Page 85 of Beautiful Vengeance
“Thank God.”She threw herself into his arms, needing to touch him, needing his skin on hers as physical proof to back up his words.She yanked off his shirt and ran her hands down his chest.There were several impressive bruises blossoming, and his gunshot wound had a new bandage on it, but he wasn’t hiding any massive injury.“Youareokay.”
“You’re not going to ask about Colm?”
She froze, her gaze still on the center of his chest.“I trust you did whatever you thought was best.”She didn’t want any more deaths on his conscience, but…She loved Jude, and that meant making her peace with even the darkest parts of him.Callie was alive—Sloan would have heard if she wasn’t—and that was the most important thing.
“He’s alive.”He covered her hands with his own.“I almost pulled the trigger.I won’t lie and try to tell you otherwise—I wasthisclose, but I didn’t do it.Youare the most important thing in my life.That old bastard isn’t long for this world, and he’ll burn in hell for what he did to my family.”His grip tightened and he made a visible effort to relax.“I won’t risk you—either of you—by hunting him down and putting him out of his misery.And your oldest brother has given his word that he’ll cover our tracks.”
She could hardly believe it.She knew what Aiden had said, but hearing Jude confirm it was something else altogether.“You’re saying…”
“I’m saying I love you.You were already starting to make me question everything I knew before we found out you were pregnant.I’m your man, Sloan.Forever.I’m not going to turn into a teddy bear overnight, but—”
“I love you, too.”She kissed him, so full of emotion, it was a wonder she didn’t burst.“God, I love you so much.You are who you are, Jude.We both are.”She cupped his face.“We have the whole world.We’re free.Where do you want to go?”
He grinned, his expression the happiest she’d ever seen.“I have a place in Maine.I know it’s not Oregon, but it’s on the ocean and in the middle of a little town that would give Callaway Rock a run for its money.”
“Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.”She kissed him again, lingering, a slow heat building beneath her skin.
His hands skated down her sides to her hips, pulling her more firmly against him.“I’m going to marry you, sunshine.Not now, not when we’re fresh off all this bullshit and still reeling.But once we’ve settled down, when things are what will pass for normal.”He reached between them and pressed his hand against her stomach.“We’ll do it on the beach, just us and this little one.Think we’ll have a ring bearer or a flower girl?”
She hadn’t even thought that far.“Does it matter?”
“No.Nothing fucking matters but us, sunshine.You and me and the whole of the future spread out before us.”
