Chapter 41
FORTY-ONE
OWEN
M y girl curled up in a ball and shuddered all the way home, and I wanted to slice some fucker up for putting her through this trauma. She’d already been through enough, and from now on, I don’t care how overkill it may seem, she and Romeo will have an entire security team to themselves.
Tate greeted us in the driveway and took Romeo so I could carry her through the house. The man looked how I felt, emotionally and physically exhausted.
Ava and Tate bathed Romeo and decided they were staying the night to watch over him, which I was grateful for. Laya burst into tears when they told her that, and you could see the anxiety fall from her.
A medic was on hand to dig out the bullets lodged in my leg and shoulder, and Laya never left my lap as I withstood the pain without medication. She’s my fucking salvation and cure. After feeling my heart broken, nothing compares to that, and I refused to let her leave my side, no matter how much concern she had for me.
Behind our bedroom door, I tended to Laya. I filled the bathtub with bubbles and washed every inch of my girl, then wrapped her in warm towels and laid her on the bed.
I stare down at her beauty, the crushing feeling in my chest not easing as I expected it to. Instead, it amplifies with each gentle caress of drying her with the towel. Knowing I came so close to losing her is something I never want to endure again. Sure, I lost her to that fucker six feet under, but nothing compares to the realization of possibly never seeing her again.
“Are you sure they didn’t hurt you?” My eyes sweep over her face as I ask the same question I’ve asked multiple times.
She shakes her head. “I’m okay. Romeo is okay?” Her soft hand glides over my jawline, and a shudder ripples through me as I press her hand against me, eager to feel the warmth of her touch seep into my soul.
“How do you know they won’t come after us again?” she whispers, and alarm flashes in her eyes. I hate it. No woman should ever feel that, least of all mine, with me being the owner of a fucking security firm that failed her epically.
“He won’t, I have assurances.”
Her eyes flicker over my face, and her body freezes. “Like what?” Concern laces her tone, and I can’t help the chuckle that escapes me.
“Nothing illegal, Laya. I promise.” Then I lift her hand and kiss it gently before placing it on the steady thrum of my heart. “I have an important package in my hands that gives me all the reassurance I need.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “What does that mean?”
I lick my lips, unsure of how much to tell my wife. But after everything she’s endured, she deserves the peace of mind of knowing her and Romeo’s welfare are nothing to be concerned about. “His everything.”
Understanding flashes in her eyes, and her shoulders relax, allowing the towel to slip from around her.
My eyes instantly latch onto her heavy tits, and I close them to avoid the way my cock hardens at the sight.
“Owen?” Her gentle tone has my eyes opening. “No more secrets.”
I shuffle closer toward her on the mattress and cup the back of her head as I stare down at the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. My pulse races for her, my cock stiffens, and my heart hammers. “No more secrets. I promise I only ever did it to protect you,” I whisper, then coax her lips open with mine. She allows me the privilege of tasting her after thinking I lost her for good. Her taste is somehow sweeter, as I once again allow myself to drown in her possession.
She unbuttons my jeans, and I pull back to stand and lower them along with my boxers. Then I toe off my boots and socks and kick them to the side with my clothes following, all while ignoring the pain radiating through me. I can withstand anything if it means I get to keep her, and more importantly, show her how much I love her.
Laya lies naked in the center of the bed, her hair splayed out over the pillows like a halo, and when she opens her legs, my cock jumps at the sight of her glistening pussy.
I climb between her legs and rest on my forearms above her, and her eyes shine with an uncertainty I hate. She’s giving herself over to me, exposed, raw from her trauma, and vulnerable in my hands, yet she’s giving me her all.
And she deserves my everything too.
Slowly, I lower my lips to hers and breathe her in. Her proximity and the way her arms band around my neck, as if never wanting to let me go, give me the confidence for my words.
“I’m sorry I ever let you go, but I’m not sorry for protecting you from him.”
Her heart skips a beat against mine.
“I always thought you’d come back to me when you were ready, Laya. I never expected you to end up with a monster. You were meant to be mine.”
Her eyes fill with tears as she shakes her head. “I thought you’d moved on.”
“How could I have to moved on from this, baby girl?” I push inside her slick pussy, and I revel in her stretching around me to accommodate my thickness.
“How could I ever move on from you?”
Her breathing stutters as I slowly pump my hips, delivering each gentle thrust with an admittance of my truth.
“My heart shattered into a thousand pieces, and I hated him, Laya. I hated him so much for taking what was mine.”
“I never loved him like I love you. He just made me feel secure.” He made her feel all the things I never did. He gave her all the things I wanted but never took, and I understand that, but the sting is still there. Her using those words toward him, the same words only ever meant to be mine, has an unadulterated rage coursing through me, yet somehow, I lock it down.
“You were always mine.” I circle my hips and groan at the gasp that escapes her edible lips.
“Yes,” she pants. “Always, Owen.”
“I researched him. Contacted every Mafia member I had access to for information. But I swear to you, Laya, if I thought you would be happy”—my hips move faster as I admit my worst fears—“if I thought that man was right for you, I’d have let you go. I’d have lived my miserable existence without you, to give you what you deserve.”
Her lips meet mine, but I only allow the touch for a split second, desperate to get it all out, needing her to hear all my truths. It flows freely from me, like the poison that ravished my veins and left me so brutally torn.
“It killed me knowing he gave you my son, Laya.” A tear slips down her cheek as I continue the steady pumping of my hips. “That he watched my baby girl’s body stretch, he held your tummy, he watched the life he created with the woman I love be brought into this world. I loathed him.”
I lick the tear on her cheek away and her hold on my tightens. Her pussy clenches around me, and I know she’s close, but I need her to hear it all.
“When I discovered the man he was, I knew he wasn’t worthy, and it sickened me that someone like that was receiving your trust, your love, when it should have been mine. I would have held those feelings so close to me, Laya. I never would have risked destroying you. I’d do anything to protect you, baby.” I thrust again, and her lips crash against mine, and this time I allow her to take the access she so beautifully demands.
“Anything,” I whisper, needing her to know I did just that.
“Thank you.” Her hips rise off the bed, meeting mine as I swallow her moans of pleasure, and when I grind myself against her clit, she clenches tightly around me.
“I love you,” she whispers, and I squeeze my eyes closed at the intense pressure those words create. “Oh god, I love you!” she whisper-yells as her pussy grips my cock and her back arches off the bed. Her orgasm hits her so beautifully my cock willingly surrenders to her command, delivering her with a torrent of short sharp thrusts while I will my cum to give me the greatest gift of all.
“You have all of me, Laya. I love you, baby girl. Always.”