I smiled, my imagination running wild. I was still nervous about where my life would lead now, but I was excited, too.
I laid my head back on his shoulder, looking up into his eyes. “Will your parents hate me?”
He shook his head. “No,” he answered. “My father will hate me for about fifteen minutes, and then he’ll evolve to being just disappointed again.” He kissed my nose. “Just be who you already are. Loyal, honest, no-nonsense, blunt, and stubborn. He respects what he sees inside.”
“And your mom?”
“All my mom will care about is that you love me.” He smiled down at me. “And that we were married by a priest, of course.”
I narrowed my eyes. That’s right. It had occurred to me as odd that he’d arranged a church and a priest for a marriage he seemingly didn’t want. In researching him, I had never gotten the impression that he was particularly religious anymore, other than showing up for the rare family christening and such. He’d done it for his mom’s sake?
“She was why you—”
He nodded, his eyes softening as he held my gaze. “It was always for life, kid.”
Always for life. I couldn’t help but smile. I should’ve known. Kai didn’t make mistakes.
I kissed him, his warm mouth sending tingles spreading through my lips and down my neck. We just held each other, taking our time for once, the kisses getting deeper and more demanding.
Leaving my mouth, he kissed my forehead and then my hair again.
“Sun will be up in a couple hours.” He glanced toward the window near the bed. “So much for sleep.”
Climbing out from behind me, he pushed off the bed, and I watched him step over to his dresser. Pulling out a pair of lounge pants, he turned to me. “Shower with me?”
I laid down, resting my head on my hand. Man, that was tempting. I didn’t want to leave his side.
But something was still nagging at me. “You go ahead,” I told him, grabbing my phone. “I need to check some messages.”
He fixed me with a look that said he definitely wouldn’t be long. I watched him walk into the bathroom and waited until I heard the shower run and the glass door close shut.
Sitting up, I hurriedly scrolled through my contacts, finding who I was looking for.
Dialing, I waited as the line rang. It was the middle of the night. It might take a few tries before he woke up.
But to my surprise, the ringing stopped and a groggy voice growled at me over the line.
“Jesus, what?” Will barked.
I hopped off the bed and walked for the bedroom door. “Can you meet me? I need your help.”
Pulling Kai’s Jeep off the highway, I headed down a gravel road, the thin forest to my left the only thing between me and my father’s house. I spotted red tail lights ahead and made out Will’s SUV idling off to the right. He must’ve sped here. I’m sure he was aggravated as hell with me, getting him out of bed before dawn.
I drove past him and glanced in my rearview mirror, seeing him pull off the shoulder and follow me deeper down the road.
Finding the worn path Damon used to drive on when he’d come home too late and the gates were locked, I took the left and dipped down a small incline, rocking back and forth as I drove into the brush, coming in from the back of the property. It was the only way to get there without anyone noticing.
Possibly.
There were still motion sensors and cameras and there was always a guard walking the perimeter, but I knew from experience that by this time of the night he was probably holed up in the kitchen, eating leftovers and watching TV.
Once I saw the lights up ahead, I knew I was coming up on the back of the garages. Stopping, I parked and shut off the car. There were nine dogs, last I’d seen. Hopefully we could get them all to fit.
I climbed out of the car, taking the keys with me.
“Don’t you have a husband to slowly drain the life out of?” I heard Will complain as soon as I slammed the door. “What am I doing here?”
I held my finger over my lips. “Shh,” I told him. “I can’t do this on my own. Just stop whining.”