Chapter 35
I look across at Aurora. She never ceases to take my breath away.
Right now, though, dressed in a long red ballgown, her hair twisted on her head in some fancy thing she calls an updo, that fucking red lipstick that I can’t stop thinking about having her rub off on my cock, her eyes covered by a red lace mask… She looks like the queen she is.
“You look fucking stunning,” I tell her.
“So you’ve said, about ten times already.” She smiles at me. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
The car turns onto Essex Street. We’re just a few blocks away from the venue.
I wasn’t going to come. I haven’t been able to draw out the weasels my father had high up on the food chain.
I have, however, managed to replace all of them with men who are loyal to me.
Which is why I’m bringing my wife to this gala.
It was Aurora’s idea to make a public appearance and hopefully coax them out of hiding. I don’t like the thought of having her out in public, where anyone can attack. It is a good idea, though. Besides, there was no way in hell I was going to leave the house without her.
“You ready?” I ask her.
“I am.” She nods.
“There’s something missing,” I say as I look her up and down. My glare landing on the tattered ring on her finger. I often catch her playing with the rolled palm leaf without realizing she’s doing it.
“What?” Aurora twists around to peer at her dress. “I have so much fabric on me, Connor. Don’t you dare say this is too revealing!”
“It is, but that’s not what’s missing.” She’s right. The dress does cover her. It also hugs her like a second skin. I’m actually keen to take it off and find out just where she’s hiding the weapons I know she’s carrying on her.
“What is missing then?” Aurora asks me.
I reach into my pocket, pull out the little pink box, and open it. “This,” I say, holding up the ring I had custom made for her.
Aurora’s eyes widen. “Connor!” she squeals. “What? How?”
“I had it made. I told you I’d get a diamond worthy of you.” I pluck the band from the box, and as I go to remove the palm leaf from her finger, Aurora stops me.
“Don’t you dare take that off,” she says.
“It’s a leaf,” I remind her.
Aurora crosses her arms over her chest while clutching the ring close to her body. “I don’t care. It’s mine. I’m not taking it off.”
“Okay.” I’m not going to argue with her. Instead, I grab her hand and slide the band onto her finger. It’s a heart-shaped, pink-diamond solitaire with smaller stones surrounding it. “You have my heart in your hands, babe.”
“I promise to always take care of it.” Aurora leans in and presses her lips to mine. “I love you.”
“I love you. Now are you ready to show the world who we are?”
“More than ready.” She beams.
When the car stops in front of the venue, I get out first and scan the area. Once I’m satisfied there are no immediate threats, I hold out a hand for Aurora. We’re surrounded by guards. I’m young, not an idiot. I refuse to take her anywhere without proper security.
With my wife’s palm clutched firmly in mine, I guide her up the steps. Everyone moves out of our way, staring at us in silence as we pass. Aurora holds her head high. She was born for this. She was born to rule.
“I couldn’t do this without you,” I admit.
“You could,” she says. “You’re Connor O’Malley. You can do anything.”
“With you by my side, maybe.”
“Okay, Harvard.” She laughs.
I scan the ballroom as we enter. It’s full of people, all in fucking masks. I hate these things. Aurora, though? She smiles.
“This will be fun.”
“How so?” I ask her.
“I get to dance with the best-looking guy in the room,” she says. “Now, Connor, ask me to dance.”
“Would you like to dance, Aurora?” I laugh as I lead my wife straight to the dance floor.
“Why yes, I would. I thought you’d never ask.” She smirks at me. My hands land on her waist. Aurora wraps her arms around my neck. “I never want to let go,” she says, resting her head against my shoulder.
“Good. I don’t want you to ever let go.”
My eyes continue to scan the room for threats. For the assholes whose lives I’m itching to end. I don’t see any of them, though. Just my men spread out, tucked into every corner, not even trying to blend in.
“Where do you see us in five years?” Aurora asks, drawing my attention back to her.
“In a bed somewhere, with me buried inside you.” I quirk a brow at her.
“I’m serious.” Aurora peers up at me.
“So am I,” I say. “Where do you see us?”
“In Boston. You’ll graduate from Harvard. We’ll be building our own empire.” She sighs in that way that tells me she’s happy. “We’ll have a dog. Maybe two.”
“A dog? How about a cat?” I counter.
“A cat?” Aurora drops her arms. “How did I not know this about you before?” She shakes her head at me. “I’m sorry, Connor, but cats are a deal breaker.”
Wrapping my arms tight around her waist, I drag her towards my chest again. “When it comes to us, babe, there’s no such thing as a deal breaker.”
She killed my cousin and I’m still prepared to go to hell and back for her. There’s nothing that can ever come between us.
“True, but I’m not getting a cat,” she tells me. “They smother babies, and I refuse to let anyone or anything harm our babies.” She pauses to look at me. “When we decide to have them.”
When. Not if. “You want to have babies with me, Mrs. O’Malley?” I ask her.
“Of course I do. Who else am I going to have them with? But not for like ten years at least,” she’s quick to add.
“Deal.” Truth is I can wait for kids. I want Aurora to myself for as long as I can have her. I don’t tell her that, though.
Taking my wife’s hand in mine, I spin her around. “They’re all watching us,” she says.
“Let them.” I lean in and press my lips to hers. I don’t linger. I need to stay alert. Just as that thought crosses my mind, the door opens, and I shove Aurora behind me.
“Don’t do that.” She shoves me back.
I peer over to look at her. Somehow she has a gun in her hand. “Where the hell did that come from?”
I ignore all the drawn weapons, the silence that’s fallen over the room. The people ducking under tables and crawling towards the closest exit.
“I came prepared. Why do you think I wore red?”
I smile. My wife is fucking insane and I love it. “Ready to show them who we are?”
“I was born ready.” She smiles up at me.
I turn towards the intruder, taking several slow strides in their direction. “You’re either stupid or brave. I haven’t decided which.”
“Or just not willing to let some punk-ass kid come in and ruin everything we’ve built,” my uncle says.
“You always did underestimate me. I really didn’t want to have to do this, but you’ve left me no choice.”
My uncle raises a palm and at least fifty men walk in with guns in hand. They’re not aiming them at me, though. They’re aiming them at Aurora.
Fuck that. I raise a single brow, about to reply as much, when I hear a commotion behind me. And my uncle’s face pales.
I don’t turn around. I feel Aurora’s free hand slip into mine, the other still holding the gun. “You know, I remember you. Your stench. I remember it,” she whispers.
Footsteps echo from somewhere behind us, but I don’t move. Neither does my wife. “You have two seconds to lower your weapons.” A deep voice precedes the figure stopping short of Aurora.
I don’t need to look to know who it is—I recognize him—but I do anyway and see Mr. Valentino and his men lined up to our right. Those loyal to me flanking our left. Two families ready to fight together to overcome the same enemy.
“Papa…” Aurora whispers.
“Get her out of here,” Mr. Valentino tells me.
As much as I don’t want to make waves with my new father-in-law, I can’t leave. Leaving would put an even larger target on my back. We both know it. I cannot look weak. It cannot appear as though I need his help.
“We aren’t leaving,” Aurora says defiantly. She grips my hand tighter. Her words break the silence. And so do the gunshots that ring out around us.
Connor and Aurora’s story is not finished yet. Continue their epic journey of love in Their Deviant Love .