Chapter 17 CASSANDRA #2
Thankfully, news of the Warriors was limited and came directly from the FBI in the form of prison sentence updates. No one arrested had escaped incarceration, including the men who’d been involved in the kidnapping.
Bastards.
Shoving those thoughts aside, I focused on the box Mom set in front of me. I tore into the gold and silver paper, revealing a spa set for home and a gift card for the local spa in town.
“We should all have a spa day,” I said.
“I’m in.” Bryce raised her hand.
“Same here,” Scarlett added.
Presley nodded. “Me too.”
“I want a pedicure,” Genevieve said. “I can’t see or reach my feet.”
“Tomorrow?” Mom suggested. “I’ll call and see if they’ve got openings.”
“That’s good for me,” I said as a whimper caught my ear.
“She’s probably hungry.” Dad brought Seraphina over.
“We’d better get her home,” Leo said, already moving to collect our things.
Everyone must have had the same idea because we all shuffled out to the driveway and street, saying our goodnights and heading to our respective homes.
Leo drove us home in his truck with Seraphina temporarily satisfied with her binky.
He had an arm draped over the wheel, and the other leaned on the console between us.
It wasn’t as sexy when he drove the truck as it was when he rode his bike, but when we rode together, I had the perfect view of his profile.
Of the goatee he’d trimmed shorter just this morning.
Of the strength in his sharp jaw. Of the soft pout of his lips and the small bump on the bridge of his nose.
His biceps strained at the sleeves of his shirt. The cotton stretched across his broad chest. Living together, I’d learned that he was religious about a daily visit to the basement gym, either to lift weights or box.
“You’re staring, babe.”
My cheeks flushed but I didn’t look away. “Sometimes I have to look at you and remind myself that you’re real.”
That he was with me.
His mouth turned up and he reached for my hand, bringing my knuckles to his lips. He nipped at them, then kissed the spot where his teeth had grazed.
That single move and I squirmed in my seat, desperate for him to make a move. Any move.
Or should I? I’d kissed him months ago. He’d kissed me since, but it had always been like this. A chaste press of lips to my hand or my hair. A brush of his mouth against my cheek.
I didn’t want gentle or reserved. I wanted him to kiss me like a woman he wanted to consume. A woman he craved.
The moment we parked in the driveway, he released my hand and then it was all about the baby.
Seraphina nursed and had a warm bath. I rocked her to sleep, spending nearly an hour in the chair because she was overtired from the excitement of the party.
Finally, those beautiful dark eyelashes drifted shut and she was out.
With her in the crib, I went to the bedroom and found Leo on the mattress, staring at the baby’s video monitor. He’d kicked off his boots and socks. He’d yanked off his shirt and his jeans were unbuttoned, hanging low to reveal the tight waistband of his boxer briefs.
My pulse thumped in my veins. In my core.
“Hey.” He caught me staring again and set the monitor aside. Then he jackknifed off the bed and padded across the room to the TV stand, picking up the small box on top. “One more present.”
“You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“Of course I did. Open it.” He crooked his finger, motioning me over.
I crossed the room, trying desperately to keep my breathing even. Taking the box from his hand, I pulled off the top, revealing a ring inside, resting on white padding.
My heart skipped, then I realized it wasn’t that sort of ring. This was simply jewelry, not an engagement.
We weren’t there. Maybe deep in my heart there was a pang of disappointment, but my rational side took over and reminded me that we weren’t there.
We might never be there.
Leo dipped his pinky finger in to retrieve the ring and hold it up. “I got the idea from the book we’re reading.”
The wide, golden metal band had been etched with a series of lines and dots. It took me a moment, then it dawned on me. “That’s morse code.”
“Yeah.” He took it off his finger and slid it onto my thumb. It fit perfectly.
“It’s beautiful. And so unique. What does it say?”
“Firecracker.”
I smiled and touched the piece with my other finger. “I love it.”
“You do?”
“It’s beautiful.”
He sighed and took my face in his hands. “I want . . .”
“What?” I whispered when he trailed off.
Leo swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. Then he dropped a chaste kiss on my forehead and let me go. “Never mind.”
My spirits crashed.
“You need rest,” he said.
“I’m not tired.”
His eyes flared and he took a step back.
Screw it. It was my birthday and what I wanted was to feel wanted. “Want to know what I wished for when I blew out my candles?”
“What?”
“You.”
He gulped.
“D-do you want me?” It was the scariest question I’d asked in my life.
“Don’t want to hurt you, babe.”
“You heard the doctor. I’m fine.”
“I don’t mean physically. I mean . . .”
He didn’t want to break my heart. Oh. My. God. That was why he’d held back. That was why he was putting distance between us, inching toward the bathroom.
“I’m not scared, Leo.”
“I am.”
He had no faith in himself. His confidence was shredded and there he stood, vulnerable and raw. The insecurities he didn’t show anyone, he showed to me.
If I hadn’t loved him before tonight, I would have fallen right here.
“I love you.”
He froze and the color drained from his face.
Not exactly the reaction I’d expected. “Sorry. I . . .” I don’t know what the fuck I’m thinking. Mortification spread across my skin, coloring it as black as the outlines on his tattoos.
I whirled around, ready to bolt for the door, but a strong hand gripped my elbow and forced me to stop.
“Cassandra.”
God, how he said my name. Like a birthday wish of his own. A wish he wouldn’t let himself make. I braced, ready for the rejection of my lifetime.
Why? Why had I said that?
Because he needed to hear it. The realization took a fraction of the embarrassment away. Leo needed to know who loved him. How many of us loved him. That he didn’t need to feel lost or alone because he’d always have us.
“You never say what I expect.” His arms snaked around me, wrapping around me and pulling my back into his chest. “And I love you.”
My heart might have broken out of my chest if he hadn’t been holding me so tight. I gasped. “W-what?”
His lips found the shell of my ear. “I love you. Didn’t know you felt that way too.”
“How could I not?”
“How could you?”
“Oh, Leo.” I sagged into him, my head spinning. “Because you love our daughter. Because you treat me like I’m precious. Because you’re a good man.”
“I’m not—”
“You are a good man, Leo.” I twisted, spinning in his embrace.
“Whatever happened in the past is in the past. That’s not the man you are now.
The best stories in history are the true ones and they usually start with a string of mistakes.
We’re all flawed. We learn. But no matter the past, it doesn’t mean you don’t deserve my love.
Besides, it’s mine to give to who I choose.
I choose you. And I chose you a year ago. ”
“Cass, you don’t understand.”
“I understand. I was in that basement. I knew what the Warriors would have done to me. I know what kind of men they are. I understand.”
I understood that in a different lifetime, the Tin Kings hadn’t been all that different.
He closed his eyes and dropped his forehead to mine. “You deserve better.”
“Now you sound like my father.”
“He’s not wrong.”
“Babe.” I used his own word to get his attention. I loved my father, but in this, he was wrong. One day, he’d see it. He’d admit it.
I stepped away from Leo and walked toward the door to turn off the light. Then in the muted glow of the bedroom, I reached up and slipped free a strap from my dress.
Leo’s eyes flared and he sucked in a sharp breath as I did the same with the other strap.
I slid the bodice from my torso and hips, along with my bra and panties, until I was standing in front of him, naked and vulnerable too.
My hands inched up to cover the stretch marks across my belly, but before they even reached my navel, Leo flew across the room and smashed his lips on mine.
His tongue swept inside my parted lips and I trembled as he delved into my mouth, devouring and tasting and worshiping.
“I love you.” He spoke the words between licks. “I am so fucking in love with you, Cass.”
“I love you too.” My fingers fumbled to get his jeans off his legs.
Leo took over, stripping himself bare before picking me up and taking me to the bed. Then he slid inside me, joining us together. He made love to me, tender and unhurried, until we were both breathless and lost in each other.
When we came, it was together. When we fell asleep, it was together.
Right after he whispered, “I choose you.”
And with his words, my birthday wish came true.