Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 57028 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 285(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57028 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 285(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
“I’m starting to,” she says, glancing at me.
My father stands. “Whatever you need, you have it. I’m not here as the man with men and guns and power. I’m here as Dom’s father. And as a man who’s glad to finally meet the woman who gave my son his heart back.”
I stand. He walks around the table and pulls me into a hug, catching me off guard. Then he leans in and murmurs against my ear. “She’s the best decision you’ve ever made.”
I nod, not trusting my voice.
“We’ll talk again,” he says, looking at Evie. “When this is over, I’d like to be in your lives. As a father-in-law. As a grandfather. Not as a Don.”
After he leaves, Evie stands. “That was… not what I expected.”
“Me neither.”
She wraps her arm around my waist and leans her head against my chest. “But I think it’s what you needed.”
She’s right. I didn’t know how badly.
“I thought I was here to beg for his help, but he heard me sound happy for the first time in my life, and it turned him into a different person.” I laugh in disbelief. “You’re magic, Keepsake.”
She laughs, but then grows quiet. “We shouldn’t celebrate yet.”
I swallow. “You’re right. We’ve got work to do.”
CHAPTER 24
EVIE
Ithrow my arms around Tash the moment I see her, squeezing her close to me. Talking to her on the phone and being with her aren’t the same things. She clutches me tightly.
“It’s so good to see you,” I say.
My friend and roommate beams at me. “You look different.” She lowers her voice, glancing around the bar: the staging area for the standoff with Mason. Mom’s grave is three miles from here, and soon, it’ll be sunset. Time to meet with him and end this.
“I feel different,” I admit.
“Love will do that.”
I shake my head, but Tash is looking at me in a knowing way. She sees right through my defenses. She’s been through something similar with Rafe, but she’s facing it without doubt, or complication, without torturing herself by questioning every impulse and desire.
When Meatball whines from his carrier, Tash leans down and tickles him on the nose. “I haven’t forgotten about you, handsome. How’s it going?”
I set the carrier down on the bar and sit on a stool, Tash sitting beside me. Across the room, Dom, Rafe, and the other men talk in a quiet huddle, laying out their weapons on the table. We haven’t discussed the specifics of the plan yet, but every few moments, Dom glances over at me, worry etched into his handsome features.
“Is he good with this?” Task asks.
“No.”
“But he’s letting you do it, anyway?”
“We’ve sort of got to a place where letting me isn’t really the point. If we’re going to make this work, I have to be more than his prisoner, you know? We have to be equals.”
“I know the feeling,” Tash murmurs. “When Rafe tried to stop me from coming here, for example, I put my foot down big time.”
“Doesn’t it mess with your head? They took us against our will.”
Tash shrugs. “Finding a meaningful connection is a rare thing, Evie. The way I see it, I will not waste all this love by interrogating it.”
“Love,” I murmur. “You don’t seem confused about it.”
“I’m not. Are you?”
I bite my lip, looking at Dom. He seemed different after the meeting with his dad. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t a tragic-looking, emotional older man who seemed desperate to reconnect with his son, a husky voice stating, in clear terms, that I’m the person who has made Dom happy for the first time in his life.
“I can’t think about that now,” I admit.
Dom approaches us, smiling at Tasha. “Hi, Tasha. It’s nice to meet you. Rafe has been singing your praises.”
She looks over at Rafe uncomplicatedly, adoringly. Dom’s lip twitches, and I wonder if he’s jealous. But we’re never going to be uncomplicated, are we? Can we get there?
“I bet he has,” Tash says, laughing.
“Evie,” Dom says, turning to me. “Can I get a moment?”
“Tash, will you watch Meatball?”
“Gladly.”
Dom takes my arm and leads me into the backroom. When he looks down at me, it’s impossible not to feel the emotion emanating off of him. He takes my hands. “I need to ask you one last time—”
“If he turns up and I’m not there, he’ll run,” I cut in. “You were going to ask me to wait behind, right? Not to do this?”
He nods, eyes smoldering. I see the old version of Dom trying to break through, the version who carried me from my apartment and locked me in the panic room, my captor, my Warden. But then he lets out a shuddering breath.
“If anything happens to you…”
“It won’t,” I affirm. “Not with you watching over me.”
“Even if the plan goes smoothly, it’ll still mean you watching a man die in front of you. I’m aiming for the head, Evie. That will not be pretty.”