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He had never seen her cry

That didn’t mean she was cold, emotionless; he knew she cared passionately It just h to stand side by side with hih to see that evil, to fight against it and not let it destroy her soul; tough enough to walk in front of a bullet meant for so others

That’s why he loved her

Cody breathed deeply as he finally acknowledged the truth, the answer to questions he hadn’t even known he had He’d subconsciously fought calling it love, because the only other time he’d loved a woman it had ended in disaster But he loved Keira And just as he remembered every moment he’d spent with her, every word she’d ever said to him was imprinted in his heart, especially those tords, “I will”

“Trust ht, and she’d responded promptly, “I will” But now he desperately wanted to tell her other things, things he ht never have the chance to say

Love me

Need me

Marry me

And he wanted to hear the same tords from her in reply—I will

He couldn’t fathoht Callahan watching hi out of place on that hard, cold face But Cody knew that if any man could comprehend the enormity of what he stood to lose, Callahan could, because that’s how he felt about Mandy

Mandy Cody spared awhat he’d felt for her then to what he felt for Keira now There was no coo had torn out his heart But he had survived Losing Keira would tear out his soul He would never recover

“So where’s McKinnon?” Callahan asked, breaking into his thoughts, al and wanted to distract him

“Picking up the pieces,” Cody replied He laughed hu—iht—when all else fails, pick up the pieces”

“You mean make them disappear?” That was a side of Callahan that was after Cody’s own heart—he called a spade a spade, and didn’t resort to euphemisms