Page 28 of Surprising Bones

I believe him.

For a long time, we just stand there, breathing together. Then I remember Henderson, remember how pathetic he looked in Diesel’s grip.

I pull back just enough to ask, “Is Diesel going to… you know… hurt him?”

Bones’s eyes flick to the door, then back to me. “Diesel doesn’t have to. Henderson’s already pissed off some very dangerous people. Diesel’s just making sure they know where to find him.”

He strokes my cheeks, big hands gentle as velvet. “My world isn’t perfect,” he says, voice soft but fierce. “But I won’t let any of the bad things touch you. I’ll always protect you. I love you.”

The words hit me harder than Henderson’s threats.

I wrap my arms around his neck and hold on, really hold on, for the first time in my life.

“I know,” I say, the words no longer scary or strange, but so easy, so true. I don’t know how I ever lived without them. “I love you, too.”

He kisses me, slow and sure, right there in the ruined office, where my old life collided with my new one.

For the first time ever, I know I’ll be okay. I have a place. I have a person. I have a future.

And nothing, or no one, can take that away.