Page 33 of Shadow

She snuggled close to him with the chocolate and pointed. “Go to Netflix. We can watch a true crime documentary or that chocolate show.”

He rolled his eyes but clicked over to the streaming service anyway.

A trailer started, taking them both by surprise.

She jerked the remote out of his hand and quickly scrolled down to keep the trailer from playing any further.

“Bastard,” she muttered.

“Whoa. What just happened?”

He reached over and pulled the remote away from her, turning the TV off before he set it down.

“Apparently, Mario has a new show.”

He hadn’t recognized the chef at first, but now that she said it, he felt like an idiot for not seeing it.

“Want to skip the TV and talk?”

She cracked the seal on the water and took a long drink. “As long as we don’t have to talk about Mario.”

Someday they would have to talk about her ex, but it didn’t need to be now, so he held her tighter and kissed her temple.

“You’re not completely freaked out about the Daddy thing, are you?”

She smiled up at him. “No. Not freaked out. At first it confused me, but it makes sense the more I think about it. And I liked it more than I thought I would.”

He grinned. “Good. Because you still have another dose of my belt coming later.”

She took a large bite of the candy bar. “Aww, man. I was hoping you weren’t serious about that.”

He frowned. “I’ll never not be serious about your safety, Liv. Let’s get that clear right now.”

She sighed. “OK.”

They were silent for a few more minutes, and Ripley was content to just hold her.

When she finished her candy bar, she sat up straight and pulled a pillow in front of her.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course, baby girl.”

“Why did you come home? What made you retire?”

He dragged a hand through his hair. That was a complicated question.

“It was time. I always knew the time would come, and to be honest, I wasn’t expecting it when it happened. But I’m glad it did.”

“And there’s no chance of you being called back out?”

He shook his head. “None that I know of. They’ve wiped all my aliases, and I’m officially only Cannon Ripley now. It’s possible they ask me to come into a local office and consult from time to time, but that will be at least a year or two away. My security clearance is being downgraded, and that means I have no choice but to stay out of the game.”

She frowned.

“Not the answer you wanted?”

Wadding up the candy foil, she tossed it toward the trash can. “I’m not sure I wanted a specific answer. It just sounds like you were forced out. That could lead to you being resentful or something.”

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