Harlequin Romantic Suspense April 2021

the intention of simply checking on her. With all of his heart, he’d hoped to find her happy and well, having fully moved on with her life.
At least that’s what he’d told himself. All of that went out the window at the first glimpse of her, which had hit him like a punch in the stomach. Her long blond hair still looked soft as silk and her bright blue eyes were as lovely as ever.
Two years and the loss of him had done little to dim her light. That light had been the first thing he’d noticed about her when he’d met her. Carly freaking glowed. He’d never been one to believe in auras or any of that sort of nonsense, but Carly nearly changed his mind. She radiated an appealing mixture of goodness and compassion and humor, qualities a man as broken as him had been unable to resist.
Her sensuous beauty had been a bonus, though she’d never been able to see herself the way he saw her. Larger than life, everything he loved about Chicago exemplified in one person. He hadn’t been looking for love, but it had found him. Until meeting her, he’d believed his military career would be his life; that he’d need nothing more.
Growing up on a small dairy farm in rural Ohio, all Micha had dreamed about was escaping an existence of livestock and drudgery. With no money for college—like his brother, Brian, before him—Micha had enlisted in the army right after graduation from high school.
To his surprise, he’d thrived. He’d actually found his niche in the military. He’d always done more than his best, giving it his everything. His higher-ups had noticed, singling him out for specialized training.
And then one day on leave in a city he loved, his life had completely changed for the better. He’d finally, at the ripe age of thirty-one, understood love songs and romantic movies, things he’d semi-scoffed at before. All because of Carly and her love.
Until he’d met her, his life had been the military. In the army, he’d finally found the one thing that had been missing all his life—a sense of belonging. The military had become his family, especially when his older brother had been killed while on tour in Syria. His parents had been devastated, and when Micha had taken leave to go home for the funeral, they’d demanded that he return home and take over the dairy farm since Brian wouldn’t be able to now. They’d known Micha had only wanted to escape that life and now they expected him to step into his brother’s shoes. Incredulous and grieving himself, he’d refused.
That’s when his father, both broken and stern, had declared if he remained in the army he would no longer consider Micha his son. Reeling from a now-double loss, Micha had packed his bags and returned to base without even attending his brother’s funeral. From that moment on, he’d been determined to dedicate the rest of his life to the service of his country.
Life had clicked along. Over time, the ache of losing his parents had begun to fade. His mother occasionally secretly wrote him, though she asked him not to write back. He’d given her his cell number, but she’d never called. As years passed, he’d been satisfied with his lot and mostly fulfilled.
When he went stateside on extended leave after the successful conclusion of an extremely dangerous mission, he didn’t visit the farm or the family that no longer wanted him. Instead, he’d decided to visit the city that had always fascinated him growing up, the place where he could see himself living one day. Chicago. The Windy City.
And as fate would have it, that was where he met Carly. Being in special ops, he’d known better than to go and fall in love. But some things were inescapable. The instant he’d seen her, something had clicked inside him, as if a puzzle piece that had been long missing had finally been fit into place. They’d started out meeting up for coffee and then had gone on a few dates. They’d both fallen fast and furious. For the first time in his adult life, he’d experienced pure, unadulterated happiness. He’d realized there could be more to life than his military career.
Before he’d allowed himself to consider the repercussions, realizing he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, he’d proposed. She’d joyfully accepted, and they’d planned a wedding for when he’d wrapped up his latest mission, which happened to coincide with the end of his enlistment. Luckily, he hadn’t yet re-upped. Of course, she hadn’t the faintest idea what he did for the army. He hadn’t been allowed to tell her. But he’d vowed as soon as he completed this mission and his military service came to an end, he’d tell her everything. He’d leave his military career so he and Carly could marry and start a family here in Chicago. He’d figure out a civilian job soon enough.
Except life had something else in store for him: capture and torture, rescue and numerous horrendous injuries that would have ended his career. With burns over 60 percent of his body, the pain had been excruciating. Skin grafts and a medically induced coma had been part of what had saved him, but once he’d finally been allowed to regain consciousness, he’d almost wished he had died, as the army had at first believed. Scarred, disfigured, he’d believed Carly wouldn’t want him now. Even if she had, he’d convinced himself he was no longer worthy.
Water under the bridge, or so he’d told himself. So great was his disfigurement and so much time had passed, he’d known he could never return to that happy, perfect time of his life. But he’d never stopped thinking about Carly, missing her with every fiber of his being.
Two years later, finally healed, he’d done a bit of internet searching. Carly appeared to have gotten over his loss and had moved on. She’d even recently changed her