I swallowed the lump of emotion welling in my throat. My husband could be awfully romantic sometimes. “I love them. They’re gorgeous.”
“Come here,” he commanded softly, opening his arms for me. I fell into them easily, my anger and resentment at him over Fallon on the back burner as my husband held me. He took the pearls from me and placed them on the nightstand next to our photo before pressing his lips against mine.
“I love you so much,” he murmured into the dim light of our room.
I swallowed hard. “I love you too.”
“Sleep. Tomorrow is a new day. Let’s hope it’s as perfect as tonight was.” He kissed the top of my head and tucked the blanket around my shoulders before he gave me a gentle squeeze.
Deep down inside, I couldn’t stop being disgusted with myself for what I was doing with the birth control pills, but I knew I couldn’t stop because this was the one thing I wanted to control. The one thing Ineededto control. Giving him the gift had been a cop out to make me feel better instead of just admitting the truth to him.
I just hoped he never found out.
It would break his heart.
CHAPTER20
Bianca
Dominic stayed home the next morning. Vincent stopped by to escort me to class while Levin stayed behind with Dominic. I knew what was happening. They were going to meet with the horsemen.
“I hate they left us behind,” I grumbled as we walked.
“I hate that we are joining up with them in the first place. Fucking pricks made me into a pin cushion.”
“If it helps, I don’t think they would’ve killed you.”
He raised his dark brows at me.
“I mean, probably not,” I said weakly.
He scoffed. “Fucking Cole is insane. Dude is fucked in the head. I just hope Dom knows what he’s doing. I understand the reason for it all, but we’re getting in pretty deep now. I was hoping to save the heavy lifting until we were old and didn’t give a fuck if we lived or died anymore.”
I paused, noticing Fallon tip his head for me to follow him between the science and art buildings. There was a dark alley there where we wouldn’t be seen.
“Um, Vinny? I-I need to use the bathroom.”
“Cut the shit, baby B. I saw him. I’ll go with you.”
I winced.
He tugged me in for a gentle kiss. “I love you. But you better not tell Dom about this. He’ll kill us both.”
“I promise. Thank you,” I said, pulling away and taking his hand.
When I gave it a tug, he followed without protest. To anyone watching, it looked like the two of us were sneaking off for a few minutes of alone time. And if people were smart enough, they wouldn’t follow.
We strode to the back of the dark alley. Fallon waited in a small crook.
“Princess,” he called out softly, reaching for me.
Vincent released my hand, and I went to Fallon.
“Five minutes, baby,” Vincent said, backing away and turning to face the entrance.
I could work with that.
“Fuck, your lip,” Fallon murmured, running his thumb along my sore bottom lip. His brows crinkled. “Did Tate do this?”