Page 5 of Unexpected Redemption

Oh shit.NowI get it.

True to form, her annoyance is based on her concern for someone else.

Grabbing her hand, I lead her over to the whiteboard. Until now, I haven’t explained the detailed plan, and she hasn’t asked. I suspect she needs to see this to ease her survivor’s guilt.

“We’re confident all Lenkov’s trafficking activities are stalled. All the names with lines through them are arrests. We’ve gutted their entire ring.”

She freezes, her jaw slack and eyes bulging. “Wow.How?”

“Savin and Tasha offered valuable information to the Feds upon their entry into WITSEC, which led to four other prep houses being raided before Lenkov had the chance to relocate them. We believe he was in the process of doing that, but we caught him in time. We also helped facilitate a bust of a house that was essentially a brothel.”

A shot of pride quivers under my ribs when I tell her the rest. “Sugar, more than eighty girls were saved. Eighty. Some of them had been in captivity for years.” I point toward the list lower down the board. “These are all the men who were bringing in new girls. My team found them all. Redleg either apprehended them ourselves or sent law enforcement to get them. There’s only one fuckface left standing from that group. For now.” The tendons on the sides of my neck tighten as I draw my eyes away from his name.

“Holy shit, babe. This is amazing.”

“Best we can tell, Lenkov isn’t hurting any more girls. Certainly not on the scale he was. He has no one to hunt them and no places to hold them. Nearly all his minions involved in the trafficking activities in West Florida have been captured.” Air struggles to free itself from my chest. “And once we get the leadership, they’ll never be able to hurt another woman again.”

“I had no idea.” She wraps me in a side hug. “I’m so proud of you.”

“As you can see, we’ve earned an early night.” I glance up at the clock. “It’s not eventhatearly. It’s already 1930.”

Her lashes flutter, and her voice heats. “It’s sexy when you talk military to me.”

I pull her close. “Before you get me hard again, there’s something else I want to say.”

“How about I get you hard while you talk?” She rises to her tiptoes and runs her lips along my neck. “I can multitask. It’s one of my ADHD superpowers.”

“That’s a bald-faced lie.” I barely get my words out through a brewing laugh. “You can hardly pay attention to one thing at a time, let alone two.”

She gasps and goes rigid in my arms. For a second, I wonder if my joke went too far.

“Excuse me? Howdareyou? I have never been so insulted in my life.” She throws a palm to her chest. “I hold a master’s degree in Paying Attention fromConcentration College, where I graduated summa cum sumthin’ or other. And they’re one of the top ten private colleges in the US, thank you very much. So you better watch your mouth or risk insulting my entire alma mater.”

My shoulders rise and fall with amusement as a dusting of relief settles over me. “My apologies. I take it back. You’re excellent at paying attention. Never met anyone as gifted in that regard. Surprised it’s not a PhD, to be honest.”

Closing the space she put between us with her humorous antics, she bobbles her head like it’s on a spring and purses her lips. “Just for that, I’m gonna sit on your face for an extra-long time tonight. Maybe I’ll make you sleep like that.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time, sugar.”

As soon as she’s within reaching distance, I pull her close and kiss the fuck out of her. All her snark, sass, and teasing dies on her tongue from my possessive grip on her neck and unforgiving lips. She melts instantly.

This woman is the embodiment of joy.

Breaking away, I lick my lips to savor the taste of her sweet kisses. She does that adorable thing where she keeps her eyes shut for a few seconds.

I wonder if she’ll do that when I kiss her after we’re pronounced husband and wife?

Shaking off the random thought, I finish my earlier point. “Back to what I was saying earlier.”

“Yes?”

“I made mistakes over the year we were together, and I’ll do my best not to repeat them.”

She massages my forearms and biceps in seductive strokes, making it nearly impossible to concentrate.“Like what?”

“I worked too much. Should’ve spent more time with you. Spoiled you with more dates. Been there for you more. Taken you out to lunch for no reason other than to be together. Stuff like that.”

“Aw,” she coos, rolling her lip out in a subtle pout.

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