Page 59 of Unbroken

Tears streamed down her face, and she bit her lip as she stared, wide-eyed at him. She couldn’t speak. Zane stayed on the floor at her feet, the ring in hand, a frozen tableau of hope. Finally, she nodded. “Yes, Zane Alexander Savage, I’ll marry you,” she said on a sob. Zane slid the ring on her finger, and she threw herself into his arms, knocking him to the floor. He started laughing and Maggie was crying with joy when JT came into the room.

“What the hell is all the commotion?” he demanded.

Maggie pushed herself up. “We’re engaged!” she said, tears of joy still running down her face. Zane thought his face might break with the size of his smile as he stood and pulled Maggie up to stand next to him. He wrapped an arm tightly around her waist and pulled her to him for a searing kiss, leaving JT standing with his mouth agape.

When they finally broke apart, JT looked in his sister’s eyes. “Are you sure this is what you want, Maggie? Remember, he left you in the hospital when you needed him the most.”

Maggie left Zane’s arms and went to her brother, hugging him around the waist. “I love you more than words, brother mine, and you’ve watched over me all these years even when I didn’t want you to,” she said, leaning back to look into his deep brown eyes, so like her own, “but, yes, this is what I want, and it would make me even happier if you could be happy for me. For us.”

JT huffed out a hard breath, his eyes going back and forth regarding the couple. He vacillated between the anger he still felt toward the man in front of him and love for his sister. He didn't know if he could forget the pain this man had caused his sister. He'd been starting to accept him, albeit reluctantly, when he had gone and broken her heart. That was going to be hard for him to forgive and forget.

Zane read the war going on in his future brother-in-law's face. He looked him dead in the eye. "I know I hurt her and I know it will be a long time before you can really forgive me for that; if you ever can," Zane said. "I hope you'll always call me out on my shit where your sister is concerned. I never want to be the cause of her pain again. I love her, man, with everything I am."

JT stood still, looking at them for several long beats. Finally, he gave a terse nod at Zane. Maggie smiled and hugged him again. "For you, sister mine, I'll try to be happy for you."

"Thank you, JT," Zane said, holding out a hand to shake.

JT took it reluctantly and squeezed tight. “You hurt her again and I’ll fuck you up,” he said gruffly as they shook.

“I have no doubt,” Zane said, “and I hope you do. Thank you for being there for her all these years.”

JT lifted a chin in response and turned to go. When he looked over his shoulder again, Zane had Maggie enveloped in his arms. She looked so small and vulnerable to him, and it was a physical effort to continue to walk away from them. It was going to take him some time to trust his baby sister’s protection to another as he’d felt that responsibility for so long. Despite his harsh words to the man, he wanted Maggie to be happy. If Zane was the one that did that, he would have to learn to live with it. He didn’t know what to do with all the conflicted feelings swirling within him. Hell, I need a drink.