J. Kenner - Wanted

“I—” I drew in a breath and realized that at least a little of the burden I’d carried for close to eight years had been lifted. “Did they arrest him?”

“No,” Evan said, his jaw tight.

I licked my lips. “Did you kill him?”

He faced me, his gray eyes as flat as I’d ever seen them. “No,” he said. “Some gangbanger got to him six months ago.” He drew in a breath. “I have never killed a man, but I went out there intending to do just that. To find that son of a bitch and to end him. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

I nodded, feeling numb.

“I’ve walked away from a lot of my past. For you. For Ivy. For myself. But I have a code, and if someone comes after me or mine, I will strike back. And if it comes down to it, I will kill to protect the people I love.”

“Do you think it scares me?” I asked. “You should know me better by now. You’re not a killer, Evan. You’re a protector. And I’ve never felt more safe than when I’m with you.”

“Good,” he said, looking both relieved and nervous. “I needed to make sure you understood that before—”

I cocked my head, confused by the way he suddenly broke off his words. “Before what?”

“Before I ask you to marry me,” he said.

“Evan!”

For a moment I thought he was joking. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. He held it out to me even as he sank to one knee in the sand. “I love you, Angelina Raine. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”

I looked from the ring to the man holding it and realized that both were blurry, probably because I’d started crying.

I sniffled, then laughed, then slid the ring on my finger before dropping down into the sand myself and knocking him backward. I kissed him, hard and fast, this man of mine. And as we lay in the sand under the bright summer sun, I said the only thing there was left to say.

I said yes.