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“Oh, how wonderful,” she says.
Franco glances at her. “Wonderful? How’d you get there?”
“Look at them, listen to Arturo. You can hear how much they want each other. You’ve always said that Arturo is a good man. You’ve always said that if you had it your way, you never would’ve left him.”
That hits me hard right in the gut.
Fine, Franco left, but somebody was threatening Aida.
What would I do for Aida?
Anything.
“You really said that?” I mutter, smirking a little.
Franco half-smiles, and then turns to the estate and shrugs.
“I mean, shit. Maybe. Sometimes.”
“Look at you two,” Lyndsey says, laughing. “Trying to fool the world into thinking you hate each other. The fact is, you’re both going through a whole lot of emotion right now and you’ve never learned how to express it.”
“Emotion?” Franco chuckles. “Last time I checked, I was a man, my love.”
“Yeah, no emotion here,” I laugh grimly.
Franco’s eyes meet mine, and then it’s like we’re kids again, me, him, and Elmo pulling some stupid prank on the older kids, laughing our assess off whenever it went wrong or right. Franco explodes into laughter, and I join him.
Aida starts to giggle, too, a sweet musical sound. I think hers comes mostly from relief.
“This is weird, though,” Franco murmurs. “I don’t understand how it happened. The only reason I’m not going crazy here is because you’re saying you want to be together forever. So you want to start a family together?”
“Yes,” I growl, “I do. More than anything.”
“That means grandchildren,” Lyndsey grins, jabbing Franco in the belly with her elbow, excitement bubbling out of her.
“I know what it means,” Franco growls, and then knocks his whiskey back in a gunshot slam. “So, marriage? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Dad, let’s not jump to conclusions,” Aida says quickly.
“No,” I tell her, giving her a be-silent look.
She huffs, causing her breasts to jiggle and bounce alluring.
She knows to keep that pretty mouth shut when I want her to by now … and she knows when to open it to do whatever the fuck I want. I hope my horny little minx isn’t so naïve as to think the nonstop fucking and pleasuring of her body is going to stop once I make a lady out of her.
“Franco, I’d like to ask your permission to propose to your daughter,” I tell him. “I want your blessing. I’m not saying when I will propose. I’m not saying it will be soon. But I know damn well that I’m going to want to – need to – and I’m not ashamed to ask you, man to man, for your daughter’s hand in marriage.”
Aida is staring at me with her mouth open wide, shock dancing across her expression. Lyndsey blinks with tears in her eyes.
Even Franco looks a little choked up.
“Well, shit,” he sighs. “You have it, Arty. You’ve got my blessing.”
“Thank you, Frankie,” I say. “That means a damn lot.”
Aida’s hand gets tighter and tighter around mine like she can barely hold on, like she thinks she’s going to float up and away and out of this moment, landing in some deranged land where I didn’t claim her and she isn’t mine.
But I did. And she is.
Nothing is ever going to change that.
“Oh, how exciting,” Lyndsey says, fluttering her hands together in hummingbird claps. She sits up and smiles broadly. “A little tip for the proposal, Arturo—”
“Mom.”
“Please, I’m all ears,” I smirk, enjoying seeing my queen squirm a little.
“Aida has always dreamed of going to the Grand Canyon. Ever since she was a girl, she’s said—”
“Mom, seriously,” Aida says, her cheeks flaring. “This is next-level embarrassing.”
“I know what she dreamed,” I growl softly.
“What?” Aida says. “How?”
“You dreamed of standing at the edge and singing into the canyon. You dreamed of hearing your voice come back to you from a hundred different places.”
Aida tilts her head at me. Lyndsey gasps dramatically. Even Franco’s eyebrows perk up, as he leans forward and asks, “Arty, how the hell did you know that?”
“I know her,” I say. “She loves singing. More than anything.”
“Almost anything,” she murmurs, shooting me a meaningful look with those excited bright eyes.
Does that mean she loves me as fiercely as I love her?
“So just to make this clear,” Franco says, sitting back with a grin I haven’t seen in years. “You got rid of the assholes who’ve been tormenting me for most of my adult life. You handled his Cartel friends. You saved my daughter’s life. And now you’re a fucking mind reader, too? What’s next, flying?”
We all crack up at that, the four of us, and then even Jackal stands up and starts padding back and forth, howling and whining through a grin.
Whatever happened next I know we can face the future together.
With Aida and the family, we’re going to build together, nothing can wreck us.
Nothing can wreck what we have.
