Page 80 of Stolen Salvation

Bishop felt overwhelmed with the weight of the truth being laid on him. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because most of us fucked up too, and we don’t want to see you make the same mistake.”

Bishop sank into the chair his body heavy. “How do I fix this?”

Liam clapped his hands. “Yes, now we’re talking. I have so many ideas.”

“Shut up, Liam. This is not a fucking rom-com.”

“He’s right, this is going to take something big for Charlie to understand I won’t be letting her go no matter how much she pushes me away.”

“Well, I happen to know Bás has arranged for her to be transported back to Shadow HQ for her recovery.”

“He has? When?”

Jack looked at his watch. “About an hour’s time.”

“I need to go.”

“Hey, slow your roll.” Jack raised his palm and patted the air for him to calm it. “We can call Gunner to pick us up in the helo, so you have plenty of time.”

“Cool, thanks. And thanks for this. I know we don’t work alongside you guys a lot but it’s a privilege to be part of Shadow and that’s because of you guys.”

“Aww, shucks, he’s gonna make me cry,” Blake joked and then grabbed Bishop in a headlock. “Just fix this shit.”

“I’m gonna.”

As they took the short flight back to base landing on the Black Mountains helipad for the rescue centre, his mind was going full throttle on how he could win back his wife.

He headed to his apartment not stopping to see Watchdog, who’d already made it back after visiting Charlie. Inside, he went to the box he kept full of all the things he couldn’t part with after his marriage ended.

Sitting on the bed he took a breath and opened it. On the top was his marriage certificate, signed by them both, her swirling cursive so different to his blocky signature. Underneath were photos from that day. Of him and Charlie and the few guests they’d had, drinking and having fun. They looked so young, so carefree and happy, and he wished he could go back and warn that young couple of the pitfalls they faced.

He picked up his favourite photo of them, her smiling at him as he kissed her rounded belly. Her hand in his hair, the other cradling their son. A pang of pain knotted his gut, and he laid the picture aside. Seeing the glint of the wedding band she’d given him, he picked it up. He hadn’t worn it a lot because of his job. In their line of work having a wife was a risk. He felt the warm weight of the titanium band and pushed it onto his finger over the knuckle.

It felt strange and yet something settled inside him. A rightness that he hadn’t felt before as if the timing was right this time, and it hadn’t been before. Sliding the ring off, he closed the box. He knew what he had to do, but first, he had a call to make.

An hour later he walked into Peyton Lawson’s office and spilled every single secret he had. No matter how sordid or difficult it was, he let it all out. If he wanted Charlie he had to be the man she needed, and that didn’t involve a boat load of guilt.

As he left with the homework she’d given him for the week, he felt hopeful. A text telling him Charlie was on her way made him still and turn the car around and drive into town. He needed to show her this was it for him, and that she was everything to him.

Chapter 27

When they’d gotten back to Shadow HQ, Charlie had been so exhausted she couldn’t even keep her eyes open while Bien’s fiancée Aoife checked her blood pressure. Apparently, she was training to be a nurse and Savannah had given her instructions on what to check and when and she was taking it very seriously. She’d woken her at seven that morning to check her over and give her some medication for the pain. Savannah had assured her it was safe for the baby and she trusted the woman who’d saved her life.

“Now you can get dressed but you’re not to do anything without help, and I mean nothing,” Aoife warned, the red-haired beauty pointing a finger at her and trying to look frightening.

“I won’t. I have no plans to jeopardise my recovery.”

“Good, someone will be by with breakfast shortly.”

Charlie nodded as Aoife left with a secret smile on her lips as if she knew something Charlie didn’t.

A shower sounded wonderful, but Charlie knew she should wait until someone was with her. Guilt that she was causing so much work for these people made her want to try it alone, but she knew that would get her a lecture from Lotus, and nobody wanted that.

Her door opening had her gasping slightly at seeing Noah in the doorway looking devastatingly handsome in old, worn jeans and a black t-shirt, the tattoo on his biceps just visible.

“Good morning. I’ll be your nurse for the day.”