“Yes,” was all I could squeeze out. “Hell… yes.”
I dug my fingers into her short hair.
And I vowed to keep her forever.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“Do you wish to be remembered? Leave a lot of debts.” —Elbert Hubbard
Ash
We spent all night talking.
And then not talking at all.
And then sleeping, only to wake up again and kiss.
“So you thought your dad died?” I whispered between kisses.
“Mmm…” She kissed me back and then shrugged. “He killed my mom then himself; apparently, he just killed her and had it all set up, I can’t believe he’d do that, but his hatred for her was deep. She ruined his plans. She was supposed to go to Luis Sinacore, get pregnant with a son, and come back to him. Instead, she got pregnant with me, fell in love, then had such a horrible labor, according to my dad—I ruined her. Broke her.”
“Not true,” I whispered. “He may have thought you broke her, but you put me back together again.”
She cupped my face. “It’s impossible, you know.”
“Fixing me?”
“Being drawn to you.” Annie sniffled. “Even when you’re a complete ass who deserves to get strangled to death.”
“Harsh.” I put a hand across my chest; she gripped it and held it tight.
“I mean it.” Her eyes were clear, focused solely on me. “I wasn’t terrified when I first met you, I told myself it was terror, but it was something else it was…” She chewed her lower lip, sucking it in and out, then finally a bright smile. “It was you. Maybe there’s no way to explain Ash Abandonato, except he’s dark when he needs to be, light when it’s asked of him—hero and villain. I can’t imagine you any other way.”
I kissed her swollen mouth. “I hate that I wasted time, that you were gone, that I sent you away.” I frowned then. “Why did you leave?”
It was the first time I saw uncertainty in her eyes. “Not tonight… later… I’ll tell you later.”
“Promise?”
“Always.” She kissed me.
And I spent the rest of the morning smiling like a fool, then the rest of the afternoon ready to consume her again only to get blindsided by every single cousin with a party at my pool house.
Apparently, we were trending on Twitter for a while, me and Annie, and her horrified expression in that gorgeous dress as I kept her close.
Booze was set up around my kitchen, pizza, pasta—basically anything and everything Maksim could order in with his DoorDash app.
And everyone was there.
My friends.
My family.
We split up the party—the bosses were all with my dad in the house playing ping pong, which still weirded the shit out of all of us because what the hell happened to poker? I mean, mafia? Really?
They even had a fucking chalkboard with their tournaments.
Weird. So weird.
I grabbed a whiskey and coke and sat on my couch while Annie and Serena laughed in the corner.
She belonged.
Here.
With me.
Anywhere else just seemed, such a waste, of a good person, of her. And I needed her goodness, her ability to challenge me even when she was scared. I needed someone who knew themselves, knew themselves well.
“So funny story…” King plopped down next to me, wearing a black beanie and a shirt that said. Fight me. “Junior here saw a ghost last night.”
“Shut the hell up,” Junior groaned and downed the rest of whatever he was drinking; he grabbed the remote and changed the channel to some weird reality show shit that had the girls animated instantly. “Hate that guy.”
“Whyyyyyy?” Maksim groaned. “Why are we watching The Bachelor?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Izzy appeared behind us. “Are you jealous, Maks? Because he has balls, and you have… whatever you have down there… dangling between your sad, pathetic legs?”
She blew him a kiss.
I whistled. “Bro, not that I want you having sex with my sister, but what the hell did you say to her to get her so hostile.”
“I have this answer.” Tank strolled in with a beer and groaned. “He called her a what was it? Dirty whore. Yup, I think I got it right.”
I glared at Maksim. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“TWO SIDES, MAN!” Maksim yelled. “To every story! And we’re getting sidetracked; Junior saw a ghost!”
All the guys quieted while Valerian burst into laughter. “Yeah, a ghost, okay… and after Christmas, how rare…”
Junior shuddered like he was scared shitless. Junior of all people. He was never scared. Scary, yes, scared, no.
“Are we sure?” Valerian grinned. “That it wasn’t Maksim dressed in cosplay again.”
“That was once!” Maksim yelled.
“And fucking hilarious,” King added. “Your outfit was see-through.”
“Jingle Balls, Jingle Balls,” I sang, earning a pillow in my direction with a yell that Christmas was over.
“Adrenaline.” Junior nodded. “It had to have been adrenaline because it really did scare the shit out of me. I didn’t sleep all night, but I think, and not to bring up past shit, but I think it just had to do with us bringing part of our enemies down last night. So much was tied in with Claire.” He shot me a sad look. “She died because we were targets, and I think my subconscious was just… sad all over again, for you, us, her.”