Total pages in book: 170
Estimated words: 160166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
“Just to warn you, it is a large family.”
“Well that’s just fine. I have a large table.”
BRAELYNN
My mom hasn’t been gone for five minutes when she messages me.
He really loves you, the text reads. I smile at my phone and tap out my answer. I know. And I love him too.
I make my way to get a much-needed drink with Declan, my shoulders relaxed, my body light in a way it hasn’t been in a long, long time. My life is coming together. My mom’s part of everything again. She knows about Declan and our love. Maybe not everything, as there are certain things I’ll never breathe life into again. And, for the first time, I feel like I’m right where I’m meant to be. Like this is the start of my forever.
With my thoughts getting ahead of me as I nibble on a bit of chocolate cake, Carter and Declan walk into the kitchen. Mid conversation and for a moment I wonder if I should leave. I don’t want to overhear anything—ever—that isn’t for me to know.
I murmur after swallowing down a delicious morsel and make my way past the two of them. “Sorry. I was just coming to grab a bottle of wine.”
I start to turn, but Declan’s already at my side. He takes my elbow and pulls me into a hug, dropping a kiss to the top of my head. “It’s fine, Brae. We were just talking about the investigation. It should be over now.”
I swallow hard. “Were you?” I lean out around Declan’s embrace and wave at Carter. “Hey, Carter.”
“Hi,” he says. “Nothing to worry about. If they had enough evidence, we would know.”
“Is there anything that I should know that they have?” I ask and then I hate how I ask the question.
Declan chuckles rough and low, and Carter answers for the both of them. “All they have is a fire to put out.”
“Literally,” Declan adds, a grin catching at the corners of his mouth. He looks delighted to be telling me this. Almost like it’s something funny that happened at the office. As if the Cross brothers could ever have a normal office job to come home and tell their wives about. “Explosives in an office. All the evidence is either damaged beyond repair or gone.”
“There’s nothing to hold up in court,” Carter says softly. “The judge on the case now is firmly in our pocket.”
“Is this too much?” Declan asks when I go wide-eyed and quiet.
It takes a few beats to clear the tight feeling from my throat. “No, I want to know that it’s over but I’m not sure I need to know anything else.”
“It’s over,” Declan says and once again kisses my temple.
I lean my head against his chest and let him hold me. I listen to his heartbeat, steady and strong. This is all that’s important in the world. My husband, with me. Nobody’s after us… for the moment. It’s not a very grandiose dream, but it’s come true, and that’s what counts.
Carter clears his throat, and I pick my head up to find him on his way out. “Congratulations, you two,” he says over his shoulder.
“On what?” Declan asks.
“On your marriage.”
“Thank you,” I tell him, new happiness fluttering in my chest. This is when our real marriage starts, isn’t it? No part of it has anything to do with staying safe from depositions or police. It’s the two of us.
Declan put his hands under my chin and tips my face to his. He kisses me slow and soft, and I taste all the love he has for me on those lips. After a minute, he deepens the kiss, and just when I think he’s going to lift me off my feet, he backs me into the counter instead.
I don’t care at all if anyone else is going to walk in. I don’t care that they could. I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him back, just as deep. If all this has taught me anything, it’s that I’m never going to take a single second with Declan Cross for granted. I don’t think I’ll take a single second of anything for granted, but especially not with him.
He makes a low sound in the back of his throat and nips my bottom lip.
“My wife,” he says, his tone hot and possessive. It makes me melt. So does the glint of the ring on my finger. Declan’s voice is a private sign that I belong to him, but the ring? That’s the public one. “Should we go back to the bedroom?”
I shake my head, smiling into the kiss. “No. I’m on my way to the wine cellar.”
Declan groans. “I can’t wait that long.”
He picks me up in his arms, and I swat at him, nipping his bottom lip and tugging just slightly. The masculine rumble in his chest lights everything on fire inside of me.