Page 132 of Jay Bird

Willow reached over and fixed the little sunhat that had slipped sideways on Lily’s head while Jay Bird automatically scanned the parking lot. There were plenty of vehicles and people coming and going, but nothing immediately stood out, even though that same uneasy feeling he had experienced inside the aquarium returned.

He slowed slightly.

Willow noticed, but this time she didn’t ask what was wrong. Instead, she just slipped her hand into his.

Jay Bird looked down at their joined hands before glancing at her, and when Willow smiled at him, damn if her touch didn’t settle some of the unease.

Not his instincts, though. Those remained alert, and they would until Tink figured out who the hell had been digging into Mia and Riley.

This was something else entirely. It was something Jay Bird had been circling around for weeks without allowing himself to name because naming it made it real, and making it real meant admitting just how much he had to lose.

He loved Willow. The realization wasn’t dramatic, nor did it come as some shocking revelation that knocked him on his ass. If anything, the truth felt almost embarrassingly obvious now that he finally allowed himself to acknowledge it. Somewhere between Willow planting flowers in his barren yard, cooking dinner in his kitchen, teasing him about his complete lack of decorating skills, and curling against him every night when they went to sleep, she had quietly worked her way past every wall he had spent twelve years building.

And it wasn’t only Willow. Jay Bird looked down at the sleepy little girl tucked securely against his chest, her cheek resting against his shoulder while one tiny hand remained curled into the fabric of his shirt.

He loved Lily too. That realization might have terrified the man he had been a few months ago, but standing there with Willow’s hand tucked inside his and Lily sleeping in his arms, Jay Bird couldn’t bring himself to be afraid of it. The two of them had walked into a house he had always considered nothing more than a place to sleep and somehow turned it into a home. He wouldn’t change a damn thing.

Maybe he wasn’t ready to tell Willow what he had finally admitted to himself. They had promised each other they would take things slowly, and he meant to keep that promise. She deserved time to heal and discover who she was outside of Chen’s control, without Jay Bird pushing her toward another life before she was ready.

But loving her didn’t require him to rush her. It just meant he would be there.

Jay Bird tightened his fingers around Willow’s hand as they continued toward the SUV, and she moved a little closer until her shoulder brushed his arm.

Whatever came next, they would handle it together.

He only wished he could shake the nagging feeling that whatever was coming might already be closer than any of them realized.

From the back seat of the dark sedan parked across the lot, Chen watched Willow walk toward the SUV.

He hadn’t expected seeing her in person to affect him quite this strongly.

For the past several days, he had been content to allow Elias to handle the surveillance while Liu quietly gathered information. Willow’s routine was becoming clearer. She worked at Mia’s veterinary clinic several days a week, and she lived inside the gated community Elias had identified. However, accessing the neighborhood without drawing attention had proven more difficult than Chen would have preferred.

Today had provided the first real breakthrough because Willow wasn’t alone.

Chen’s gaze remained fixed on the man carrying Lily.

Lily looked older. Of course she did. Months had passed since he had seen her, but photographs hadn’t prepared him for the difference. Her hair had gotten longer, and she was dressed in a brightly colored outfit with that ridiculous stuffed elephant wedged beneath her arm.

More disturbing was how comfortably she rested against the stranger.

“Who is he?”

Liu sat beside him with a tablet in his hands.

“From what we gather, he is also a SEAL and is the one Willow has been staying with.”

Chen’s jaw tightened. “Another fucking SEAL?”

Willow hadn’t simply found people willing to hide her. She had found warriors.

As Chen watched, Willow reached up and adjusted Lily’s hat. The SEAL said something that made her laugh before she slipped her hand into his.

Chen went completely still.

They continued walking as if the gesture were natural, their hands linked while Lily slept against the man’s chest, and anyone watching them would have seen exactly what Chen saw—a family.

His fingers curled against his thigh.