Chapter 23
Soft. Wild. Ours.
Coleman
The second I step out of the meeting, I feel it.
That pull in my chest—tight and uneasy.
My phone’s on silent, still tucked in my suit jacket, but I see the screen flashing before I even reach for it. Missed calls. Too many.
Stella (4 missed calls)
Remi (1 missed call and 1 voicemail)
I don’t hesitate. I hit Remi’s voicemail first, heart already pounding, bracing for whatever’s coming.
Her voice comes through the speaker, low and calm—but I know her. I know that voice.
She’s trying not to panic.
“Hey… I have the girls. Something happened at Stella’s. They’re safe, but I need you to come home as soon as you can. Please.”
That last word isn’t a plea. It’s a warning.
I start the car with shaking hands and punch in her number, but it goes straight to voicemail.
Once.
Twice.
Three goddamn times.
“Come on, Remi,” I mutter, tearing out of the lot like the road owes me something.
I dial again and again, each second dragging, each unanswered ring chipping away at whatever calm I have left.
I’m halfway up the driveaway when I spot the Jeep in my driveway—and I know exactly whose it is.
Callum fucking Rizzoli.
I slam the car into park and jump out. “What the hell are you doing here?”
He doesn’t move, just shuts the door with a heavy thud and looks at me like I should already know.
“Remi called. Said she needed a lawyer. Said get over here now.” His arms cross, eyes hard. “What happened?”
“I don’t know.” I’m already moving past him. “I don’t know a damn thing.”
I throw open the front door and freeze.
Remi’s on the couch, and my girls are folded into her—one on each side, crying so hard their shoulders shake. She’s holding them like her own heart’s breaking with theirs.
And then I see it.
Blood.
A thin line of red across her forehead.
“Remi.” Her name falls out of my mouth like a prayer and a curse all in one. “What the fuck happened?”
Before she can answer, Paige bolts from the couch and runs straight to me, latching onto my middle.
“Dad—Mom had a man over—and they were drinking—and they started yelling—Remi came and she—she—” She sobs so hard she hiccups. “She fought her.”
My eyes snap back to Remi.
Still and quiet, but her eyes are locked on mine, and I see it.
The fear. The fury. The protectiveness.
“She grabbed Payton,” Paige whispers. “And Remi… she kicked her. In the knee. Then she headbutted her.”
My world tilts.
My jaw clenches so hard I hear my teeth grind.
I can’t breathe.
I can’t think.
All I can do is feel.
Rage. Grief. Guilt. Love.
I wrap my arms around Paige tighter, but my eyes never leave Remi.
She did this. She saved them. She stepped into a war that wasn’t hers just to protect what matters most to me.
And I wasn’t even there.
I’m supposed to protect them. All of them.
“I’m gonna fucking kill her,” I growl, barely able to hold it in.
“You’re not,” Callum says from behind me. “Because then you’ll lose custody, your career, and your goddamn mind. Let me handle it.”
“I’ll pay you whatever it takes.”
Callum steps in front of me, glare dark. “Don’t insult me.”
Before I can respond, I glance toward the couch again—just in time to see Payton tightening her grip around Remi’s waist, face buried deep in her side.
I hold my hand out, silently begging her to come to me.
She doesn’t even look up.
And for the first time in my life, I’m not hurt by it.
Because I get it.
She feels safest with her right now.
Remi—this woman who walked into our world and did more in one month than their mother did in ten years.
She’s already theirs.
And she doesn’t even know it.
We wait until the girls stop crying long enough to speak in full sentences. Callum listens to every word with the attention of a man about to go to war. When Remi tells him Stella will probably press charges, I say it again—louder this time.
“I’ll pay whatever you want.”
He gives me a look that could cut steel, then turns back to Remi. “We’ll be ready.”
I try to get the girls to go upstairs so we can talk, but Payton won’t let go of Remi. Paige tries, but it’s useless. They both end up staying curled against her, arms clutched tight like she might disappear if they blink.
Callum leaves with a promise that he’ll start the paperwork in the morning.
Remi and I finally get the girls upstairs and into bed.
Paige doesn’t even pretend to head toward her own room. She slides into Payton’s bed without hesitation.
I pull the blanket over them both, brush the hair from their faces, kiss their foreheads like I always do.
But then I step back and watch Remi do the same.
And something breaks in me.
Because that?
That’s everything.
And I’m done pretending like I don’t know it.
The house is quiet.
Too quiet.
I’m lying in my bed staring at the ceiling, but all I see is her. Blood on her forehead. My girls shaking against her sides. The way Payton wouldn’t let go.
The way Remi didn’t even blink before throwing herself into the fire for them.
For me.
And I wasn’t there.
I was shaking hands with a goddamn investor while she was bleeding in my living room.
I close my eyes, but all that does is bring it closer—Stella’s hand wrapped around Payton’s arm, Paige’s red-rimmed eyes, the soft rasp of Remi’s voice trying to stay calm on that voicemail.
I could’ve lost her.
That thought alone knocks the air from my chest like a gut punch.
I could’ve lost her.
The ache that wraps around my ribs isn’t just fear. It’s something worse. Something bigger.
And I can’t sit here with it any longer.
I throw the covers back and move down the hallway, each step deliberate but quiet. I know she’s sleeping. I know I should leave her alone. Let her rest. She earned it more than anyone.
But I need her.
Not to talk. Not to unravel the mess in my head. I just need to know she’s still here.
Her door creaks when I push it open.
She’s curled into herself, hair a mess of soft waves across her pillow. One hand under her cheek, the other resting over her ribs like she’s holding herself together even in sleep.
I step into the room.
Each breath I take feels harder than the last.
Then I do the only thing I can think to do.
I slide one arm under her shoulders, the other behind her knees, and lift.
She jolts awake with a gasp, blinking hard. “Coleman—what the hell—?”
“Don’t fight me on this,” I whisper, voice rougher than I mean it to be. “Please.”
Her eyes search mine, still glassy with sleep.
“I need to know you’re okay. Just… let me hold you. Just tonight. I can’t—” I pause, struggling for the words. “I can’t take the thought of being there alone while you’re right down the hall.”
She doesn’t say anything.
Just lets out a breath and nods.
I carry her to my room and lay her down on the bed like she’s made of glass.
And maybe she is—fragile in ways I’ll never understand, strong in ways I’ll never deserve.
I crawl over her slowly, one knee on each side, hands on either side of her head, caging her in—not to trap her, but to protect.
She looks up at me, eyes soft but unsure. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
I shake mine. “I don’t know how to say it without scaring you.”
She lifts a hand, brushes her fingers over my chest. “Try me.”
So I do the only thing that makes sense in this moment.
I kiss her.
Not softly.
Not carefully.
But like a man who almost lost everything.
My mouth crushes against hers with desperation I didn’t even know I was capable of. My hands slide into her hair, cradling the back of her head like I’m afraid she’ll vanish.
And maybe I am.
Because tonight, I need her.
I need the weight of her body under mine. I need the sound of her voice. I need the heartbeat pounding against my chest that tells me she’s real.
That she’s here.
And that she’s safe.
Her lips part under mine like a question I’ve waited too long to answer.
She gasps softly into the kiss, her fingers tangling in the front of my shirt, pulling me down to her like she needs this just as badly as I do. And God, I hope she does. Because I’m done pretending I don’t want her. Done trying to keep this from turning into more than a quiet ache in my chest.
Her thighs shift, brushing mine, and the friction is maddening. I groan low, dragging my mouth down to her jaw, her neck, breathing her in like she’s the only thing tethering me to the world.
She tastes like sugar and steel—soft where she lets herself be and unyielding in the places she hides.
My hands trail down her sides, skimming the curve of her waist, learning her body like I’ve dreamed of doing since the night I kissed her in the living room.
She arches into me, her breath catching when my palm finds her hip, slides up under the hem of her shirt. My fingers skim skin—warm, smooth, addictive.
"Remi…" Her name comes out like a prayer, or maybe a warning. I don’t know which. She tilts her head back, exposing her throat, and it wrecks me. I lean back just enough to meet her eyes. “I’ve wanted to kiss you again for so long it’s made me crazy.”
She nods slowly, lips swollen and red from my kiss. “Then do it again.”
So I do.
This time slower, deeper, my tongue sweeping against hers like I’ve got all night to memorize the shape of her mouth. My hips press into hers, and her breath hitches—sharp and needy. Her fingers fist in my shirt, then slide up to my shoulders, curling around the back of my neck.
She’s everywhere.
Under my skin.
Inside my chest.
Filling spaces I didn’t know were empty.
I shift my weight, pressing more of me against her, and she moans softly into the kiss. It’s the kind of sound that hits every nerve ending I have. That undoes every last bit of self-control I’m clinging to.
I kiss her like it’s the only thing keeping me from falling apart.
Like if I stop, even for a second, I’ll forget what it feels like to want someone like this. To need someone like this.
My hand finds the curve of her thigh, then slides under it, hooking her leg around my waist. She pulls me closer without hesitation, and it’s too much. Not enough. Perfect. Dangerous.
“Tell me to stop,” I rasp against her mouth. “If I keep going—if I touch you again—I won’t be able to stop.”
She drags her lips along my jaw, her voice barely more than a breath. “Then don’t stop.”
That’s all I need.
That’s all I’ll ever need from her.
She doesn’t hesitate this time.
No second-guessing. No pulling away. Just her hands on me—needy, sure, and shaking a little as they find their way beneath my shirt, pushing it up, baring skin to air that suddenly feels too cold without her touch.
I pull her closer, kissing her like a man who’s spent too long starving. Because I have. For her. For this.
For a moment where it’s just us. No past. No pain. No ghosts whispering from the corners.
Only us.
Her breath catches as I shift, pressing her deeper into the mattress. My hands roam, memorizing every inch of her, every curve, every soft sound that spills from her lips when I find the places that make her sigh, or gasp, or whisper my name like it’s a secret she’s finally ready to give away.
Clothes fall away in pieces—fingers fumbling, mouths meeting skin.
She arches against me, and I swear I see stars.
I slowly kiss my way down her body and when I finally get to the apex of her thighs I lick through her center.
She moans above me and I tease, lick, and nibble.
Cataloging every single sound she makes.
I use it to my advantage. I want to make sure if I only have her once.
She will remember me forever. I keep it up until I can hear her begging me.
I am not sure what she is asking for but I am going to make sure she comes before I leave this spot.
I work my finger inside her. She starts bucking below me. I press one more finger inside her. Letting her ride my hand and then I suck on her tight bud and she comes with my name coming out in a whisper. For the first time in my life, I wish my kids weren’t home so she could scream my name.
Next time. Because I have decided I can’t have her just once.
I crawl back up her body. Watching her eyes as I push into her. Slowly. Making sure to watch every movement on her face. I want to memorize this for the rest of my life. The first time I had the woman I would be with forever.
Her body molds to mine like we were made for this. Like every rough edge in me was carved to fit perfectly around the softness of her.
Time stops.
Everything stops.
It’s just the two of us in this quiet, golden place that feels like something close to salvation.
When we finally settle—bodies tangled, hearts racing—I press my lips to her shoulder and close my eyes, holding her like I never want to let go.
Because I don’t.
I never have.
And God help me… I never will.