“Ares,” she whispers. “Did you mean it? When you told me you loved me… did you mean it?”
I smile at her despite the aching of my heart. I wish I could reach inside my heart and show her that it’s filled with nothing but her. “Every single word, Raven. Maybe it’s too soon, too quick. Or maybe… maybe we’ve been in the making for years, but neither of us had the courage to admit it to ourselves. I barely dare say the words, but it’s true. I’m in love with you, Raven Windsor. Hell, if I’m truly honest with myself, I fell for you long before you saidI do.”
She looks at me with wide eyes, a sweet blush slowly coloring her cheeks pink. “Ares,” she murmurs. “I love you.”
Fuck. A rush of emotions I’ve never felt before nearly brings me to my knees. I’ll never get enough of hearing her say that. I roughly thread my hand through her hair and pull her closer, my lips finding hers with a new type of urgency. I’ve never so badly wanted to own someone, mark her as mine. “I’m fucking obsessed with you,” I murmur against her lips. “Every fucking piece of you.” She groans and wraps her legs around my hips, her body flush against mine. “And I, baby, love everything you are, right down to your beautiful soul. I love you, Raven.”
She pulls away to look at me. The look in her eyes tells me she doesn’t believe me, but that’s okay. I’ll spend the rest of our lives proving it to her.
ChapterFifty-One
Raven
* * *
“It’s been a while since Grandma called us all together like that so urgently,” Sierra says as we walk toward the main house together. “The last time she did that it was to announce your upcoming wedding.”
“Do you have any idea what it might be about?”
Sierra shakes her head. “No clue. I asked my brothers as well, and they have no idea.”
My phone starts to ring and groan as I stare at my caller ID. I have no doubt my mother is calling about something related to Hannah, and I don’t want to hear it.
“Who is that?” Sierra asks, glancing at my phone. She rolls her eyes when she sees my mother’s name and declines the call for me, but my mother calls me straight back. She’s so relentless. If I don’t pick up, she’ll just keep calling, until she wears me down.
“Mom?”
“Raven, sweetheart. I’ve been trying to reach you for hours.”
Normally I’d have made excuses, but I don’t have it in me today. “What is it, Mom?” It doesn’t sit well with me that she’s calling me sweetheart when every conversation we’ve had since I got married was hostile.
She hesitates for a moment. “I heard Hannah and you had an argument? She’s been incredibly upset and told me that you and Ares… that you’retogether?”
I grit my teeth for a moment and take a calming breath. “Is that so? I assume you told her to accept the fact that she chose to walk away from him? Did you remind her that I’mmarriedto Ares? What exactly is so surprising about me being with my own husband? Surely she isn’t thinking anything immoral. You raised her better than that, didn’t you?”
Sierra’s lips fall open, and then she grins wickedly, nodding to herself. I roll my eyes at her and continue to walk.
Mom falls silent for a moment before clearing her throat. “Ares and you are coming home for your father’s 60thbirthday, aren’t you? Will you be spending the weekend with us?”
I hesitate. When Ares and I agreed to go to my father’s birthday together, we’d only just gotten married. Things weren’t so complicated yet, so messy. I’m not sure either of us should be around Hannah for an entire weekend. I don’t want to put a downer on Dad’s birthday, and we’re bound to get into an argument. “Yes,” I tell her, resigned. I can’t keep running away from my family. At some point, we’ll have to learn to co-exist.
“Please be on your best behavior. Try not to aggravate your sister, okay? She’s been having a hard time lately, and it’s taken a toll on her health. I’m worried.”
Anger takes root deep within me, and I tighten my grip on my phone. “Sure,” I promise. “I hope you told her the same thing, Mom. I won’t provoke her, but don’t expect me to tolerate her toxic behavior for even a single second, because I won’t.”
“Toxic?” Mom repeats, outraged.
“Don’t even bother denying it,” I warn her. “I neither have the time nor the patience to deal with any of the excuses you’ll make for her. I’ll be there this weekend, and I’ll bring my husband.”
“Raven!”
“I need to go, Mom. I’ll speak to you later.”
I end the call and put my phone away, ignoring Sierra’s gleeful stares. “Damn, girl,” she says, grinning. “It’s about damn time.”
I shrug. “I’ve tried being sweet, Sierra. I’ve been kind and patient, taking into account everyone’s feelings but my own. Enough is enough.”
She grabs my hand and entwines our fingers, a proud smile on her face. “You’re made of steel, yet you were always so malleable around your family. They got too used to you bending backwards to keep the peace, but it’s time you put yourself first. You’re not alone anymore, Rave. You never were, but you’re officially a Windsor now. We’re your family now.”