Page 103 of Fearless

“I’m better, Ash. Really. Please apologize to Jules for my behavior.”

“No apology necessary. You’ve been through a lot.” He went silent, and Serena knew he wanted her to know he was ready to listen if she wanted to talk.

Not yet.

“Well, thanks for the call,” Serena said quickly. “We’d better run. We’re late for lunch.”

She was aware of the sharp look Sean gave her and felt the guilt and shame all the way to her soul. She had always had such a deep admiration for undercover operators who were able to live in two different worlds. OZ operatives like Eve and Gideon would go undercover for months and then return home seemingly not bothered or changed by their experience. And here she was, shying away from even giving a full report of her experience. If nothing else, she had learned that she was not cut out to be an undercover operative.

“Give my best to your parents, Serena,” Ash was saying, apparently unbothered by her abrupt words.

Unable to respond due to the lump in her throat, Serena looked at Sean, who took the lead and said, “Will do, Ash. Give us a call if we can help. We’ll be in touch.”

The instant the call ended, Sean turned to her and held out his hand. “Ready?”

She loved that he didn’t question her attitude or the obvious secrets she was holding back.

“Ash is right, you know,” Serena said. “We need to spend some time alone.”

His brows arched in surprise. “You want to leave Francine?”

A gurgle of laughter broke from her, and a delighted expression appeared on Sean’s face. She shook her head at his question. “If we tried to leave Francine right now, there would be about fifty people blocking the road out of here. But there’s a vacant house where we could have some privacy.”

Pulling her into his arms, he held her close and whispered, “I’ll go anywhere with you.”

Hours later, Sean watched Serena struggle to sleep. It was obvious her body needed the rest—the deep shadows beneath her eyes indicated severe exhaustion. But from the way she twisted and jerked awake constantly, whatever was troubling her followed her into her dreams. He was almost certain the death of the young man who’d helped her was the reason for her anguish. Until she talked through it, he doubted she would get the peace she needed.

He wouldn’t question her or make her talk about it until she was ready. She wasn’t holding on to intel—she was holding on to anguish. He had plenty of experience with that particular emotion, and he knew the difficulty of facing it. She needed the time to come to terms with what had happened, and he would be here when she was ready to share.

The transfer to the empty home a few houses down from her parents had been surprisingly smooth. He had expected Ed and Mallory to resist since she had only returned home, but they were not only wise enough to see that she needed to decompress, but the fact that she would still be so close to them seemed to ease their anxiety.

Since neither of them had unpacked, Sean had grabbed the go bags he’d stashed in a corner, along with Hank’s bed and bowls, and they’d been out the door within minutes after lunch. Her parents had hugged her goodbye, her mother had kissed his cheek, and Ed had shaken his hand and patted him on the back.

Within ten minutes of entering the house, Serena was already yawning. He’d carried her upstairs to the bedroom and settled her into bed. She’d given him a sleepy smile and fallen asleep immediately. Unfortunately, she still wasn’t resting the way she needed to.

Easing down beside her, he gently touched her hand that he’d noticed kept curling into a fist. If he could take every moment of pain she’d experienced and put it on himself, he would do it in a second.

She jerked awake, her eyes wide and startled. He cursed himself softly for once again doing the wrong thing. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. You were restless. I thought touching you might soothe you somehow.”

Her face relaxed, and a sweet smile curved her lips. “It does,” she said softly. She glanced toward the window. “How long was I asleep?”

“Not long. Maybe an hour.”

Her forehead furrowed. “I thought you were going into town for groceries. Are you already back?”

Sean released a huffing laugh. “That was the plan. I did a quick workout and then was headed out the door.” He stopped for a moment, still choked up somewhat from what he’d found when he’d opened the front door. Serena’s family—which was his family, too, he reminded himself—had come through in a major way.

“And?”

“Going to the grocery store is not necessary. We’ve got enough groceries, casseroles, cakes, pies, cookies, and fresh food to last us into next year.”

Her eyes lighting up, she nodded. “Yep, that’s my family.”

“Our family,” he said quietly, hopefully.

“Our family,” she agreed softly.

Swallowing past the lump of emotions gathering in his throat, he said, “They also left letters, notes, and cards.”