Covertly Strong (The Strong Series Book 1) (56 page)

She scowls at him in irritation.

“So back to the whole subject of you wearing my trident…” He pauses, ignoring the scowl and looking down at her affectionately.

She cocks her head to the side, curiosity now dominating her facial expression.

“You’re the only woman who’s ever worn my trident, sweetheart. Do you have any idea what this means?” he asks, giving her zero time to respond. “It means you’re mine forever.”

Nix proceeds to get down on one knee right in front of a very surprised Sloan. His muscular chest ripples and stretches as he pulls a small, black box out of the pocket of his cargo shorts. He opens the box, revealing a beautiful princess-cut diamond ring.

The ring glimmers and sparkles, and it’s the most beautiful damn ring she’s ever laid eyes on, spurring a gasp of shock from her lips. Her right hand covers her mouth as she continues to stare down at the ring.

His eyes shine with love as he grabs her left hand. “We’ve been through a lot, baby. We’ve loved together, lost together, and faced death head on together. You are the only woman who’s ever held my heart. You are my world, Meli. My entire world. And I don’t want to waste another minute of our future. I want you in my life—always,” he declares, feeling every single word he’s speaking to his very soul. “Be mine forever, Sloan.”

He releases a nervous breath, his fingers tightly grasping her left hand. “I want you to be my Meli, my love, my smile, my frown, my headache, my pain in the ass…” He pauses, watching a beautiful smile kiss her pink lips. “Be my wrong, my right, my happiness…
Be. My. Everything
.” Nix pulls the ring out of the black box, holding it above her left ring finger. “Will you marry me, Sloan Maria Walker?”

Tears fill her eyes as she glances back and forth between the ring and his gorgeous face. A giggle escapes her lips once she processes that Nix is really proposing to her…
right now
…in their bedroom while she’s only wearing his combat shirt.

“Are you really proposing to me right now? I’m practically naked, Nix!” she questions through laughter, through tears.

His smile turns into a megawatt grin as that all-too-familiar sass of hers flies out of her mouth.
God, I love her. Even during my proposal, she gets sassy with me.
“Yeah, baby, I am. So what do you say? Will you spend always with me?”

“Yes. Yes. Yes.
Yes!”
she chants and shouts and cries through her happy tears. She launches herself onto him, hugging and kissing him with an infinite amount of joy.

Yes.
Simple as that.

One word. Nix’s new favorite word.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

His heart flips and twists and turns inside his chest, trying to make room for all of the love that’s spilling out of his soul.

And his love for her fills his heart.

Fills.

Fills.

FILLS.

Until his heart is at maximum capacity, loving Sloan with every single beat.

UPON HER THERAPIST’S INSISTENCE, SLOAN has found herself inside her parents’ home. It’s been years since she’s stepped foot inside this house, and the feeling is bittersweet. Everything is eerily the same and makes her feel as if she’s taken a time machine back into the past. The hallways are still lined with pictures of John and Maria Walker and Sloan’s childhood. The same family portrait still hangs above the fireplace in the spacious living room.

It’s painful yet heartwarming all at the same time.

And the one thing that’s helping her get through this very difficult ordeal is Nix. He’s right by her side, going through all of the boxes stored inside the attic on the second floor.

“Damn, baby. Your dad’s gun collection is ridiculous,” Nix declares while rummaging through one of three large gun safes. “Seriously, I think I have a fucking hard-on right now.”

Sloan laughs in response.
That’s nothing new. He’s always hard…horny bastard. Sexy-as-hell, horny bastard.

“I knew that was going to be your favorite part of going through my father’s belongings,” she responds, flashing a wistful smile at Nix before going back to organizing the numerous boxes that fill the attic.

“Holy fucking shit!” Nix shouts, his strong voice booming across the wooden beams that line the ceiling.

Sloan startles, looking up at him immediately and searching for some sort of emergent situation.

He is holding a large gun in both of his hands, gazing down at it in absolute awe.

Once she realizes everything is fine, her hand goes to her chest in relief. “You scared the shit out of me!” she scolds. “What has you so worked up over there?”

“Baby…” He pauses as his eyes scan the serial number on the side of the gun. His brain is refusing to believe what he’s holding in his hands.

#
1088
is engraved on the butt of the gun.

“I can’t believe this…” He pauses again, completely at a loss for words.

“What? What is it?” Sloan asks as she gets up from her sitting position and walks over to Nix’s side. She looks down at the gun, and honestly, she has no idea what has her fiancé so speechless.

“Meli, do you have any idea what gun this is?” he asks in pure disbelief.

She shakes her head.

“This is a Colt Walker .44 Caliber.”

“
Okaaaaay
,” she states, still confused.

He holds the gun out to her, pointing to the serial number. “You see that number? Number one zero eight eight.”

“Yeah, I see the serial number,” she confirms.

“Babe, this gun is one of eleven hundred that were ever made. It’s one of the most valuable guns in the world. And your father had it. This gun was just sitting up here in his safe…” he trails off as he glances around the attic. “I can’t believe this fucking gun was just sitting up here and no one knew what it was worth!”

“Okay, seriously, you need to spell it out for me. I have no idea why you’re freaking out about this.”

“This gun is worth upwards of eight hundred thousand dollars.”

Her jaw drops. “
What
?” she asks, swearing she heard him wrong. There is no way her one of her father’s guns is worth
that
much money.

“You heard me right, sweetheart. John Walker had his own Colt
Walker,
a gun that is in mint fucking condition and worth a hell of a lot of money,” Nix declares with an awestruck expression etched on his handsome face.

“I need to sit down,” she whispers, more than overwhelmed.

Her ass finds a random cardboard box that lies behind her. She sits there for a few moments in total shock. Her eyes glance up to Nix every few seconds, taking in his mesmerized look as he examines the
very
valuable gun in his hands.

“Did your dad have a will? I mean, I think something like this should have been mentioned.”

“I was nineteen when they died. I remember my parents’ lawyer going through their will with me, but honestly, I was too overwhelmed at the idea that I had lost the two most important people in my life to focus on anything else…” she trails off, trying to think back to the day she sat in their lawyer’s office going through her parents’ wills. Her father was a very financially smart man and left Sloan with more than enough money to live off for the rest of her life.

Nix sets the gun down, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?” he asks.

She nods, looking up at him and smiling. She starts to say something, but her weight is too much for the measly cardboard box she’s sitting on. The box collapses beneath her and she almost falls flat on her back.

Luckily, Nix is there, holding her shoulders in place.

Sloan looks up at him and giggles.

“Are you all right, babe?”

“Yeah,” she responds with another laugh.

She starts to push herself up off the ground to stand but stops, looking down at the various envelopes her hands just brushed across. Her fingers pick up one and hold it up to her inquisitive eyes.

Her mouth drops in pure incredulity, completely taken aback by what she’s seeing—a sealed envelope from Nix…
to Sloan
…with her forwarded address to Japan on it.

She quickly picks up another envelope, scanning it with intense scrutiny.

She stares down at the envelope with her and Nix’s addresses in
her
handwriting. Over fourteen years ago, she handed that very same envelope to her father before he left for work so that he would drop it off at the base post office. It has no stamp—no visible marking from the post office—that lets her know it was ever mailed. And the envelope is still sealed, holding a handwritten letter to Nix inside.

Tears begin to fill her brown eyes as she frantically rummages through the large amount of letters that are scattered around her.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Nix asks with concern once he notices her visibly upset state. His gaze stares down at various letters on the floor, still not realizing what they are.

“These are our letters,” she voices through thick emotion. “These are our letters, Nix.
All of them
. All of the letters we sent to each other and never received. All of the letters that got lost. They are all right here.”

“
What
?” He sits down beside her, picking up the envelopes and staring down at the addresses.

“I don’t understand,” she whispers through her tears. “Why are they in my parents’ attic? Why are they here…stored away? Why didn’t I ever see these?” Her mind searches through memories and moments that revolve around the letters.

Nix glances back at the cardboard box that housed their letters, finding a large, white envelope labeled ‘Sloan’ taped to the top. He pulls it off and holds it out to her. “I think you were supposed to read this first before seeing what was inside.”

She looks at him hesitantly.

“Do you want me to open it for you?” he asks, seeing the torn expression on her face.

She nods.

He opens the envelope and pulls a handwritten letter out.

“Read it,” she tells him quietly. “Read it to me.”

Nix stares at her, questioningly gauging her current state.

“
Please
?”

He unfolds the letter and then clears his throat, preparing to face the unknown. He takes her hand in his, squeezing gently for reassurance, before he begins.