Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ten days later, Zack’s extended leave was over. Once again, Anders and Petey arrived to take him to the airport, but this time we left from Jasper’s house.
Anders rode shotgun in Petey’s Land Cruiser, while Zack and I sat side-by-side in the back, our legs pressed together from the thighs downward and our hands tightly linked.
So much had happened in the past week. A full inquest had been opened into Marnie’s death, and Barry had been charged with perverting the cause of justice, as well as damaging property in the pub. He’d broken down when requestioned by the police and had admitted to assaulting Marnie, and I hoped he would end up in jail.
We’d found Tabitha, sitting outside Marnie’s new home, and Jas had adopted her. He assured me the dogs would be no problem. For all their size and boisterousness, they were scared of cats, and she would always have a home in his house.
The last job had been to collect Marnie’s possessions, and Steph had helped with that. Everything was neatly boxed up in Jas’s garage, ready for Zack to sort out when he was ready.
We’d had time together, though. More time to get to know each other. To fall in love even deeper. This separation, until he returned from Afghanistan in five months’ time, would hurt like hell, but it gave me time to quit my job in London and move all my stuff home again. It would be worth it, I had no doubts. I cuddled as close to Zack as I could get in the car without actually climbing into his lap.
“I’m going to get another quote tattooed,” he announced. I nuzzled his chin and waited for him to finish. “The night is darkest just before the dawn.” He slid his fingers through my hair. “I was in a very dark place when I met you, Hol. You’re my dawn.”
My eyes filled up again. “That’s very profound, but I recognize it. Is it, uh, Nietzsche again?”
He hugged me, his head tipped back and his body shaking. I stared at him, alarmed. What had I said? And then I realized he was laughing, trying not to guffaw. “Aw, Holly.” The smile that broke free was incredible, the first totally relaxed smile I’d seen him wear, and his laughter was infectious. He wiped away tears of amusement, and I found myself giggling. Petey and Anders peered over their shoulders to see what was going on.
“What is it?” I slapped his chest playfully. “Tell me.”
“It’s not Nietzsche, baby. It’s Batman, The Dark Knight.” He held me by his side, chuckling over my head, all the way to the airport.
Zack was my Dark Knight and I was his dawn. That worked for me.
The End
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Author’s Note
Disclaimer: any reference to the NZ Defence Force and NZ Army is entirely fictional. Any similarity to any actual people or events is purely coincidental.
Acknowledgments
I need to give huge thanks to the following:
Allyson for critiquing and handholding along the way; “A” for not only beta-reading and giving me excellent feedback, but for going the extra mile and finding me real people to answer my military questions; Morgan for her insights into military life, and “J” for brainstorming the initial plotline and sparking the ideas that made Zack so real.
Thanks also to the great team at Entangled. You guys all rock!
About the Author
Romance author Sofia Grey spends her days managing projects in the corporate world and her nights hanging out with wolf shifters and alpha males. She devours pretty much anything in the fiction line, but she prefers her romances to be hot, and her heroes to have hidden depths. When writing, she enjoys peeling back the layers to expose her characters’ flaws and always makes them work hard for their happy endings.
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