Page 115 of Wicked Intention

Her grin faded, and a melancholy expression replaced it. “I assume it’s in a secure area in the back of some South American museum by now. I handed it over to Archer after I photographed it, sketched it, and took measurements.”

“The museum is where you wanted it.”

“Absolutely.” She shrugged. “It’s, well, I spent so many years looking for it, researching it.” Another shrug. “It was hard to give it up.” Zo shook her head and changed the subject. “Did everything get wrapped up in Puerto Jardin?”

Finn nodded. “And Lurch is set to take over the role I used to fill, so I don’t expect to get another request to help out the team. Thank God.”

“Good.” Zo hesitated, then asked, “So you’re happy they won’t be asking you to work with them again? You’re not sorry you left the Army?”

Crossing to her, Finn took her waist. “I won’t lie, it was fun at first—the adrenaline rush, matching wits with the bad guys, working with my buddies—but it got old fast, and I remembered why I left.” He lowered his head to hers. “I’m where I want to be.”

Her arms went around his neck. “I’m glad. I missed you.”

“I missed you, too, Zo.” He kept the kiss quick, a mere brush of his lips. They had things to talk about. Not all of it today, but yeah. And he’d have to do everything possible to convince her she didn’t need to change who she was to please him. It was going to be a lifelong operation, but he was 100% committed to seeing it through.

Finn took her hand and tugged gently, leading her to the sitting area in their bedroom. She settled on the couch, and Finn sat beside her. His angle put the bed squarely in his view. The covers were a mess, and his lips curved as he remembered how they’d ended up that way.

Bringing his focus back to Zo, he asked, “What else has been going on? Any other jobs while I was away?”

“Archer wouldn’t send me anywhere until he fixed the problem in Puerto Jardin. He said it was too risky and that he didn’t need me to get arrested and extradited.” She scowled. “It took him until today to get everything cleared for both you and me, so I spent the last six months at headquarters.Behind a desk.”

His lips twitched, but he squelched the smile. He was happy as hell that she hadn’t been meeting with dealers of stolen antiquities without him, but he knew Zo had hated sitting at the Paladin League.

“Finn?”

There was a note of…something in Zo’s voice that made him nervous. He brought his attention back to her immediately. “What?”

“While you were gone, I reapplied to grad school so I can finish my PhD. I start back at the end of this month.”

His tension left in a rush. Nothing for him to worry about. “Good. I know you wanted that doctorate.”

“Yeah. It shouldn’t take too long. I was ABD when I left, and I was pretty far along with that, too.”

“ABD?” That was a new one.

“All But Dissertation.” Zo sighed, hesitated, then said, “My parents heard about it when they were visiting last month.”

Her parents. Fuck, she’d had to face them without any emotional support. “And they thought you’d gotten back on their track for your life.”

Zo nodded and reached out, taking his hand. “It’s okay. We worked some stuff out. Actually, we talked about a lot of things that we’d never previously addressed. It was a good thing,” she assured him when his hand tightened on hers.

Finn studied her, but her blue eyes didn’t hold any turmoil. “That’s unusual, isn’t it? From what I’ve seen, they’re not big on getting in the weeds.”

“You’re not wrong. I’m the one who broached the subject.”

His surprise must have been obvious because Zo grinned.

“Tia Izel helped me see that I had some issues, and a lot of them stemmed from my relationship with my mom and dad.” She sobered. “I knew I needed to work through them, or I risked losing you. Maybe not right away, but someday.” Her gaze dropped. “I didn’t want that, so I started counseling and discovered a few things. Some I knew bothered me, but there were others I didn’t realize. I picked up strategies to change the script, and when my parents arrived, I implemented them.”

“And it worked?” Finn shifted closer to Zo and tipped her face to his. He needed to see her eyes.

“It helped. They stayed an extra week, and we had a few group sessions with my therapist. We have a long way to go, but we made progress in understanding each other. And they love me—they said so right to my face.” Zo’s expression was half amazement, half joy. “Guiding my life and insisting I get my PhD was their way of saying they loved me and wanted me to have a secure future.”

He nodded slowly as realization dawned. “Tenure equalsjob security, which is why they wanted you to become a professor. What about them picking your boyfriends?”

“If I had a lot in common with the man I married, they thought a divorce would be less likely.”

“It’s a good thing then that you and I enjoy so many of the same things.”

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