Week 254 – What did I do to deserve you, Zara?

“This is it,” Adam warned. “Last chance to back out.”

“I’m not backing out. We’re doing this together,” Zara said stubbornly.

What did I do to deserve you, Zara?” Adam asked, as he tucked a lock of hair back up under her black knit cap. This beautiful, strong woman had refused to leave his cabin even after she had healed, telling him over and over again that they would face the future together, and to do that they had to take care of the past. Something else they would do together.

“You mean what did I do to deserve a man like you,” she corrected, standing on tiptoe to whisper a kiss across his lips. “You saved my life, you nursed me back to health, and you have never once held my father’s actions against me.”

He’d done all of those things because Zara was … special. The months they’d spent hiding out at the remote cabin had built a closeness between them that had become his anchor. He needed her, simple as that.

Grasping her hand, he guided her towards the house, the two of them broke in. They headed straight for the master bedroom, once they got there it would be a waiting game. As far as the world was concerned they were both already dead, so there was no reason for Zara’s father to be expecting them.

As much as Adam would love to drag this out, make the man pay for the pain he had caused his daughter, Adam knew that a simple bullet through the brain as soon as the older man stepped into the bedroom was the safest option. Quick and effective.

They’d been stalking Zara’s father for the last few weeks, they knew his routines, knew that he would be home soon, knew that his wife was currently away, knew that his bodyguards remained outside.

There was nothing stopping them from completing the hit then disappearing forever.

They stood side by side in the dim bedroom. Neither spoke because they didn’t want to do anything to tip Zara’s father off to their presence.

Almost an hour later they heard him.

Zara’s hand curled around his and he gave one squeeze before raising his weapon and aiming it at the door.

In the end it was almost anti-climatic. Zara’s father stepped into the bedroom and never even saw the bullet that ended his life coming. While it might feel anti-climatic the relief was overwhelming. They were safe now.

“We’re free,” Zara whispered, and when she looked up at him tears shimmered in her eyes but her smile was genuine.

“We’re free,” he echoed.

“Thank you.” Again she stood on tiptoes so she could kiss him but this time the kiss deepened.

In this moment, with a dead body on the floor beside them, blood pooling around it, and the woman he cared for in his arms Adam knew it was more than that.

Love.

He loved Zara.

Somewhere along the way when he’d been caring for her real feelings had developed. He would always live with the guilt of being partly responsible for the death of his wife and daughter, but he had learned to open his heart again.

For her.

This woman kissing him like her life depended on it.

He might not deserve her, or the happy ending life seemed to be giving him, but he wasn’t going to turn it down.