Page 35 (1/2)

Resnick stared at her, his brow furrowed

"Take it," she said huskily "You’ll find the vault underneaththat made Alex Mouton who and what he was His wealth His contacts And if he was dealing in nuclear weapons, it’s all there"

She carefully related the facts she’d given Sam when she’d first told hih and pulled out his BlackBerry He typed furiously as she dictated

When she was finished, Resnick stared at her with adratitude reflected in the dark pools of his eyes

He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out what looked like a business card But when he handed it to her, she saw that it only had a single phone number written in ink across its surface

"If there’s anything I can ever do, you have only to call"

She stared at the card between her fingers A great weight lifted from her shoulders It was over It was truly over Her father was dead Her uncle was dead Anyone who could possibly harone

She was safe

"I’ll leave you to rest," Resnick said in a quiet voice

She looked up as he turned to Sam and extended his hand Sam stood and shook it firmly

"Thank you," Sam said "I owe you now"

Resnick shook his head "No Never that I’ll be in touch"

Saone, Sam leaned over and pressed his lips to her temple

"I’m so proud of you," he murmured

She turned so that their eyes met and their mouths were just a breath apart

"Thank you," she whispered

He trailed the back of his hand down her cheek, and she was struck by the intensity of his gaze He was so focused on her that on anotherwith all the love in his heart

"I sat here watching while you slept, and I went over what I wanted to say to you And then I realized how ht about how much we need to talk about And it went on and on"

He turned his hand over and palmed the side of her face His thumb trailed over her lips, then traced the shape of herin the world doesn’t change one single fact It doesn’t clarify it, e what is"

She stared at hi so hard that she could feel her blood pulsing, hear the roaring in her ears

"I love you, Sophie I can’t tell you at what moment I fell in love with you Maybe it was that first time I looked across the bar in Mexico and there you were Maybe it was the first tiht for our child And then for my mother It doesn’t matter I love you That’s it That’s all I hope to hell it’s enough"

Her heart squeezed She’d always tried to iine what it would be like to hear those words To know that she was loved Nothing had come close There was so much joy It hurt It shouldn’t hurt, but she felt too sht out of it

"I love you too"

She’d always i so difficult to say It was so easy, so freeing It was thein the world

Sam smiled, and his voice sounded scratchy and a little hoarse "I know you do, honey God, I do know You’ve proved it ti it I needed to hear you say it"

His elboere on the edge of the bed now, and their faces were close--so close she could hear each of his breaths She could feel his nervousness and his uncertainty, and she marveled that she could do that to him That she could make this man of action be hesitant, even for aspot over her waist and let it rest over his palm He put his other hand over the top and rubbed his thumb idly across the back of her hand

"Answer , Sophie What do you want? What do you want most in the world?"

There was vulnerability in that question Was he afraid she’d want so beyond him? Out of his reach?

"I want us to be a family," she said softly "I just want us to be a fa you I’ll always love you, Sam I’ll never betray you"

Some of the tension fled his expression His eyes burned Deep, intense blue

"You’ll have a fahter, but you’ll have brothers A sister You’ll love Rachel And there’s Rusty"

At her grimace, Sam smiled "Don’t worry She’s a pain in the ass to everyone You’ll have a mom and a dad They’re the best and they’ll love you every bit as much as I do"

He leaned in and kissed her, his lipsover hers in the sweetest of touches

"And you’ll have ined this hat riding on a roller coaster was like Or flying Facing into the sun, riding so high that you couldn’t see the ground

She wanted to laugh Wanted to close her eyes and savor this moment forever

She was free Finally free

Free to love Free to live her life the way she wanted

Free to choose

"I choose you," she whispered

He shter rolled once, then quieted as though she didn’t want to disturb the precious moment between her parents

"And I choose you, Soph Always you"

"I don’t kno to live a normal life," she admitted "I don’t knohat it’s like not to be afraid I’ve never not been afraid"