Chapter 60
Dean
I was meant to go straight from the courthouse to get an ankle monitor fitted, but DA Anna Davis said she would buy me time — maybe an hour or two — when I showed her the contents of the envelope. She knew nothing about it, at least that’s what she said.
Shortly after that, Lily and I found Seb and Kira, waiting out in the courthouse foyer scanning the menu for the in-building café.
We were just about to tell them about the envelope when Kira spotted someone in the swarm of people moving through the building.
Her smile dropped, and then so did ours as we watched Aiden approaching on his crutch.
Waiting nearby was his probation officer.
“He’s got a fuckin’ death wish.” I moved myself in front of Lily, partially blocking her from view.
“If he’s coming over here with some I need to get your forgiveness as part of my anger management therapy bullshit, I’m gonna hit him with the menu board,” Seb said, rolling his shoulders, until Kira took his hand. His attention went to her and she smiled as she placed a hand on his cheek.
“I have a better idea,” she said before kissing Seb. As she did, she raised two middle fingers in Aiden’s direction.
Seb pulled his arms further around Kira’s waist, completely enveloped in her as he smiled onto her lips.
Whatever Aiden’s intentions had been, he seemed to forget. He stopped in his tracks, watching as the woman he broke put on a show of adoration and love for the man who had helped pick up her broken pieces.
Aiden miraculously got the hint, glowering a little and flushing red from embarrassment as he limped back to his probation officer.
Lily’s hand slid into mine, and the tension left my body as I looked at her. She had just finished her own sigh of relief when she said, “We should get going.”
“You know, we could leave right now,” I said with my arm around Lily’s shoulders in the backseat of the cab.
“You mean run away and breach your conditions?” She raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think so. I just got you back, and I’m not letting you become a…” She lowered her voice to a whisper, “fugitive.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m breachin’ those conditions now,” I whispered back, smiling.
“Bending the rules. Anna gave us two hours.”
I brought my lips to her ear. “There’s a lot we can do in two hours.”
“Focus,” she giggled.
As the drive went on, more and more Brownstone houses with tree-lined streets came into view. Eventually, the cab slowed in front of one of the few homes with a long, narrow driveway down its left side, leading to a garage and maybe a small courtyard garden in the back.
I leaned across Lily’s lap to get a better view of the place through the window.
It was two stories high — three including the basement beneath — and built with red brick and black trimmings. Everything about it was elegant but cozy, right down to its dark green front door.
“Are you gettin’ out or what?” the driver drawled.
“Yes, right, sorry.” Lily quickly paid and we climbed out of the cab.
Long after the cab had left, we stood on the sidewalk looking at the place.
“I’m assuming this is yours,” Lily said in awe.
“One way to find out.” I fished out the key from my back pocket and made my way up to the stoop. There were several potted plants at the top of the stairs, and ivy clung to the corner of the house, creating a green wall that stretched the length of the driveway.
The door unlocked, and I let it swing inwards while we remained on the stoop, peering inside.
There was no furniture, and it smelled of fresh paint and wood. Expensive wood, based on the original timber floors that were polished to the point I could almost see my reflection.
A hallway stretched out before us, with living rooms on either side and a bright kitchen and dining room in the back. A grand staircase with white carpet and black metal rails ran along the hallway, leading to the next level.
“Is this real?” I asked, taking a step over the threshold.
Lily took a few steps ahead of me to peer into the living room on the right. Her smile only widened, and she turned around. “There is an entire wall of empty shelves in there.”
My lips curved up.
She bit her lip and took another step into the room while I drifted towards the stairs.
“And a fireplace,” she added.
I investigated the living room on the left from its doorway. It also had a fireplace.
“Jesus Christ,” I muttered, pulling my gaze up to the top of the stairs. There was shelving up there too, inside an alcove that would make for a perfect reading nook.
While Lily got lost exploring downstairs, I went up, finding three large bedrooms, two of which had bathrooms. The master bedroom was at the end of the landing, around the corner of that book nook.
Its windows invited the afternoon sun to shine down directly onto the carpet, warming the space.
As I walked over to the windows, more of the courtyard at the back of the house came into view.
There’s a fucking greenhouse.
I heard Lily come up the stairs, followed by a quiet gasp as she discovered the second floor too.
“There is a bathtub in here!” she exclaimed from one of the bathrooms. “With jets!”
I chuckled, more so in disbelief as I turned slowly on the spot, locking my fingers behind my head.
When Lily walked into the bedroom, her eyes lit up, and she approached the window.
“What do you think?” I asked.
“It doesn’t matter what I think. Antonio left you a house. This is all yours.” She looked at the carpet, where the sun was shining. “Though I think that might be my favorite spot.”
With that, I lowered myself to the floor with a smile on my face and took her hand to guide her down with me. She happily obliged and took up the space between my legs, resting back against my chest as the sun shone down on us.
I rested my chin on her shoulder and pulled my arms around her. “I wanna run somethin’ by you.”
She tilted her head back, eyes closed, as the sun danced along her skin. “Hm?”
“When this house arrest is done, I wanna bring Mom’s ashes home, and I was wonderin’ if you’d wanna go with me.”
“To Palermo?” She half turned in my arms to look at me.
I nodded, already lost in that blue sparkle of her eyes.
“Of course, yes,” she beamed softly.
My fingertips tucked her hair behind her ear, and then smoothed along her jaw. “One more thing.”
The look she was giving me, like she was falling for me all over again, jump-started a barrage of butterflies in my gut. I never got butterflies. A little nervous, maybe, but not this fluttering feeling.
“Move in with me.” Technically, we were living together before the trial, but this was different. “It’s a big place for just me and a small dog. And considering I’m gonna have a curfew for the next twenty-four months, which means no sleepovers at yours…”
Lily laughed. “That is a very polite way of asking me to be your in-house booty call.”
“Okay, so I worded it wrong. What I meant was, I wanna share this with you.”
She was beginning to blush. “I’d have to talk to Kira first.”
“Of course.”
“And I’d have to bring my furniture. Not that I have a lot to fill this place. It’d be whatever is in my room. And my books. And maybe the pastel blue couch.”
“We’ll buy stuff with that million,” I shrugged. “But I want you to decorate. One, because I’m shit at it, and two, because you’ll make it feel like home. You’re already doin’ that by being here.”
Lily got to her knees but remained between my legs as she brought her hands to the sides of my face and leaned in, smiling as she spoke. “Okay.”
She kissed me like it was a signature, making the move-in official.
I lay back, bringing her with me to keep her lips on mine. She moved her legs to straddle my hips, devouring a groan that left my body as my hands roamed over her.
No sex for five months had left me itching to touch her again.
We were definitely about to have sex on the carpet regardless of any deadlines to be elsewhere. There was still an hour and a half to kill, and five months of love to catch up on. Plus, the carpet was invitingly soft.
When Lily pulled back slightly, the sun coming through the window created a warm glow around her.
“Ignoring the fact you have to wear an ankle bracelet and stick to a curfew,” she said. “How does freedom feel?”
I brought my hand behind her head and kissed her slowly.
We were in our own little slice of paradise with a lifetime of memories ahead of us.
“A lot like this.”