39. Chapter 39
Chapter 39
L una
When I entered the quiet house, a light from a side table lamp cast soft shadows through the room. I searched for signs of Roman as I walked into the kitchen. A bottle of whiskey sat on the counter, and I inhaled its faint smoky tang. Heading to the back patio, I found him sitting in a lounger beside the lit stone firepit, its warmth warding off the desert chill.
He smiled and patted the cushion. “Hello, wife. Come here.”
“Hello, husband. It’s good to be home.” I crawled up the oversized lounger and snuggled into his warmth. His scent and the feel of his muscular arms around me felt more like home than anything I’d ever experienced, and I just breathed him in for a moment.
“Diego called today,” he murmured.
“What’d he have to say?”
He filled me in on Diego’s phone call. I’d told the police what I knew when they interviewed me, leaving out what would implicate us and that my father had been tortured and buried alive. Minor details.
He pulled me closer and held up his phone. “Do you remember calling my phone and leaving a voicemail that day?”
My face went warm, and I shifted uncomfortably. Things had been hectic lately, and we’d talked mostly about my father and covering our tracks. I figured he’d maybe listened to my voicemail, deleted it, and thought no more about it. But his arm tightened around me, and his eyes didn’t leave my face.
I cleared my throat. “When we were being chased, Milo told me to call you and let you know what was happening.”
“Do you remember what you said?”
Exhaling a long breath, I laid my head on his shoulder and stopped pretending I didn’t know exactly what he was asking. “Yes. I told you I love you.”
His fingers gently stroked up and down my arm, as we sat quietly for a few moments, then he leaned over and kissed my hair. “When I listened to your message, I’d never been more terrified or happy in my entire life. I didn’t know a person could feel those two emotions at once.”
A wave of adrenaline surged through me, and my heart started pounding. Over the last month, I vacillated between hope and despair, knowing I’d fallen in love with this beautiful, scarred, possessive man who also happened to be my husband, but wondering if he could ever love me back.
“Why were you happy?”
He turned my face to him, searching my eyes in the dim firelight. “Because you love me, and I love you. I’ve known for a while, but I wanted to give you time to grow into it. I hoped like hell you would, but I was afraid it could never happen after the way I maneuvered you into marrying me. And because of my… quirks.” He stared down at the collar on my neck, his fingers caressing me there.
I cupped his face and smiled. “I love you too, because of who and what you are. We’re quite a pair, and you didn’t just maneuver me into marrying you. I vaguely recall drugs, unlawful detention, and coercion being involved.”
He slid his hand lower and cupped my breast before running his thumb across my hard nipple. “I plead the fifth. Now open for me so I can kiss–then fuck–my favorite wife.”
I reached around to grab his perfect ass. “Who said you aren’t a big romantic at heart?”
“You’re my heart, Sweetness, and I want to spend the rest of our godforsaken lives together. I love you.”
My vision went blurry, and a tear escaped as I buried my face in his neck. “I’ve never felt like this. Thank you for loving me, and giving me a home. Now let’s try not to torture and kill anyone else–and maybe stay out of trouble for five minutes.”
He grinned and pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “If it’s to protect you, I make no promises.”