In His Keeping (Slow Burn #2)

She was alive. It nearly brought him to his knees. The sheer gratitude that she was alive, breathing, that she would recover. And God willing, she’d recover with him every step of the way.

Her parents crowded in on the other side of her and her father leaned down to kiss her brow. Her mom carefully picked up the hand the IV was attached to, and in that moment, she was being touched by the three people who loved her most in the world.

“Beau?” Ari murmured, her voice cloudy with confusion. But thankfully no pain. At least it didn’t sound pained.

“Yes, honey, I’m here,” Beau said, wiping at his tears with his shoulder. Damn if he’d sob all over her like a child.

She licked her lips and then smacked them together as if ridding herself of a bad taste. But no, that wasn’t what she was doing at all.

“Kiss me,” she whispered.

Ah hell. She didn’t realize, in her drug-induced fog, that her parents were standing right there. But he wasn’t going to let that get in the way of complying with her wishes because it was what he wanted right now more than anything.

He leaned down, capturing her mouth gently with his. She sighed against his lips, and then he pulled away, though he’d love nothing more than to spend the next several hours simply touching and kissing her, reassuring himself that she was alive.

“Honey, there are two people here who want very much to see you,” Beau said, brushing her soft cheek with the crook of his finger.

Her brow scrunched up as she looked at him. She hadn’t even looked in her parents’ direction yet, but they didn’t seem bothered by that fact. Ginger was smiling through her tears, watching the interaction between Beau and her daughter. Her father wore a slight scowl, but that was to be expected. What self-respecting father ever liked the man his daughter hooked up with at first sight?

“Who? Where?” she asked in puzzlement.

“Here, baby.” Her mom finally spoke.

Ari’s head turned swiftly and she let out a small cry when she saw both her mother and her father there.

“You’re all right,” she breathed. “You’re not dead!”

Gavin frowned. “Why on earth would you think a thing like that?”

Knowing it would be difficult, not to mention tiring, for Ari to explain it all, Beau explained what Ari had seen—and assumed—himself.

“Oh baby, I’m so sorry,” Ginger said. “You didn’t fail us and I won’t have you saying so. You saved our lives. Because those men absolutely meant to kill us. They tried to kill us. But your power stopped them. And well, by the time they realized the barrier was gone, it was too late,” she added ruefully. “Your father was pretty pissed by then.”

Gavin’s face darkened. “That’s an understatement.”

Ginger laughed and Ari smiled and Beau went weak at the knees. Man did she have a beautiful smile. It lit up the entire room. Warmed his entire body.

Then Ari sobered, her expression somber and utterly serious.

“Mom, Dad, there’s something you should know.”

Knowing precisely what Ari wanted to tell them, Beau lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm.

“Would you rather I left you alone to speak to your parents?” he asked softly.

Something flickered in her eyes, and then she shook her head. “I’d like you to stay. That is if you want to. If you’d rather—”

He put his finger to her lips, shushing her. Then he followed it with a kiss. “Wild horses couldn’t drag me away. I’ll always want to stay, Ari. But if you wanted privacy I’d certainly grant it.”

Instead, she laced her fingers through his and turned nervously toward her parents.

“What is it, baby?” Ginger asked, her brow creased in concern.

Ari took a deep breath. “I know the truth. That you and Dad adopted me.”





THIRTY-NINE

HER parents wore mirroring expressions of alarm. Fear leaped into her mom’s eyes and her father actually paled. Ari lifted the hand with the IV attached to where her parents’ hands rested, one atop the other, on her bedrail. And she covered it with her own.

“How?”

It seemed the only word her mother was able to speak. She looked so shocked—so terrified—that Ari wondered if they feared rejection. Her anger. Disappointment? She would give them none of those.

The only thing she’d ever give them was her love. Well, plenty of other things too. Loyalty. Laughter. Grandchildren . . . ? She snuck a quick peek at Beau as she thought the last. She could just imagine little dark-haired boys who looked like their father. A blond angelic baby girl. Or perhaps even a daughter with her father’s dark hair. The possibilities were endless, and Ari wanted a big family. She just hoped Beau felt half of what she felt in return.

“It’s a complicated story,” Ari said with a sigh. “And I’ll tell you all the specific details sometime. The important thing is that I know.”

“We’re so sorry,” her father began, but Ari cut him off rapidly, not even wanting him to venture in that direction.