we go home?”
“Okay.” I stood up, lifting him with me and keeping him in my arms, unwilling to let him get more than a few inches away. He pulled his head back and looked down into my eyes with a seriousness beyond his years. “But can we get cheeseburgers on the way home? I’m real hungry.”
Just like that, I knew he’d be okay. Because Shane had raised him to be strong.
Shane
The relief I felt when Jensen walked through our front door with Brantley in his arms was something I’d never experienced before. Five hours of searching and worrying and praying had left me feeling like my soul had been ripped from my body. But seeing my baby in the arms of his dad, safe and sound and back where he belonged, pieced my soul back together.
Brantley had been checked out by the EMS on the scene at the ranch and given a clean bill of health before Jensen brought him home, and for the most part, my boy seemed no worse for the wear. But I was struggling. That night I’d made sure he slept in the bed with Jensen and me, tucked snuggly between us so no one could get to him.
After the day he’d had, my kid scarfed down a cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate milkshake, and crashed out on the couch in the middle of the third Avengers movie. Now he was in our bed, sleeping peacefully, but I couldn’t find it for myself.
“Sunshine,” Jensen said in a low voice. “He’s okay. Nothing’s gonna happen to him. He’s safe”
“I know,” I whispered back. “I just . . . I can’t stop looking at him.”
He reached across our boy and pressed his fingers beneath my chin so I’d look at him. “They’re never gonna hurt him again, baby. They’re both going away for a long time. And I swear to you, I’ll never let anything hurt him or you ever again.”
As it turned out, when I refused to help Cordelia, she’d taken to stalking my every move, trying to build up the courage to snatch my son in the hopes that she and Whitman could make it look like it had been someone else. Then they’d swoop in with a plan that would save the day, and Jensen would be so grateful, he’d drop the lawsuit. It was pure insanity, and now they were both fucked.
“I know,” I replied with a gentle smile. “Honey, I never doubted you for a second. I knew you’d bring him back to me. Just like I know you’ll protect us both with your life. I’m not worried about any of that.”
“Then what is it? What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“It was just a long time,” I answered, heaving a heavy sigh. “Those were the longest five hours of my life. I’m going to be okay. It’ll just take a little while. That’s all.”
“What can I do to help? What do you need from me?”
God, this man.
“This. I need exactly this. You, here with me and our son, loving us and protecting us for the rest of our lives.”
He leaned in, slipping his hand around the back of my neck and pulling me closer to speak against my lips. “You already have that, sunshine.”
“Then, like I said, I’m going to be just fine, because I have absolutely everything I need right here.”
Epilogue
Shane
Three months later
“For crying out loud. This is getting really old.”
At Farah’s declaration, I glanced in the direction she was looking, scanning the bar from where our group was sitting up by the pool tables.
It was one of my nights off, but Caroline and Scooter were watching Brantley for us so Jensen and I could have a night out with our friends. Most people would have balked at the thought of spending their night off at the place where they worked, but I wasn’t most people, and Bad Alibi was an awesome bar. To me, there was nothing better than sitting on my man’s lap, enjoying a few beers and a lot of laughs with the people I loved.
Letting out a sigh, I rolled my eyes and turned back to our group. Cannon was here with Farah—who was also enjoying a night off. Jase and Poppy were also here, along with Wynn, Stone, Holt, Clay, Gage, and Laeth—who’d wandered away several minutes ago when a brunette at the bar started giving him fuck-me eyes.
“I keep telling Darla and Buck to ban her for life, but they haven’t done it yet.”