Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 133321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 667(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 667(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
I rotate to face him. “With you is where I belong. I never felt at home at that apartment, but I tried. I thought I had to make it without you, so I tried.”
“Like I tried, Mia, but in a different way. I needed our place to be a sanctuary when you returned, our home, and I promise you, I’ll protect that always.” His hand slides under my hair to my neck. “You fill all the empty places in this home. You fill all the empty places in me, and you’re the only one who knows they exist. Because I trust you, Mia.”
“Do you?” I challenge, “Because—”
“I thought you left me for Ri,” he says. “As I stand here thinking about what you said in the living room, I understand it. I trusted you completely. I pulled back when I thought you betrayed me because to trust that much and be betrayed cuts deeper than any blade, but I’m not pulling back now or ever again. Me and you, forever.” He leans in, kisses me and the touch of his lips, tender and yet possessive, sends a rush of heat and awareness through my body.
“You don’t just belong with me,” he says. “You belong to me, and Ri is going to know that before this is over.” There is something in his voice, a lethal quality that gives me pause.
Despite my push for him to go on the attack, this is the first time I’ve been concerned that the remedy he plans could be worse than the crimes he’s been wrongly accused of. I pull back to look at him. “What are you going to do, Grayson?”
“Whatever it takes to end Ri.”
“End Ri?” I ask, because that tone again, that look in his eyes, worries me. “What does that mean?”
He lowers his mouth to mine and says, “It means he won’t be at our wedding, baby.” He seals that declaration with a kiss that is meant to silence my questions and it works. “And yes, I’m going to ask again. Once I know that I’m not dragging you to hell with me.”
“I’ll go anywhere with you,” I promise.
“But I won’t let you.” He strokes my cheek. “Because that’s love, Mia. I take care of you before me.” He kisses me. “I’ll order the food.” He heads toward the bedroom door and I think about those words. He takes care of me over himself. I need to take care of him over myself, but the problem is, with Grayson there is loss and pain to consider. I can’t make a stupid decision that leaves me dead and him destroyed. I can’t sacrifice myself without taking him with me. And yet, I have to go meet with Ri tomorrow after Grayson has all but declared him a killer.
Chapter thirty-three
Grayson
Ilay in the bed holding Mia, her back to my chest, my arm wrapped snugly around her, the electronic panels on the windows sealing out any ray of the new day surely upon us; the day Mia goes back to work with Ri. I tighten my grip on her and in this moment, I’m split between heaven and hell. Heaven is having her back here in my life, in our home, in our bed. Hell is letting her go back to work today. I don’t trust Ri. And I know Mia, she’s all heart and passion for those she cares about and I know damn well no matter what promise she makes me about protecting herself, she’s going to be tempted to put me first. It’s part of what makes her, her. It’s part of what made losing her so damn painful. She loves with all her heart and you feel it as deeply as she gives it.
“You’re awake,” Mia says, and that voice, so sweet with the hint of a rasp, always undoes me, but then everything about this woman undoes me.
“I’m awake,” I say softly, leaning in and kissing her neck. “You shouldn’t be. It’s still early.”
She reaches for the remote and turns on the bedside light to a low glow before rolling around to face me, her hand settling on my cheek. “Please tell me you slept,” she says. “Because I did. I did because I’m home with you.”
My hand goes to her hip and I pull her to me. “It was the best night I’ve had since the last time you were home in our bed.”
“You didn’t sleep,” she accuses, not accepting my attempt at avoidance any more than she ever did. I mean how many times in the early days of our relationship did this woman look at me when I gave her a cookie cutter answer and call me on it?
I have a brief flashback of sitting across from her sharing our first pizza and her asking me, “Why are you thirty-five and still single if your mom and dad were so happily married?”