Chapter 47
I’m notsure what Shae is talking about, and I don’t care. She’s finally letting me in, and I intend to embed myself so deep inside her that she forgets how to function without me.
I walk her backward until we’re both out of the elevator, then place my hands on either side of her face and lock eyes with hers. I want to make sure she hears my words along with the sincerity behind them.
“I know exactly who you are, and it turns out that chaos is the best fucking thing to ever happen to me.”
“You don’t mean that.” Her eyes squeeze shut. She wants to shut me out, but that’s not happening again. Ever.
“I do mean it, and I’ll prove it to you.” I take her hand and tug her down the hall to her apartment door. “Open it.” I’m not having this conversation in a fucking hallway. I need privacy for what I have in mind.
Shae relents, and we step inside. She sets down her purse and takes off her jacket, avoiding my stare while I focus every ounce of unrelenting attention on her every movement.
“First, tell me what this is all about.”
Her shoulders rise and fall on a long, even breath as she stands in the entry with her back to me. “It was my fault. I leaked the information that led to the robbery and us getting captured.”
“Then I owe you a debt of gratitude,” I tell her in an even tone.
Bemused, she looks over her shoulder, brows pinched and lips softly parted. “What?”
“If we hadn’t been taken, if that plane hadn’t crashed, we’d have never had those three weeks together. And those were the best three weeks of my goddamn life.” I slowly circle her, loving how her body naturally follows mine.
“How can you possibly say that? We almost died.”
“And I’d do it again in a heartbeat if it meant making you mine.”
“You can’t—” Her hand goes to her chest as if she’s in pain, her eyes drifting shut. “You can’t say things like that.”
I take her face in my hands again and wait until her eyes meet mine. “I can say it if I mean it. And I mean every fucking word. You’re mine, Shae Byrne, and I’m yours. We’re a team. And I’m not going one more day without you by my side because you’re already in my heart. My fucking soul. These weeks apart made it clear to me that you are the only thing that truly matters—without you, the rest is meaningless. That’s why I’ve made arrangements for my uncle Gino to take over the family.”
“What?” she gasps, shaking her head in my hands. “No, Ren. You can’t. Not for me.”
A prideful energy vibrates through me like a full-body purr. “Say it again,” I rasp.
She sighs. “I know I can’t tell you what to do—”
“No.” I cut her off. “My name. Say it like that again.”
Her eyes soften. “Ren.” The single syllable coming from her lips is a sunrise over calm waters. It soothes the turbulent soul and gives life meaning.
I shrug off my suit jacket and coax her arms up to lift her dress over her head and off. “You’re going to say it again, but this time, you’re going to moan it while I fuck you. No more running, Chaos. You’re mine.”