The Divorced Military Queen Awakens (by Sadie Baxter) novel Chapter 465

Chapter 465 The Warmth Of Home

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Quinn lifted the phone, her thumb sliding across the glass before she pressed it to her ear. “Quinn Bridger speaking. What do

you need?”

Dr. Gavin Huxley’s measured voice oozed through the speaker. “If you want Julius to be okay, then I suggest you stay quiet and listen to every word I’m about to say.”

A chill pricked the back of Quinn’s neck; her posture snapped straight. “Fine, I’m listening,” she said, voice steady despite the storm beating against her ribs.

Night had settled over the hotel by the time Julius slipped his key card and eased into the suite. There, in the softly lit sitting room, Quinn lounged against the couch, a throw pillow hugged to her chest while the glow of a television drama flickered across her face.

Hearing the door, she turned and offered a small smile that warmed the room beyond the thermostat. “You’re back,” she murmured, as if those simple syllables could erase the miles he had walked today.

Heat flooded his eyes so abruptly it stung, as though some hidden dam had cracked without warning.

The overhead lamp crowned her in a faint halo, and in that halo she sat, smiling at him like the promise of dawn.

Beyond the floor–to–ceiling windows, neon painted the night in restless strokes of pink and cobalt.

Though the suite was only a temporary stopover, her presence wrapped the walls in a tenderness no decorator could buy.

It felt–astonishingly–like home.

Home.

Until now, the word had meant nothing to me–just another syllable people tossed around without thinking.

Yet the moment she walked into my life, the word warmed, swelling with color and purpose.

I want a home with her–one we claim together.

He lifted the corner of his mouth, returning the smile. “Yeah, I’m back.”

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Quinn set the pillow aside and moved to him, concern creasing her brow. “You’re back late. Have you eaten?”

“I have,” he answered.

In the next heartbeat, his muscles went rigid; both her hands had cupped his cheeks.

Their warmth pressed against the chill of his skin, as though she meant to thaw winter itself.

“Why are you so cold?” Her gaze sharpened. Though the hotel room had the heater on, his face still felt cold to the touch because he had been outside.

“Nothing serious,” Julius said. “I stayed outside for a bit, clearing my head in the wind.”

Earlier, after climbing out of the car, he had lingered beneath the hotel awning, rehearsing what expression he should use to face her.

The hospital was set; tomorrow, he would lie on an operating table and offer up stem cells to a stranger whose life ticked away. Which meant tonight he had to place Quinn on the earliest flight to Azania, far from the shadows crawling toward him.

By the time she opened her eyes, blue morning light would filter through curtains half a world

away.

Will she hate me for this? Probably. I’m lying to her again.

But I have no other choice.

All I want is her safety–nothing else matters.

Whatever threats remain, I’ll crush them myself.

Her voice tugged him back. “What were you thinking about just now?”

He spoke in a low, almost absent–minded murmur, eyes caught by the wavering blue light from the television. “I’ve been thinking… If one day I’m forced to keep something from you again, would you still want me? Or would you turn away and never look back?”

Quinn held his gaze, her eyes steady and unblinking, as though she could read the future written in the lines of his face. A hush pressed in on the room. Apart from the distant chatter of the TV, only their uneven breathing disturbed the stillness.

Julius lowered his lashes and laughed at himself, the sound brittle. “When that day comes, you’ll probably hate me. You’ll decide I’m not worth the trouble and you’ll leave–won’t you?”

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“That depends on what you’re hiding,” Quinn answered, lips tightening before she spoke. “Life forces all of us into corners, but if we choose to stay together, i’d rather you faced me with the whole truth.”

“And if hiding it is the only way to keep you safe?” he asked, voice dropping to a rasp.

His father was already a madman. Julius could not–would not–wager Quinn’s life on another dangerous secret. If a gamble must be made, he decided long ago it would be his own life on the table, never hers.

“Then if I chose to leave you, would you still keep it from me?” The light in Quinn’s eyes dimmed as she spoke.

His lips pressed into a thin, bloodless line. He offered no answer–silence spoke for him.

Earlier tonight, when he booked her flight back to Azania, he’d already made up his mind. Even if she walked out on him again, he would make the same choice: protect her first, bear the cost himself.

Seeing the question die in his eyes, Quinn tugged him toward the couch. “Come on, watch a film with me. I found one from last year–I haven’t watched anything in ages.”

She slid the progress bar back to the very first frame of the movie.

Julius sank beside her, shoulders brushing, and the two of them turned their attention to the glowing screen.