Chapter 25
Dante burst into Tangled Up in a Spell, his heart in his throat.
The shop was dark, but he followed the voices until he found himself in Prim’s sacred garden.
All three of her sisters were wrapped around her, hugging her while Bethany stood over two bound individuals.
He did a double take when he spotted Shari glaring up at him.
He decided the best course of action was to ignore her completely. He strode over to the Easton sisters and said, “Can I cut in?”
“Dante?” Prim said, her voice hoarse.
Her sisters stepped back, and Dante gathered her into his arms as she collapsed against him, crying softly into his chest.
“Our sister is a bit of a hero,” Lily said.
Dante looked over Prim’s head at her sisters. “I’m not surprised by that at all.”
Indigo smiled and then nodded at something behind him. “Niko’s here.”
“That’s good. Looks like he has some criminals to handle.” Dante glanced down at Prim. “Want to get out of here?”
“Yes.”
“You got it.” He turned them so that they could see Niko. “I’m taking her home. Meet us there for your interview?”
“You got it. I’ll be over in a few hours.”
Dante didn’t say anything to anyone else. He just picked Prim up in his arms and carried her out of the garden, through the store, and deposited her into his 4-Runner. He held her hand the entire way back to her house, and when they got there, he carried her inside and straight to the shower.
He didn’t ask her anything about her night.
He just undressed her, tugged her into the shower, and then washed every inch of her body, grateful for every touch.
Every sigh. Every tender gesture. He didn’t know exactly what had happened that night.
All he knew was that when she didn’t show up at the hospital, he’d called Niko, who’d called Indigo to find out when she left.
From there, they’d tracked her iPhone to the house of horrors where the phone must have fallen out of her pocket at some point.
Then the Easton sisters had used their magic to track her whereabouts while Dante had ridden along with Niko to his office so that he could track the magical signature.
When they found a hit for Cherise Penelton, the daughter of a notorious criminal, Dante had wanted to come out of his skin.
But it didn’t take long to connect the dots to her stage name, Risa McDougal.
They were headed to the inn when Niko got the text from Indigo that they’d found her.
It had been the longest two hours of his life. He wasn’t sure if he was ever going to be able to leave her side again.
“Dante?” Prim said as he was drying her off.
“Yes, love?”
“I’m hungry.”
He wrapped her robe around her shoulders and asked, “Want me to make dinner?”
“We can do it together.”
He quickly got dressed and let her lead him into her kitchen. She opened the cabinet and pulled out a box of penne pasta, some canned sauce, and then said, “There’s some cheese in the fridge. Would you shred it for me?”
“Absolutely.” Dante got to work but kept an eye on her, wondering what was going on in her head but somehow sensing that she just needed a bit of normalcy.
He’d just finished shredding the cheese when she looked up from the sink where she was draining the noodles and asked, “Do you think it’s too early to move in together?”
He didn’t even need to think about it. “No.”
She put the pot of pasta down. “You're not just saying that because of what happened tonight, are you?”
“Yes.” He gave her a half smile. “I don’t know what you went through tonight.
But I know what I went through.” He sobered when he added, “It was pure terror that I’d never see you again.
So yes, I might be saying it because of everything we experienced.
And yes, most people would think it’s too early for any sort of commitment, much less moving in together.
But I don’t want to be more than five feet away from you at any time for the near future. I hope that’s okay with you.”
She walked into his arms. “Yes. It’s perfectly okay with me.”
He used two fingers to lift her chin so that he could see into her eyes when he said, “I’m not exactly sure when it happened, but sometime in this last week, I fell in love with you.”
“I know when it was for me,” she said. “It was the moment you bid on me at the bachelorette auction. I hope that doesn’t scare you off.”
He laughed. “Not on your life.” Then he lowered his lips and kissed her. They stood in the kitchen like that for a long time, their lips lingering on their languid kisses.
It wasn’t until they heard a knock on the door that they pulled apart.
Dante opened the door to Niko and Indigo. “Come on in. We were just making dinner.”
Indigo raised one eyebrow as she eyed his no doubt swollen mouth but said nothing as she followed Niko into the kitchen.
Prim was at the stove reheating the noodles and said, “Someone needs to set the table.”
Indigo jumped in while Dante took care of the wine.
It wasn’t long before they were all settled at the table. Prim went through her entire story while Niko took notes. When she was done, she said, “Shari needs a psych evaluation. Risa needs to be behind bars for a very long time.”
Niko put his pen down. “Do you know who Risa is?”
“Yes. She told me. She’s as cold and calculating as you might imagine. Shari, on the other hand, is not in her right mind. I’m not saying she doesn’t deserve punishment for what she’s done, but there’s definite mental illness there.”
Dante took her hand in his. “Your heart is more than I deserve.”
“That’s not true.” She looked him right in the eyes and said, “I’ve never met a man who deserves more love than you do.”
Dante’s eyes stung with moisture, and he had to look down to compose himself. When he met her gaze again, his voice was gruff. “I think it was the moment you tripped Kimmie the waitress.”
It took Prim a few seconds to register what he’d meant. Then she threw her head back and laughed. She laughed so hard tears streamed down her face.
When she finally sobered, she said, “I love you, Dante Silva.”
“I love you, Prim Easton.”
Inigo cleared her throat and tugged Niko to his feet. “Time to go.”
“But—” Niko started.
“Nope,” Indigo said. “You can finish your interview tomorrow. Night, Prim. Night, Dante.”
“Night,” they said in unison and waved as Indigo dragged Niko out of the house.
“You know, I think Indigo is my favorite sister,” Dante said.
“She is tonight,” Prim agreed. Then she stood and said, “We’ll deal with the dishes tomorrow.”
Dante grinned, swept her up in his arms, and carried her to bed. Hours later when they finally curled up to sleep, he kissed the top of her head and said, “I’m going to love you for the rest of your life, Prim.”
She let out a contented sigh. “I’m counting on it.”