Jessie and I share a long and sordid history. One that I try not to revisit too often because I don't like hurting her, and any reminder of the way we met was bound to hurt her in some way. Looking back at it, it was a stroke of luck that I'd been the one to be there that night. I like to think that there was a bit of fate involved there too.
I can't imagine life without her in it, couldn't fathom the last nine years being any different. Even when I wasn't there with her, just knowing she was in my life, that she was mine and only mine, was enough to get me through.
She was my own little good luck charm. The one thing that had gotten me through some of the toughest hellholes in Baghdad, and that was before I knew I was going to make her my woman some day.
I was a young twenty-four year
