Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
TEDDY
"I'm nervous," I blurt out, unable to sit still as Killian drives through the gates of home. He stops the vehicle suddenly.
"Nervous in a good way, big guy," Lily says, leaning forward to stick her head between Killian and me. I don't think Killian is her biggest fan, but he's softened a tad knowing how happy I am to have Lily with us.
"You're meeting Roland. He's kind of family, you know." I'm so homesick at this point. I miss everyone! By everyone I mean Ro and my cat.
"He is family," Lily says, and I nod. Family is what we make it, and I want Killian in my family, and I want my family to like him, maybe one day even love him.
Lily could be like an annoying sister, while Roland could be the grumpy grandpa who always offers unsolicited advice.
"Everything is fine." Killian reaches over to give my leg a squeeze. If it's not okay, Killian will manually make it that way, because he's a sweetheart that hung the moon just for me.
A small squeal leaves me when I see Ro and Minnie stepping out of the giant double doors.
"Is that a fountain?" Lily asks. "Better question, is that statue real gold?"
"Oh, I don't know." I shrug. "Maybe? I wouldn't put it past Grams. Gold was her favorite color. We have a few gold bars in the safe because Grams swore all safes should have a few of them. It's part of the aesthetic.”
"Oh, and Minnie!"
"She's not good with new people, except me," Killian informs her. I turn my head toward him. Is he jealous? Letting Lily know he has a leg up here already.
"Well, Ro loves me," she tosses back at him.
"Ope, this is perfect." I clap my hands. "Already fighting like brother and sister."
"I killed my sister and brother." The whole car goes deadly quiet.
"What did they do?" I whisper; it feels apparent.
"They tried to take something that was mine."
"The fuck," Lily mutters from the back seat, having now leaned all the way back.
"Killian, sweetheart."
"Sweetheart?" Lily keeps adding her commentary.
"Fine, it was a joke, but I can make it a reality." He glances back to Lily, who gives him the middle finger. This is already so much fun.
The second the car rolls to a stop, I'm jumping out. Killian shouts behind me in Russian, and I'm sure it has to do with my safety, but I'm already hugging Roland and dropping to my knees to greet Minnie.
"Don't be mad at me." I touch my nose to hers. "I got us friends." She licks my cheek, and I bounce back to my feet and introduce everyone. Roland gives Killian a skeptical expression but is still polite.
"It's lovely to have finally met you," Roland says to Lily as we enter the kitchen. He's got a ton of food laid out for us. Killian is scoping the place out, and not to rob it. I'm sure he’s checking out all of the exits to make sure it’s secure.
"You too," Lily tells him.
"I can give you a tour." I bump my shoulder into Killian.
"I know where everything is."
"Really?” I drop my head back to stare up at him.
"Blueprints."
"That's right! Ro, this man was coming to kidnap me." I know he was supposed to only find out about the estate, but why not give the story a little razzle-dazzle?
"Is that so?” Ro turns his attention to Killian. Not that it ever left for long. Roland is sizing him up. Killian grunts, making me smile up at his handsome face. I honestly don’t know how I got so darn lucky.
“Did I mention everyone is moving in?”
"Lily I understand, but this is rather new.” Ro is now openly staring at Killian. I would have crumpled under that stare and blurted out all my wrongs, but Killian has the level of don’t-give-a-fuck that I aspire to.
"We are getting married, and I took care of the lawyer." Kilian informs them.
"What?" Lily's eyes almost pop out of her head. "You're getting married?"
"Yes," I tell her. "And not because I've witnessed his crimes and don't want to have to testify against him.
" That had kind of been a ruse anyway. I wanted to marry him in order to claim him as my own, so I used that excuse in the moment to lock him down.
Not that Killian needed me to give him a reason.
"I was going to speak to Teddy about the lawyer when she returned." Ro ignores the marriage and crime part and hops over to the topic of my lawyer. I'd kind of forgotten about him. Now that I think about it, Mr. Gem hasn't been pestering me.
"What of him? That I need to find a new one?"
"Yes, a new lawyer," Killian agrees.
"It sounds like a lot of work," I huff, exhaling a breath. I'm not savvy with those kinds of things.
"He's dead," Ro says with a flat tone.
"Ope, that makes things easy." I snort a laugh.
Lily puts her hand over her mouth to avoid laughing.
Killian's expression is passive, but Ro's brows have lifted, which is saying a lot because he's got a really good poker face.
"Wait, he's really dead?" I turn my gaze back to Killian, who gives a slight shrug.
"They said he was on a hike and tumbled down a mountain. It took a few days to find him."
"They found him?" Killian asks.
"It seems so."
"Well, Killian paid for the full service of murder and making the man disappear. You need to get a refund," I tease. "This is why you have to do things yourself."
"Oh, I will." The room falls quiet.
"I don't know if we're all joking or if this is serious." I was joking, but I don't believe that my soon-to-be husband is joking.
"I never take anything seriously." I wave it off with my hand dismissively.
"Whatever rids us of him," Ro finally says with a smile before changing the subject.
"Come," I say, grabbing Lily's hand when we're done eating and leading her out to the stone patio that overlooks the pool, the sun setting over the mountains.
Lily is off. When it comes to Tristan, he keeps her pissed off.
I can see the weight of all of this settling on her shoulders.
"I'm not going to ask if you're okay." We both already know the answer.
"How can I already miss him and that stupid fucking penthouse when all I wanted was to get away from him?"
"Because you didn't want to get away from him." I bump my shoulder with hers.
"Okay, how can I be so infatuated with him? He's an asshole. A cold and rigid one." Lily rolls her eyes.
"I mean, I'm in love with Killian, and he's kinda murdery."
"Yeah, but he's a marshmallow for you. He would have tossed me from the roof of the building without a second thought to get you back," Lily says with a whimsical smile.
"So you want a murderous love too." I wiggle my brows playfully at her.
"I don't know what I want anymore." She lets out a long sigh.
Lily rests her head on my shoulder, and we stand there together and simply watch the sunset.
I hate seeing Lily this way, but Tristan forced our hand.
I'm hoping he's going to fix it without blowing up my house in the process, but we can always rebuild.
“You don’t have to know what you want right now.”
Lily nods, glancing away. “I don’t know which is worse: if he comes for me or if he doesn’t.”
If he doesn’t. I know that, and I’m pretty sure she does too, but we’re not going to say it out loud.
We both glance down when Minnie wiggles her head between us. When Lily reaches down to pet her, Minnie doesn’t stop her. I’m convinced that Minnie goes off vibes, and she sees a girl that could use a cat right now.
I peek over my shoulder realizing Killian is watching me. I give him a wink.
"Want to see your room?" I ask.
"Yeah, I need sleep."
"Okay, but don't kill me."
"Oh God, what did you do?"
"I only wanted you to feel settled here is all.
" I want her to love this place so much that she either decides to stay here or wants to spend a lot of time here, knowing there is a space just for her.
We knew she wasn't leaving with much of anything, so I made sure Lily had all the things she loves and uses already here.
"Teddy," Lily gasps when we enter. "This is bigger than most New York apartments.
" She starts to explore. "Wait," she says as she notices a couple of candles and some lotions.
She continues to pick up some small things around the room before going into the bathroom.
"Teddy." I get a pointed look when she comes back out.
"What?" I feign innocence. Lily hasn't seen all of it yet.
"Why did you glance over there?" I glance again over to the closet doors. I'm not very good at this sneaky business. I hate keeping secrets. Especially when they are surprises. I never used to last when it came to Grams. I would always spill before she could actually be surprised.
"Just the closet." I downplay it. "These pillows are—" Lily cuts me off from changing the subject, heading straight for the closet.
"Oh my God!" Lily gasps, coming back out.
"That is nothing compared to your own closet!" I point out. Lily stares at me for a second, and then her face goes soft.
"Thank you, and I'm not going to fight you on it. You're loaded. In fact, why aren't there any crowns in there?" She nods to the closet, trying to tease me. I shift on my feet, making her eyes narrow on me again. "Teddy." My name is filled with warning.
"There might be a couple in the drop safe in there. Everyone gets a crown here. Those are the rules."
"Even Killian?"
"Yep." That man would murder a whole city for me, so I'm sure he'd wear a crown for a few hours to help me prove my point. A laugh leaves her, which makes me happy. That was the point of all of this. I kinda knew she was going to be bummed about Tristan.
"Thank you," she tells me again. This is nothing. Lily has been the only friend I've ever had, and I got damn lucky. No amount of friends would ever compare to her. I should put her in the safe. It is big enough, but I’ll need to move things around.
"I love you," I tell her. We hug before she sends me on my way.
Killian is waiting for me in the hallway. "Okay, I wasn't prepared to bring a man home, so there is no big reveal for you. Don’t get your hopes up.”
"Got what I need." He swoops me up into his arms. I let out a small scream that turns to a laugh. He carries me to my bedroom located on the other side of the house. Once we’re inside, he gently puts me on my feet at the edge of the bed.
“I’ve never had a boy in my room.”
“I’m no boy, Zolotse.” He sure the hell isn’t.
“You know what I mean.”
“Another first of yours that belongs to me.” Killian gives me one of those rare smiles. He’s pretty damned pleased with himself at my revelation.
“Actually, I misspoke. Roland has been in here plenty,” I tease him. Killian doesn’t even bother to respond. Instead, he shakes his head at me before leaning down to take my mouth in a kiss. “You want to see the safe?” I wiggle my brows at him.
“I’m far more interested in yours.”
“That’s what I'm—" I pause. “Oh, my vagina!" I snort a laugh that turns into full giggles when he tosses me onto my bed, sending multiple pink fuzzy pillows flying.
"These will be useful." He runs his hand up one of the four wooden posts. A sheer fabric swoops down from one to the next, covering the top as well. I’d never thought about that before. Now I’m dreaming up all kinds of ideas.
"You don't want to man this place up?"
"No," he says, and I watch as he pulls off his shirt. The man could be a thirst trap.
"You are man enough for the whole estate." I laugh at my joke.
“I only care about being enough for you.” Kilian comes down over me, brushing a few pieces of hair out of my face. I stare up into his eyes.
“You’ll always be enough for me,” I tell him. I never want him to doubt that. Killian fits me in a way I didn’t know I needed. He is my perfect match. I may not be able to prove it, but I know without a doubt that Grams sent him to me.
“And you’ll never be too much for me.”
“Killian,” I whisper, my eyes filling with tears. I can’t believe he said that. He remembered me telling him about how people always say that I’m too much.
"Don't cry, Zolotse." His face softens in a way it only ever does for me.
"I'm really happy," I tell him. "I worried that I wouldn't ever find full happiness again once I lost Grams. I'd pretend, but I could never fully get there."
"You're there now?"
I sniffle. "I passed it, honestly," I admit, knowing that wouldn't hurt Grams' feelings; in fact, she'd want that for me more than anything.
"I could barely feel before you. Now I know I couldn't live without you. The world is different now that I have you.”
"I love you," I tell him.
"I love you too, Zolotse." He kisses me, and I wrap myself around him.
My Killian is and always will be my sweetheart. He's worth more than all the crowns and safes filled with gold bars because Killian is right. The world is a whole lot different when you've got your soulmate at your side.