Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
“I protected Zahra’s involvement with my father from everyone. It was such a horrible time in her life. The rift with her family, a narrow escape, and then I bring her home with me, believing she would be safe, and the senator corners her and attacks. It was the last thing she needed. Believe me, if I hadn’t witnessed it and stopped him and then forced my mother to help Zahra, she would have been sent back into a situation where she could have been killed.”
Wilder let her tell him what he already knew. He maintained his gentle patience, a trait she would never have guessed he had until she witnessed it several times. He was always considerate with her, patient and also consistent in his treatment of her. She went very still as a revelation hit her. At one of the worst times of her life, she was actually the luckiest woman alive. She had five friends who would do anything for her. Stand by her, even if the world around her collapsed. They took time out of their busy lives to help her when she needed it the most. She had Rainier and the men who worked for him. Sam. Zale. Good men. Men who would stand by her the way her female friends did. And there was Wilder. In his quiet way, he had bulldozed every objection, every fear. He represented safety and acceptance, two things she’d never had.
She’d always been impossibly strong, the helpful, nurturing one, but she’d fallen to pieces, and every one of her friends had immediately come to her aid. There it was: the one thing she’d always wanted. Needed. Believed she would never have. It hadn’t come from her birth family, but the bonds were just as strong, maybe stronger because they chose one another.
“I don’t see how I was so blind all this time,” she murmured between hiccups as she tried to get control. “I’m so lucky to have them.” Harlow slid her arms around his neck and pressed her face tighter against his chest. His heartbeat was steady, just like he was.
“We’re all programmed from our childhood, Harlow,” he pointed out in that same gentle tone, interspersing his wisdom with kisses on the top of her head. “We can fight the trauma, let it take us down, or we can stand up and take responsibility for what happens to us going forward. You stood up, took that responsibility, and it earned you incomparable friends. Family, if you will.”
“And you,” she whispered, admitting it to him. Admitting it to herself.
“I think I was born to be with you,” Wilder said. “You had me from the first moment you were born.” He kissed her temple and gently set her an inch from him. “Wash your face and go back in. They will have changed the subject by now.”
Harlow knew he was right. She did what he said, and they stepped out of the room, Wilder once more sweeping her into his arms to hold her tight against him. She loved the feeling of him, that strength that was so much a part of him.
His head went up alertly, and he looked over her shoulder. She half turned to see Stella sauntering down the hall. “Oh no, Wilder,” Harlow whispered. “I’m sorry. I know you’re supposed to be a huge secret.”
“Hey, Wilder,” Stella said, not sounding in the least surprised. She didn’t look surprised. “Are you okay, Harlow?”
Harlow nodded, her fingers digging into Wilder’s arm. He was completely relaxed. “I’m just fine, but need to wash my splotchy face again. It would be nice if I were a pretty crier like Zahra. She looks good no matter what she’s doing.” She tipped her head back. “I know Sam would never break a confidence if Rainier asked him not to let anyone know about Wilder, but clearly you did know he was alive and here with me.”
“It wasn’t that difficult to figure out, Harlow, not after we all heard Blom going on about how dangerous Wilder is. You weren’t freaking out. Not even a little bit. All of us know how you feel about him. If you believed he was dead or off somewhere hurt, you would be moving heaven and earth to find him. You’d call in every favor and ask Sam, Zale and Rainier to find him. You didn’t do any of those things. You didn’t want us to hold our girls’ night at your house. All of those things added up to Wilder being alive and hiding out with you.”
Wilder laughed. That laugh. Like velvet running over her skin. He wasn’t a man to laugh, and yet lately, that’s exactly what he’d been doing. Harlow often wondered what she was giving to him, what her contribution to their relationship was. It occurred to her that her role was to give him a semblance of normalcy. Something simple, like laughter, that so many others took for granted. With Harlow, Wilder wasn’t living every moment in a state of fight or flight. He could actually relax.