To Honor and To Protect

To Honor and To Protect by Debra Webb Page A

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Authors: Debra Webb
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hers. “It wasn’t my idea to change the status quo.” Irrational or not, she had a son. Not a baby or even a toddler—the kid was in grade school. “You didn’t wait too damn long to get on with your life after the wedding,” he said, pointing toward the closed door.
    She reeled back as if he’d hit her and her voice turned brittle. “You can’t stay here.”
    “I have to.” He struggled for any remnant of sanity. His world, barely held together since his release, was breaking apart now that he was in the same room with her. “You need me.”
    “No, I don’t,” she countered. “I’m doing just fine on my own.”
    “Really? Craig Everett escaped federal custody.”
    “Shh.” Panic flashed across her face as she glanced at the door. “He doesn’t know anything yet.”
    “So Everett is the kid’s father?”
    Her gaze turned hard as she glared at him again. “I know he escaped and I guarantee if he’d walked in that door—” she stabbed a finger in that direction “—if it had been anyone else but you, my aim would’ve been right on target.”
    He believed her. He’d seen her in action on a shooting range. Years ago. “So you missed because it was me?”
    “Yes.”
    He accepted the admission as a small positive sign. “We can go our separate ways after I get you safely out of Ev—his reach.”
    “How? Witness protection?”
    “Possibly.” He didn’t know the details, but he trusted Casey with the task.
    “No deal.”
    “Addi, be reasonable.”
    “I am being reasonable. As well as responsible. You don’t have any idea just how connected Craig is. Witness protection won’t be enough and it isn’t fair to my son.”
    “Thomas Casey can keep you both safe.”
    “He’s in some branch of government?”
    “He is.”
    “No deal.”
    Drew bit back another string of foul words. “You’re infuriating.”
    “Same goes for you.” She crossed the room to the refrigerator, opened the door and bent to look inside. He tried to ignore the view as the soft fabric of her shorts hugged her backside.
    “I think this is our first real fight,” he said.
    “Hardly,” she muttered, handing him a bottle of water. “But it can be our last. Take this for the road.”
    “I’m not leaving.” He twisted off the plastic cap and leaned back in his chair. “We never fought before...our wedding day.” He forced the last two words out and then took a long drink of water.
    “We fought plenty in the days and months after. You just weren’t there.”
    “I’m sorry, Addi. If I could change it...”
    “It was our wedding day,” she whispered. “Why did they need you ?”
    His heart seized at the pain in her voice. Raw and fresh, she sounded exactly the way he felt every day. When he’d agreed to help Director Casey, he’d known her reaction would be volatile at best. He hadn’t been prepared to deal with how much his appearance would hurt her. As she’d moved on with her life, he hadn’t expected her to feel anything but initial shock at seeing him again.
    But she didn’t look like a woman who’d moved on, despite the evidence he’d seen for himself. Top of her field, gorgeous home in the right neighborhood and a son. That was the piece that slid like a knife between his ribs, straight to his heart. During his time as a prisoner, he’d fantasized about making love with Addi, about the family they would build in years to come.
    She’d done that. With some other man.
    “Why, Drew?”
    He’d often asked the same thing and never found a decent answer. “I had the misfortune of knowing the key players in the area. Command said they needed me.”
    Her eyes went wide. “That’s not what I call an explanation.”
    “It’s the best I can offer.”
    With a derisive snort, she paced the small room, pausing near the front door. She pushed her hands into her hair. “You’re supposed to be dead.”
    He wanted to take her in his arms and show her how alive he felt. How alive she made him feel

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