Chapter Thirty
CHAPTER THIRTY
Mark
I n my truck, I checked the rearview mirror to make sure the road was clear before pulling out. My initial concern about the speeding car was falling away as I turned my focus to what was waiting for me at my parents’ house.
Lanie and the life I wanted.
Twin or no twin. I chose them.
A car pulled in behind me, stopping a few feet from my bumper. My parents’ car.
Lanie.
Before I could move, she was out of the car, running toward me.
I barely had time to step out before she collided into me, knocking me back a step, her arms wrapping around my neck, her breath warm against my skin.
For a second, I just held her. Letting myself feel everything. The way her body fit against mine, the way her fingers curled into my hair. Like she wasn’t only holding me. Like she was claiming me.
Then she pulled back enough to look at me, her eyes bright with emotion, her breath coming fast.
I didn’t think. Didn’t hesitate.
I kissed her.
It wasn’t careful. It wasn’t gentle. It was desperate, deep, everything I’d been holding back crashing into her.
She kissed me back as fiercely, her hands gripping my face, like she needed to ground herself, like she needed to be sure it was real. It was. It always had been.
And, for what might have been forever, the world around us didn’t exist.
It was just us—as we always should have been—together.
I raised my head and looked into her eyes, our unsteady breaths mingling. “I love you,” I whispered, my voice raw.
She sucked in a sharp breath, and for a split second, I thought she might cry. But she smiled—a real, certain, unshaken smile. “I love you too. I always have.”
I stilled. The words hit deep in my chest, stealing my breath. Always? I closed my eyes for a second to savor the moment. Then I kissed her again, this time slower, deeper, letting it sink in. Giving us both time to believe not only in our passion but in us.
I remembered prom night. Holding her in my arms, thinking nothing could be better than that moment. But back then, everything had been fragile. Me. Her. Our friendship. Yes, we’d promised to always be there for each other, but we’d made that promise before we knew what it meant and at an age when neither of us had the autonomy to stand by that vow.
This was different. She wasn’t a dream I was chasing. She was real. Solid. Mine.
And I wasn’t a young man, angry, unsure, more reactive than proactive. Hers in my heart, but not in my actions.
I eased back to gaze at her again, my hands framing her face. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” she whispered.
“For not going to Portsmouth myself to tell you how I feel. For leaving you with my parents. For all of it.”
“I have questions.” She let out a small laugh, shaking her head. “Normally, they would consume me. But under the circumstances... they can wait. How are you? You just had a bombshell dropped on you.”
“I did.” I exhaled, relief and love tangling in my chest. “But I would relive that moment a thousand times if it always brought us right here—together.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead, lingering there, soaking in the fact that she was here. She’d come for me. She wasn’t going anywhere. “How are my parents?”
“Good. I wouldn’t be here if they weren’t.”
My heart thudded with gratitude because she was the partner I needed, and I knew in that moment I would spend the rest of my life loving her.
She laid a splayed hand on my chest. “You should know that Dylan came back.”
“What?” I tensed. “What did he want? If he upset my parents more—”
“He didn’t. If anything, they feel bad for him. He came back looking for you because he has information for you and it’s uglier than he could have imagined.” She hesitated. “He didn’t say more than that, but he said you know where to find him when you want to talk.”
“I do.” I hugged Lanie to my chest. “And I will. But not yet. You and my parents are my priorities. Dylan has a lot of family baggage and I feel for him, but he doesn’t have to unpack it onto my parents. They didn’t do anything to him. And seeing me with them, and you, might bother him because he doesn’t have the same kind of team right now, but he never will unless he lets his anger go.”
She kissed my neck. “You know who could help him with that?”
“Who?”
“His brother,” she said gently, and I buried my face in her hair. How I’d been lucky enough to be given a second chance with her, I’d never know, but I was so damn grateful for it.
And then, from the corner of my eye, I saw it.
A flicker of movement. A car coming from the same direction it had disappeared earlier.
My stomach tightened before my brain caught up. No license plate. Tinted windows. Same make. It slowed as it began to approach.
The air in my lungs turned to ice. I yanked Lanie behind me, shielding her as I backed us toward my truck. I had a rifle tucked in the back because—well, because. I opened the truck door and reached for it.
I yanked Lanie behind me before fully processing why. Instinct. A gut feeling I’d learned never to ignore.
The dark car seemed to assess the situation then sped up and disappeared down the road.
“What was that?” Lanie asked, her breath shaky.
I exhaled hard, my pulse still hammering. “I don’t know.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Oh, it’s something. You look spooked.”
I forced a breath, trying to shake it off. Dylan had once gone up against the mafia. Maybe they still had issues with him and had followed him to Maplebridge. I did look exactly like him. Was that what he wanted to tell me? Wherever he went, trouble followed? That wasn’t a shocker.
“Earth to Mark.”
“Sorry.” I replaced my rifle in the back of the truck. “The world can be a scary place. It’s never a bad idea to be careful.”
“Even here?”
I nodded. “Even here.”
She arched a brow and I understood. She’d lived in a city. By comparison coming home probably felt like stepping back into a simpler time. Whatever had just happened was probably a fluke. I’d call Dylan later. If it had anything to do with him, we’d handle it. But for now? I had everything I wanted already in my arms.
“What is that smirk?”
“I think you know.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her.
“I promised your parents I’d bring you back to see them.”
I groaned and kissed her forehead. “Okay. We’ll go see them first, but then you’re all mine.”
She rose onto her tiptoes, her breasts brushing deliciously up my chest. “Always.”