Just One Touch (Slow Burn #5)(83)

"No, baby," he rushed to say. "You were just a child and you've endured so much trauma since then. No one could expect you to have clear memories of a life that was lost to you two decades ago."

She looked down a moment, her fingers fidgeting against his shirt.

"What is it, baby?"

She glanced back up at him, a sheen of moisture coating her eyes. Then she licked her lips, her uncertainty evident in her every movement.

"Should we contact her?" she asked hesitantly. "Should I meet with her?"

"That's a decision only you can make, sweetheart."

"Is it stupid that I'm scared to meet my own mother?"

"Of course not. Baby, I'd be more concerned if you weren't nervous over the prospect. But listen to me, okay? You don't have to make up your mind today. Or tomorrow. You take all the time in the world you want and when you feel you're ready then we'll set something up, but it has to be safe for you or it doesn't happen."

Jenna nodded and then swallowed visibly. "I want to see her. I have to see her. I have vague memories of a woman who looks so much like her. But most of my memories are of my father."

Tears filled her eyes and slid soundlessly down her cheeks.

"And now I know he's dead," she choked out. "For so many years, I held on to this thread of hope that maybe one day I'd get to see him again. That he'd remember me and that he missed me and that he'd want me to come home. But they killed him. God, and I saved those monsters' lives time and time again. I'm glad they're dead," she hissed, her jaw clenched tightly. "I only wish they'd suffered more."

Isaac pulled her into his arms again and rubbed his hand up and down her back, not saying anything, just doing what he could to comfort her when she was hurting so badly.

"If you want to have a meeting with your mother, we can arrange it, Jenna. But only if that's what you want and only after we do some checking to make sure she is who she says she is."

Jenna nodded. "I understand. I think it's something I have to do even if it's just to finally know if there were ever people out there who loved me. A family. Someone who grieved for me after I was taken. I've always felt so alone in the world, as if I had no one."

"You have me," he said fiercely. "You'll always have me. Never again will you be alone. Never, Jenna. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

She gave him a wavering smile, but she nodded and then leaned in to brush her lips across his. "I do know," she whispered. "And thank you. That means more to me than you'll ever know."

"Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked.

Slowly she nodded her head. "It's what I need to do whether I want to or not. I have to make peace with that part of my life if I'm ever going to be truly free."

He kissed her, soft and warm, lightly so as not to overwhelm her when she was so vulnerable, but just so she remembered that he was here, that he'd always be here, and that he loved her with everything he had.

"I'll tell the others then," he said after he'd pulled away. "Provided everything checks out, we'll set it up as soon as we come up with a plan that provides the least danger to you."



       
         
       
        

"Will you be with me?" she asked tentatively. "I don't want to meet her alone."

He cupped her cheek with his palm and stared directly into her eyes. "Honey, listen to me. Where you go, I go. Always. And that's a fact. There will never be a time where you go anywhere without me right by your side. I'm never letting you out of my sight if I can help it."

She relaxed visibly, some of the worry and strain lessening in her face. "Thank you," she whispered. "I'm afraid to meet her and I don't know why. I'm so nervous I feel like I could throw up. But my heart tells me I have to do this, and as long as you're with me, I can do anything, Isaac."





TWENTY-FIVE

TORI Devereaux woke with a gasp, tears streaming down her cheeks from the horror of the dream that had played in real time as if she'd been there, standing just feet away as the event had occurred.

Familiar arms wrapped around her and she found herself against Dane's chest as he ran his hand down her hair to soothe her. She blinked in confusion even as the tears continued to seep from her eyes. How had he known? Why was he in her bedroom?

Dane gently pulled her away as he reached with one hand to turn on her bedside lamp. The implacable lines of his face were immediately illuminated and for a moment she thought he was angry with her. But then his eyes softened as they filled with concern. For her?