“What?!”
“You heard us. You’re going to go there, sweep her off her feet, and bring her back HOME.”
“I should drag her here kicking and screaming?” I drawl.
“If you need to. You should never have let her go in the first place.” Kitty prods my shoulder and gets in my face. “You tell her how you truly feel, Cade Frasier. Whether you’ve got feelings or whether it’s love, it doesn’t matter. She just wants to know that she wasn’t a piece of ass.”
“And if she doesn’t come back with you,” Róisín says helpfully, “you did a nice thing and shored up her confidence, so you didn’t ruin her for the next guy who taps that patootie and realizes what the keeper she is.”
I flick her on the end of her nose. “Thanks, Raisin. You always keep my ego in check.”
“What are little sisters for?”
“Apparently, they’re good for raiding your wallet and buying air tickets for their no-good brothers,” I retort, but my words drift into a sigh. “I fucked up at the beginning—”
“You fucked up at the end too,” Neev points out. “This doesn’t have to be the end though, does it? Maybe you haven’t gotten deep into the beginning, but if you don’t act now, that’s it. It’s really over…”
Her words resonate.
I didn’t want Belle to go, but I didn’t know how to get her to stay. Didn’t think I was worth her trouble, to be honest.
Scraping a hand over my stubble, I can’t deny that I want more. Jesus, that I want everything. But I’m used to people distancing themselves from me when I screw up, and I thought she was no different.
But my sisters are right.
If she doesn’t want me, I should shore up her confidence, seeing as I’m the one who messed with it in the first place. She doesn’t deserve to have any baggage after what I put her through.
And secondly, this could just be a little mishap in our beginning. It’s only the end once we both say it is…
That’s why I mutter, “I’d best get ready for my flight.”
As they whoop and cheer behind me, crowing about bringing me in line, I head into the bathroom where I stare blankly at my reflection for a couple of minutes.
The truth is, I’m pretty damn sure that what I feel for herislove, but I also know that she has every right not to believe me after we met under false pretenses. I guess I have to prove my feelings to her, but I don’t really know how to go about doing that.
My sisters have ovaries, and they think that a grand gesture will be enough… I guess I’ll find out soon—
“I don’t hear that shower working!” Neev shouts outside the door, making me jump in surprise.
“Fuck’s sake,” I grouse under my breath as I drop the sheet and head into the shower to switch on the spray.
As it blasts me in the face, I feel a little more awake, a little more aware.
Neev’s right about one thing—I don’t want this to be the end, and Belle has made it clear that the ball is in my court.
A smile curves my lips. “Good girl,” I mutter, “knowing your worth. It’s about damn time.”
33
CADE
The L.A. sunon my face feels good after freezing my balls off in New York, and a part of me admits that I could get used to this—sun in the winter—if I had the choice.
Not that I do.
The Five Points is my future. I tied my fate up with them a long time ago, and the Irish Mob isn’t something you simply waltz out of.
If Belle does want to be with me, sun in the winter is not going to be something we get to appreciate for a while.