       
        

"I don't know what to say, what to do when you say things like that," she said, her eyes filled with bewilderment, her words laden with emotion.

"Just say you love me too and that you need me even a fraction as much as I need you," he said, knowing his expression, his eyes, his entire demeanor was as serious as could be. And truthful. It was all he needed from her. It was all he'd ever need from her. Just her love. She didn't even have to love him as deeply as he loved her, because he loved her enough for both of them.

"And promise me you'll never give up on me," he added, anxiety gripping him because he hadn't included this in his previous statement. "Never give up on us. I know it's not easy right now and at times I won't be easy to live with. I'm well aware of the disparity in what you offer me-how much more you offer me and can give me than what I can offer in return. I'll always be trying to catch up and while I know it isn't possible that I ever will, what I can offer is given with all my heart, my soul, my life. I belong and will always belong to you. I'm yours to command. Any wish you have, I'll move heaven and earth to make it come true. Just never give up on me, baby. Please. I can't even think about the possibility of a life without you in it because it makes me insane. It hurts."