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I didn’t know that. She was only supposed to stay for January. Fuck, I love that man.
“That fucking aligns,” Frank scoffs, derisive and rude. Again. “I’m only going to ask you this once, Wells. Is one of your men fucking my daughter?”
And Wells is out of his chair, stalking toward me with a venomous leer. “Not to my knowledge. Why?”
He pinches the back of my neck without mercy for five excruciating beats because I just made him lie. Sorta. It’s not to his knowledge. Fuck.
“Mothers always know. Ava suspects she’s got her eye on someone. Look, I mean no disrespect to you. God knows you’re putting yourself on the goddamn line, digging into this shit. But let’s not pussyfoot around the life you lead. Your men are the absolute last future we’d choose for her,” Frank spits, and the room starts to spin, my pulse hammering everywhere.
“The danger is far worse than what my dealings offer, and I don’t even want her near that,” he continues. “All the shit that level of KORT business brings, Ava will lose it. She views it as a death sentence, and I can’t even argue. You say you all care about my daughter, and I know Ivanna loves her.”
Wells’s face softens—for me, but also for Frank. “We do. Very much.”
I know what’s coming, and I can’t stomach it, so I turn to leave but hear Frank’s potent demand before the door closes behind me.
“Then, do the right thing, goddammit. Get Celeste the hell out of your house and into the arms of someone who won’t put her life in danger. Someone who’s actually worthy of her.”
CELESTE
His spicy cedarwood scent clings to me like a wetsuit, dragging me under to depths I’m not prepared to endure. Weightless. Senses heightened. Everything in sharp focus. I can’t shake him off. I’m immersed in all he is even though he’s far above the surface.
He’s with me.
I can smell him. Feel him. Taste him.
I’ve gone scuba diving countless times—an adventurous pastime my father and brother introduced me to. But no dive has been as exhilarating as the one in Egypt when I was on my six-continent adrenaline-junkie tour—the one orchestrated by Wells to get me out of the way when he took Ivy.
I was depressed as all get-out, worried sick about Ivy lying helpless in a coma. Terrified I was going to be left. Again. As angry as I was that Natasha said I wouldn’t be permitted visitation if I came home, I was grateful for the constant rushes surging through my veins from the stunts.
And the Red Sea dive in Egypt did not disappoint. The SS Thistlegorm was a British transport ship that sank in 1941. The site is the most explored wreck dive in the world. For good reason. It’s truly magnificent.Preserved destruction.
Trucks and armored vehicles. Rifles and motorcycles.
Symbols of strength.
Most dives shower the senses with vibrant life. This one dulls the perception of power into muted ruins. The dichotomy alone was striking.
Death has felt like fire since Ben left this world. A burning that I never truly escape. But there, it was present and lurking. Commemorated in the salty sea.
A beautiful wreckage of fallen strength for generations to gawk at.
Fragility exposed in the formidable.
Submerged with that eerie relic of abandoned resilience, I felt a twinge of belonging—or maybe the wish to. While I was surveying the carnage, there was a moment when I envied that ship because I knew if Ivy didn’t survive, I’d be expected to don the same armor I had after Ben died, when all I would want to do is sink.
Much like how the Dodge Viper exploding—its clouds of fire piercing the midnight sky with my shrieking sobs—is emblazoned on my makeup, so is my experience with the drowning SS Thistlegorm.
As is my one night with the golden god. He’s formidable for sure, and yet the hint of fragility captivates me. A fallen angel who has wrapped his dark wings around me. They linger with a flutter of freedom. And a forceful threat. Much like the other two encounters, I’m lost inside him, but I can’t allow myself to bask there.
Sinking and smoke both promise choking.
It’s been days since Liam pursued me. Nine. That’s what I wanted, what I asked for. And yet the space does nothing to erase the mark he left.
One fucking night.
And a few stolen moments.
“You’re in me now, Ace.”
