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“I know, Nate. Let’s stick to being honest from now on, though.”
“Agreed, though I like the punishments.”
“Of course you do,” she laughed. Then her eyes caught on my neck, and her whole body winced. “I’m sorry, I?—”
“Don’t. I like it.” And I did. It said that I was hers and anyone who saw me was going to know it because I was. I was hers, mind, body, and soul.
And I didn’t give a single fuck who knew it.
Chapter Twenty-One
Mari
The week after the bachelorette party was quiet. Almost too quiet.
With Aislynn and Cameron distracted by final wedding prep, family flying in from the Emerald Isle, and my entire household moving to a mansion on the waterfront, I expected Cash to blow up the plane or set one of my businesses on fire. Hell, I half expected him to mow someone over with a tank.
Instead, there wasn’t a single whisper of him the entire time. It made me twitchy.
The only thing that kept me stable was knowing that we had eyes on at least one part of his operation and Derek was under constant surveillance. Thanks to Tennessee and Moore, we could watch him slowly disintegrate into paranoia in real time, and he’d been doing it beautifully. Especially once Jacob’s body turned up.
Now, Derek couldn’t take two steps without looking over his shoulder. Exactly the way I wanted him. Broken men were far more willing to give me the information I needed, either with their mouths or their actions.
From what we could tell, the business Paul used as the GPS starting point wasn’t Cash’s, but since we’d put eyes on the entire neighborhood, we’d definitely seen an uptick in Aces. Even if it wasn’t the right building, we were in the right place. On top of that, I’d sent a message to my uncle requesting the information on Cash he’d promised us. Apparently, he was having trouble with the Wolf, but he’d get it as soon as he could. Once we knew his history, we could guess his future.
Everything was coming together. I just had to be patient.
“You look beautiful, mariposa,” Dominic said as he entered my room.
Since our evening together, he’d been around but not available, and I wasn’t sure if he was trying to tease me or if the goal was to give me space. We’d crossed a line, but the more time went on, the more I thought it was good that we’d done it.
“You look handsome yourself.” Dominic in jeans and a T-shirt was hot, but put him in a fully tailored suit with a pocket square to match my dress, and he was droolworthy. He’d even swept his hair back, though it still had that just-fucked look I liked so much. The man was a walking wet dream, and I had to clench my thighs together at the sight.
“If you’re good, I’ll show you what’s underneath the suit.” He said it with a flirty smile that fell soon after, and I hated it. Despite everything going on, the longer our estrangement continued, the less I wanted it to. Dominic had proven over and over again that he was there for me how I needed him to be. At some point, I either needed to trust him or let him go, and the idea of him finding happiness with someone else made my chest hurt.
Had he earned me, though? I thought so.
Still, it was a new kind of hell to take steps to bring him back into the fold and into my heart when he’d already decimated it once.
“I may take you up on that offer.”
The way his smile brightened washed away the discomfort of taking that first step. I had made my decision. We would either live with it or we would die by it, but either way, we owed it to ourselves to try. One more chance.
Dominic crept closer, taking my hand in his. “I’m not going to let you down again, Mari.”
“I know you won’t.” And I did. We’d have our issues, but he’d never hurt me like that again. He’d never question who I was. I had no doubt about that.
He’d walked into the fire with me, and we’d be reborn together.
“Where are the others?”
“Here.” Greyson stepped in, with Nate close behind him.
If I thought that one of my men looked incredible in a suit, all three of them lined up together was a whole new experience. Each one had something on that matched my dress. For Dominic, it was the pocket square, for Nate, his button-up, and Greyson matched with the faint pinstripes of his suit. They were subtle but more than obvious to anyone with eyes and a brain.
I loved it.
“No one told me we were having matching costumes,” I joked.
