“I’ll see you soon, Linc.”
For the first time in my life, I had the power to take back the control that Royal stole from me. I had the ability to change my world.
23
Linc
Every available surface in Veronica and Alex Townsend’s kitchen had an adult member of their family sitting on it.
Veronica and Chief Townsend sat together at the head of their dining room table, holding hands. Veronica, even in her older age, was beautiful. And all of her daughters looked just like her. Her red hair, streaked with white now, was pulled into a braid that hung over one shoulder. There were worry lines around her eyes, and she was watching her husband carefully, like she thought he might break at any moment. She was the real strength in their family, and seeing them together spelled it out.
I watched them, and I craved every single thing they had.
Love. Happiness. A family.
Children.
Even the thought sent a sliver of dread down my spine, but while we sat there waiting for Kennedy, I obsessed over it.
We hadn’t discussed it once. Not when Parker found out she was pregnant. Or when Casper delivered the twins she was currently rocking in the chair that Remy dragged in just for her. We didn’t discuss children at all, but I saw the look in her eyes when she didn’t realize anyone was looking.
Cole, Casper’s husband, sat next to her with his eyes locked on his boys and wife. When he noticed my attention, he looked up and smiled.
“Hey, man. How’s it going with Kenny?” He was one of probably two people outside of me or her brother who would ever call Kennedy Kenny, and he was the only one who could get away with it. Cole saved Casper, gave her a reason to live again. And when we’d been deployed together, on our last hitch, he’d proved himself during a roadside bombing. He got out for Casper. He loved her, and their boys were the most beautiful thing I’d seen in a hot minute.
I was jealous.
Kennedy deserved to have that.
She deserved to have me holding her growing stomach like Remy did with Parker. She deserved the growing love I watched around her family’s kitchen. Yet, all I’d offered her was me. No future children to fill her home. No family to build and love. Just… me. And that wouldn’t be enough to keep her happy for the rest of her life.
Before I could delve too far into the self-loathing I could feel building up, the door opened and closed in the distance. Kennedy walked into the kitchen a few moments later, carrying an all-too-familiar folder.
“What’s in the police report?” Remy beat me to the question. “Is that why we’re here? Nox is sleeping up in my old room, so if we get this done with quick enough, I can sneak my woman home for some alone time.”
Kennedy glared at her brother, didn’t say a word to him, and moved across the kitchen to stand in front of me.
“I love you.” She didn’t care that her whole family was there. She looked up at me with something that looked like trepidation in her eyes, like what I said next was the most important thing in the entire world.
The weight of the world sat on her shoulders, and there was only one thing in that moment that I could do.
I slid my hand into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out my wallet. Without looking at her, or anyone else in the room, I slid down onto one knee and pulled the ring I’d spent my entire deployment pay on, six years before. The diamond engagement ring that I’d gotten and prayed that when the time came, I’d be able to give it to the only woman who ever mattered.
“I bought this ring after Danny died,” I said quietly. “When I didn’t even know if I would come home. When I spent my deployment doing stupider and stupider shit just to test the limits. I bought it when I buried my brother, so that I’d know who was worth everything to me, my reason for living. That’s you, Kennedy.” I looked up into her eyes, showing her that it was her. Always her. “I’ve loved you so long that I don’t know what my life would look like if I didn’t love you. Whatever’s there. Whatever you have to tell us, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
I didn’t ask her to marry me. Not for the length of a heartbeat, or twenty. I had to work up the courage, and that would be a secret I kept until the day I died.
“Will you…” I paused to clear my throat. “Will you marry me?”
“Linc.” Her eyes were beaming with happiness, but her mouth was set in a grim line. “I love you, and I want to marry you. But there’s something I have to do. And if you don’t want to marry me after I tell you, I’ll understand.” She knelt down next to me right there, pressing her lips to mine. “My answer is yes. I’m just not going to hold you to it until after I show you what’s here. Until you know what I’m asking of you. It might be impossible.”
I slid my ring on her finger. “I don’t give a fuck what’s in the file, Kennedy. You’re mine, and nothing’s going to change that. I’ll make any promise I have to, as long as you’re on the other side of it.”
“Damn,” Cole said with a whistle. “The man knows how to propose.”
“Don’t worry, Cole.” Casper laughed gently, trying not to wake up her sleeping twins. “Your proposal was equally beautiful, even if it happened in a hospital room.”
“My proposal had Linc’s balls in it, so I win,” Remy announced. “Good luck topping that, suckers.”
“Well, now that you’re engaged, Kennedy Marie, why don’t you tell us why you called a family summit through Linc.” Veronica smiled at her daughter, and her father held out his arms for her.
Kennedy hugged her parents and then stood at the only empty spot at the table. I watched her hand tremble as she put the manila folder on the table, surprised to see the Penobscot County logo, rather than the Birch County logo that it should have.
“What’s in that file, Kennedy, and how did you get it?” Her father’s voice grew stern, like he was dealing with one of his officers and not his daughter.
We all watched as Kennedy took a deep breath. “You’re gonna want to put the boys in their bassinet, Casper.” She lowered her eyes and then closed them. “And you’re all going to want to take a deep breath.”
“What’s in the file?” Veronica’s voice trembled. “This isn’t from when you were nineteen, is it?” Panic, the likes of which I’d never heard from her, filled the air.
“No,” Kennedy reassured her. “This is worse.”
Veronica didn’t even have to see the inside of the folder, and she started to cry.
“Kennedy,” Chief Townsend bit out. “Show us.”
Kennedy stood tall, her spine stiff, and she looked down at the diamond I’d just placed on her hand. “First,” she said quietly, “you have to promise not to do anything.”
“No.” Every voice in the room rang out. Every single one. Parker, Casper, and Veronica included.
“You have to.” Kennedy stood her ground. “This isn’t about anyone else but me. This is mine. My secret. My future. Mine.” She looked up and her eyes locked with mine. “I told you. This is going to be impossible for you. But if you can’t do it, there’s nothing here for us.”