Page 109 of In the Shadows
"And if it doesn't happen?"
"Then we figure out what comes next." He reached out and tugged the collar of Sid's jacket higher around her neck. "But we do it together. That's the only thing I'm certain about anymore."
She studied his face in the dim light.
"You mean that."
"I don't say things I don't mean. It's inefficient."
"God, you're strange."
"I've been told."
She rose on her toes and kissed him again, longer this time, her cold fingers curling into the front of his shirt.
"Take me home," she said against his mouth.
"We're almost there."
"Then walk faster."
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. It wasn’t a sweet kiss like the first time. It was heated, passionate, and delightful. But her response to it was better. She held him tightly, her hips ground against his; if she weren’t careful, he’d take her right now. Wouldn’t that be something for the gossip about town?
Later, lying in the dark with Lila asleep beside him, Ronan stared at the ceiling and listened to the quiet.
The cottage settled around them—small creaks and sighs, the old bones of a house that had seen decades of Florida weather. Outside, an owl called somewhere in the trees. The refrigerator hummed in the kitchen.
Ordinary sounds. The kind of sounds he'd never noticed before because he'd never stayed anywhere long enough to learn them.
His phone buzzed on the nightstand. He reached for it carefully, trying not to wake Lila.
Caleb.
Happy New Year. Heard about the new motion. Don't worry—it's a Hail Mary. They've got nothing.
Ronan typed back one-handed.
You're up late.
Time zones. I'm in Singapore.
New assignment?
Something like that. Tell Lila to breathe. The evidence is solid. Holloway knows what she's doing.
I'll tell her.
And Ronan? You made the right call. Staying.
He looked at Lila, her face soft in sleep, her hair spread across the pillow. The crooked Christmas tree was visible through the bedroom doorway, the chipped angel catching the faint light from the window.
He set the phone back on the nightstand and closed his eyes.
Three days until the hearing. Two weeks until the trial, if everything goes according to schedule. Months of testimony, evidence, and legal maneuvering ahead.
But right now, there was just this. A woman beside him. A house that was starting to feel like home. A future that was uncertain and terrifying and, against all odds, something he wanted to see.
The owl called again in the darkness.
