Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
“I will miss you, too, babe,” she replied. “But have fun and take care of Solo. I can’t imagine having to hide for seven whole years. I hope she’s had some company. I wish she’d called me.”
“It’s not your fault.” He knew she felt guilty.
“I wasn’t nice to her. I didn’t give her a real second chance,” River admitted. “If I had, she would have felt welcome, and we could have given her a place to stay. She could have hidden here. If you can’t resolve her case…”
“I’ll let her know she has a place waiting for her here,” he promised his wife as Henry put the truck in park.
River went on her toes and brushed her lips against his. “Be careful. Remember how much we love you when you’re out there in the great big world.”
He breathed her in and held her close a moment more. He didn’t need the great big world. He only needed the one he’d built with this woman. “I love you. Take care of our boys.”
Henry was chuckling as Caden and Rio and Buster basically tackled the former operative. He simply opened his arms and let in all the love. “Hey, River! I’ve got some bread from Nell and the girls. She wants you to know we’re happy to help at the office if you need it.”
Of course they would. It was what the Flanders family did, what everyone in Bliss did. They helped.
“I hope you’re still saying that by the time summer camp rolls around,” Jax said, kissing his wife one last time. “Boys, come say good-bye to your old dad.”
In a heartbeat he was covered in giggling little boys and a dog who thought he was a giggling boy.
His life was so full, and it was time to pay back two of the people who’d helped make it all happen.
* * * *
Solna, Sweden
Outside of Stockholm
Owen Shaw ran the last few hallways that led to his wife’s lab. He prayed she hadn’t been called to the hospital. She rarely performed surgery anymore, but she did assist with some of the neurosurgeons in the city to keep her skills up.
The Karolinska Institute was all modern angles and smooth lines, and it made it easy for him to find his way to Rebecca’s offices, though they hadn’t been in Sweden for long. She’d finally found the research project she couldn’t pass up, and because she’d once given up her whole hard-fought life to be with him, he’d felt good about doing the same for her. Being a stay-at-home dad wasn’t a dream job, but he found it utterly satisfying to spend so much time with his children.
He hoped she wouldn’t see what he had to do now as a betrayal of the pact they’d made when they’d agreed to move to Sweden.
“Mr. Shaw,” the assistant said as he rushed inside. He was a young Swede, still in medical school, hoping to study the mysteries of the brain with the best. “We weren’t expecting you. Is everything all right?”
His wife was the best. “Is Rebecca around?”
Please let her be around. He wasn’t sure he could wait, and he didn’t want to call her from the airport to tell her he’d left their son and daughter with friends.
“Hey.” Rebecca walked out of her office, her eyes wide with alarm. “Has something happened? Where are the kids?”
“They’re fine.” He moved to her, taking her hand in his. He had a hastily packed duffel slung over one shoulder, and her eyes went to it. “I got a call from Dallas. The one we’ve been waiting for.”
She led him into her office, shutting the door behind her. “They found Solo?”
She asked the question in a hushed tone that let him know she still remembered those days when they’d been on the run, hiding and praying they wouldn’t be found.
“Aye, and she’s here in Europe,” he replied quietly. “Love, I…”
She put her hands on his chest and tilted her head up. “You have to go help your team. Are Hannah and Arran at Lilly’s?”
Their next-door neighbor was a retired physician who’d taken to their kids. Hannah was six and Arran only eighteen months. Lilly and her husband had no grandchildren yet and seemed more than happy to offer the new couple some babysitting from time to time. “Yes. I didn’t want to bring them up here. I hope it’s all right. She said they would be fine there until you get home.”
“Good. I’ll call her and let her know I’ll try to leave a bit early.” She wrapped her arms around him. “It’s okay for you to go. I know it’s hard. I hate it when I have to go to a conference. I’m always scared I’ll miss something with them, but you can’t skip this one. They’re your brothers. They need you.”