Safe at Last (Slow Burn #3)

She stood beside Wade, her smile as big as the sun, her eyes sparkling with joy. And then Wade slowly began walking her down the aisle.

Zack hastily wiped at his burning eyes, determined to hold it together and not ruin Gracie’s day. It had touched him and Wade both that Gracie had asked Wade to give her away. No longer did Zack harbor any animosity toward the other man. He’d been a source of support Gracie had desperately needed, and well, he’d also taken a bullet meant for Eliza, which meant that the entire DSS organization owed him their gratitude for saving someone so important and beloved by all.

He shouldn’t have bothered trying to disguise his emotion. As Gracie drew closer to Zack, he saw the shimmer of tears in her eyes and then watched as they traced silently down her cheeks.

Her gaze was locked solely on him, as if they were the only two people in the room. She walked toward him with no hesitation, Wade at her side. But when she reached Zack, she slipped her arm from Wade’s but then took his hand, holding on to it for a long moment as she looked away from Zack for the first time and met Wade’s soft gaze.

“Thank you for being the friend I needed so very much,” she whispered.

To Zack’s shock, he saw a faint glimmer in Wade’s eyes, but then it was gone, leaving Zack to wonder if he’d imagined it.

Wade lifted his hand from Gracie’s grasp and gently cupped her cheek, wiping the thin line of moisture away with his thumb.

“Be happy, Anna-Grace,” Wade said quietly. Then he leaned down and kissed her softly on the cheek.

Afterward, he let his hand fall and once more curled his fingers around Gracie’s hand, but this time he lifted her hand toward Zack. As Zack slipped his fingers through hers, Wade pinned him with his gaze.

“You are getting a rare and precious gift, Covington. Take care of her.”

“Always,” Zack vowed in a somber voice.

Wade stepped back and then seated himself on the front pew where other members of DSS sat.

Zack knew he and Gracie should turn to the preacher, who was waiting to begin the ceremony. But he couldn’t break the magic of this moment, one he’d dreamed of for so very long.

“I can’t believe you’re standing in front of me in your wedding dress,” Zack whispered, nearly choking on the words. A knot of emotion swelled rapidly in his throat, threatening to render him incapable of any speech. “I love you, Gracie. And never, ever will I forget today.”

Another tear rolled down her cheek, but her smile—God. It was like being enveloped by the sun after a long, harsh winter. And her eyes. Liquid brown. So warm that he’d never feel the cold wrought by complete emptiness.

Unable to help himself, he framed her face in his hands and leaned down to capture her lips in a long, sweet kiss.

Hoots and laughter rose from the others. And then the ribbing began.

“Do you need cue cards there, buddy?” Beau asked from behind him. “I’m pretty sure that part comes after ‘you may kiss the bride’.”

Zack broke away to glare at all of them. “I’ll kiss my bride any damn time I want to.”

“Amen to that,” Caleb muttered and was greeted by another round of amused laughter.

Beau shrugged. “The man does have a point. I do kiss my bride any damn time I want to.”

Ari blew her husband a kiss from across the aisle.

Zack smiled down at Gracie, whose tears were gone thanks to laughter. She was so radiant that she glowed like a beacon. A ray of sun. His sunshine.

“What do you say we get properly married?” he asked with a grin.

Then to his surprise, Gracie defied ceremony and circumstance as she leaned up on tiptoe and fused her lips to his. All else fled his mind under the sweetness of her kiss. And when she finally pulled away, he was hard-pressed to remember his own name, much less what he was supposed to do next.

Smiling, she tugged him toward the pastor. “This is the part where we both say ‘I do’.”

“I do,” he whispered so only she could hear. “I do, I will, I always will. And never will we be parted again.”





THIRTY-SIX


ZACK stood in the bay window overlooking the ocean and inhaled the salty air in an effort to settle his nerves. It felt as though someone had their fingers wrapped permanently around his neck in a choke hold. For God’s sake, even his palms were sweaty, and his fingers shook when he unrolled them from the tight fists formed at his sides.

He closed his eyes, lifting one of his fists to rub his hand through his hair and then he gripped the back of his neck with his palm, absently massaging as he tried to get himself together.

Gracie had been nervous the moment they got inside their suite. The tension was palpable when she’d excused herself to go change for bed.