Page 114 of Hero Unbound
“The second thing I want to do as soon as I can is start the process of figuring out exactly what happened with my vet exam. I never had any true memory of cheating on the exam.” She turned to him, face tight. “Theo, I don’t think I did it. I don’t think I would’ve needed to cheat on the exam—I just didn’t question Gareth when he told me I’d said I cheated. I was ready for that test.”
“Having seen you in action around here, I have no doubt about that,” he said. “And I am certain there’s something that can be done, some sort of appeal that can be made, especially once Callum lets them know what Gareth admitted to.”
She nodded, hope blazing in her eyes. It was unlike any expression he’d ever seen on her, and it was breathtakingly beautiful. He had to clench his fists to keep from yanking her to him.
Her needs. That was the only thing that mattered. The rest would have to wait.
She stood up, pacing, like the thought of it was too much to allow her to keep still. “Do you really think so?”
“Absolutely. We’ll get Lincoln on it too—find out as many details as possible. We can get started right now.”
He started to stand, but she held out a hand to stop him.
“No.”
“Okay. Is this one of the things you want to do on your own?” He kept his face carefully neutral. He didn’t want her to know that her distance cut at him.
“Maybe. But the third thing is the most important, and I don’t want to start either of the other two until after that.”
He couldn’t imagine what would be more important than those. “Okay. Tell me.”
She stepped closer and reached out an arm to push him back against the couch, before moving to straddle his hips.
“I want to make love to you. I want you to cover every single inch of my body with your kisses. I want this moment to be the first that starts to rebuild the new Eva. And more than anything, I want it to be with you.”
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed both her eyes before bringing his lips to hers. “Every kiss I have is yours. It’s nice to meet you, Eva. I look forward to getting to know you.”
“I look forward to getting to know me too.”
EPILOGUE
One year later
Eva washome from four days in Philadelphia. Four days that were actually the end of a ten-month process in which she’d fought to have a chance to reclaim her veterinary career.
It had taken a team effort just for her to get an audience with the five-member veterinary licensing review board, so she could plead her case for a chance to retake the exam. Callum had traveled to Philadelphia on his own dime to tell them about Gareth and his arrest. He took time to explain what he’d personally heard Gareth admit to as a law enforcement officer.
There’d also been a letter from the psychiatrist Eva had been seeing since right after her kidnapping. It was difficult for the review board to understand how Eva could’ve been so duped, socontrolled, by Gareth. Even Eva still didn’t understand it completely after hundreds of hours of talking it through.
She might never completely understand it. But she was at least setting herself up to make sure nothing like that ever happened again.
Even Lincoln had helped her case by providing video footage that showed Gareth had illegally obtained drugs that affected her memory. She wasn’t exactly sure how he’d managed to get that footage. Theo said with Lincoln, it was important not to understand thehow, just accept that he’d found it without asking too many questions.
Becky and Theo had both testified to Eva’s talent with animals and passion for helping them—leaving out the part where she hadn’t told them about not having official qualifications while working for them. Theo explained in detail how Eva had saved Wildfire and Ember by acting quickly and decisively when no other vets were around to help.He’d made her sound like a damned superhero.
Ultimately, it had taken Eva standing in front of the review board and asking for a chance to show them what she could really do to get them to agree to let her retake the exam. Before they’d agreed, she’d been required to repeat a number of her clinical rotations, but they’d allowed her to do that in Wyoming.
And today, she’d retaken the exam that had ruined her life once before.One of the board members had stayed in the room with her the whole time. Eva wasn’t offended by that—at this point, everyone on theboard was rooting for her. They’d even graded the test immediately after she’d finished, rather than making her wait weeks for the results.
She’d passed.As of a few hours ago she officially held aDoctor of Veterinary Medicine degree and could become a legally practicing vet.
She walked down the hall of the Reddington City airport toward the arrivals terminal. Theo would be meeting her there. She hadn’t told him the news yet—had actually deliberately avoided answering his call early today—so she could tell him in person.
Theo had been with her every step of this journey, and not just the one that had ended with today’s exam.
He’d been there as she’d testified against Gareth and sent him to prison. Been there as she’d apologized to her parents and sobbed in her mother’s arms.Been there when she couldn’t even look at herself in the mirror because she’d been too ashamed of being so weak.
He’d been there with her as she cried, screamed, laughed, and healed. Held her close when she needed it and gave her space when she needed that too. He showed her daily what love truly was supposed to be like—not the farce of it she’d had with Gareth.