Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84442 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84442 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“Yes, ma’am,” he jokes, leaning down to kiss me through his chuckles. “Let’s go pick a ring out so I can do it properly then.”
It’s only by sheer luck that I don’t burst into tears right there.
“God, I fucking love you.”
“And I love you, Princess.”
EPILOGUE
NICK
Coming back to my penthouse after Sunday dinner is going to be something I have to get used to again. I have a feeling it’ll be easier now that Sunday dinners are a happy affair again. And now that I have Riley at my side.
Maybe it’s a bit early to say they’ll all be good nights from now on, but I’m hopeful. This was the first family dinner we’ve had since Bruno died. The table felt too empty without him there. Even though I never really got along with my brother, he was still a part of my family, and the gap he left isn’t one that will ever be filled. Ma’s coping as well as she can, but her eyes are constantly red and teary. I’ve never seen her so… frail.
I hope in time my family will be able to heal.
I have hope for a lot of things these days.
And I have Riley to thank for that.
Not that I’d be caught dead saying anything so sappy out loud, but she’s brought a lot of light into my life. She may not have saved me the same way I saved her, but she breathed life back into parts of me that I thought were long dead.
Parts I never realized were alive to begin with.
I’ve never wanted to be soft to anyone the way I want to be soft with her.
The way I seek her out in the kitchen instead of leaving her to pour us both a drink on her own is proof of that. My arm stayed around her shoulder through most of dinner, my hand on her thigh for the entire ride home, and we’ve only been separated long enough for me to lock the door and slip my shoes off.
She’s capping the whiskey we share most nights when I sidle up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist.
The silky fabric of her shirt slides against my bare forearms, where I have my shirt rolled up, the heat of her skin beneath seeping through. She doesn’t jump, having grown used to the quiet way I walk, but simply leans back against my chest and lifts a hand to cup my cheek. I hum a pleased noise into the soft curve of her neck, peppering lazy kisses there.
I don’t stop her when she turns, although I was enjoying the way her ass fit perfectly against my hips.
The sight of her sugar-sweet smile and those pretty doe eyes makes up for it.
She wraps her dainty hand around the back of my neck, and I let her tug me down into a kiss, slow and fond and easy as breathing. I never thought I’d enjoy something so slow, but Riley’s made me fall in love with it.
“Thank you for being mine,” she murmurs against my lips, not pulling away for longer than it takes to speak. “For taking care of me.”
I wrap my hands around her hips, pinning her back against the counter just to feel the way she melts against me.
“I always take care of what belongs to me, Princess,” I say, dragging my mouth away from hers.
I don’t give her time to say anything before I trail my mouth down from her jaw to her throat to her collarbones. My fingers are already busy with the buttons of her shirt, plucking at them and baring inch after inch of creamy, flawless skin. Her cuts and bruises have healed in the last two weeks, and I treat the blank canvas of her skin like the masterpiece it is.
The only marks that will ever be on her again are ones I leave there.
Riley gasps as I sink my teeth into the soft swell of her breast, teasing the flesh just above her bra until it blooms hot beneath my lips. She arches into the pain, scratching her nails over my scalp.
I grin as I shift my attention to her other breast, offering it the same treatment as I slip my hands behind her back to unhook her bra.
Her own hands get busy with my clothes once I strip her of her shirt and bra, fingers tugging at the buttons of my shirt as I latch my lips around her nipple. The sweetest sound slips from her lips, but she doesn’t let me distract her from her goal. She manages to push my shirt free of my shoulders and has my pants halfway down my hips by the time my impatience overtakes me.
I lift her up in one easy motion, pushing our whiskey glass out of the way to make room for her on the counter.