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“Violet,” he cut me off sharply. “Please. I can’t focus right now thinking you may be in danger because you made the mistake of marrying me. I need you to do this for me. Promise you won’t leave this house without Jenner.”
“Marrying you wasn’t a mistake,” I whispered.
Remington closed his eyes. “Maybe it was. I was selfish. I didn’t think about your safety. All I cared about was giving you my name. It should have been enough to just have you love me. I never should have—”
“No,” I snapped and glared up at him. “And don’t you ever fucking say that to me again.” I glanced at Jenner, who was doing his best to pretend not to listen to us. This close, he looked younger than I’d first thought, maybe twenty-five at the most. But there was something about him that screamed even as young as he was, he had enough experience to take out any threat. “Fine. I promise not to go anywhere without Jenner at my side. Happy?”
“Don’t be mad,” my husband tried to soothe, the relief in his voice evident.
“Stop saying stupid shit,” I countered. “I’m going to forget you just said that to me, but if you ever say that or something like it again, I won’t be held responsible for what happens next.”
“And what’s that, my sweet, beautiful wife?” he asked with a grin as he bent and brushed his lips down my neck.
I tried not to melt against him, but when he skimmed his tongue over my bottom lip, I couldn’t help granting him access. When he lifted his head a few moments later, I tried to keep my glare in place. “I’m not joking around, Remi. Don’t say things like that again.”
Remorse filled his eyes. “I’m sorry, my love. Forgive me?”
“This time.” I pulled him down for another kiss. “I will never regret marrying you. I love being your wife.”
“I’ll do my best to never make you regret it.” With one more brush of his lips over mine, he took my hand. “Let’s go. I don’t want my new in-laws to hate me because we’re late.”
In the driveway, Remington’s car was already waiting. But instead of driving, he opened the back door for me, while Jenner got behind the wheel. I thought he meant Jenner was going to be with me whenever he wasn’t, but apparently he really did mean whenever I left the house. I didn’t know why he was so anxious about my safety all of a sudden, but I didn’t want to put more stress on him when he was already so ill, so I kept my mouth shut about it as we drove to my parents’ house.
Dad met us at the door when we got there, pulling me in for a tight hug and a kiss on top of my head. “It’s good to see you, sweetheart,” he murmured before releasing me and turning to shake Remington’s hand. “Come on in,” he said as he kept an arm around me and guided us into the living room.
Mom came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel. Seeing us, she squealed and pulled me in for a hug. “There’s my girl.” She kissed my cheek then hugged Remington. “Hey, son,” she said with a grin.
I watched his face when she called him “son,” and the way his eyes sparkled melted my heart. It had been a long, long time since Remington had had a real family, and I was glad I could give him that experience again with my own parents.
As we got comfortable in the living room, I glanced around for my brother. “Where’s Mason?”
“He took Oscar for a run, but he should be back before long.” Mom glanced at the gift bags Remington had placed at our feet when we sat down. “What’s this?”
“Just a little something for later,” I told them with a smile as I snuggled against Remington on the couch. “It’s for after dinner.”
“Honey, you really didn’t have to get us a gift,” Dad said. “We totally forgive you for the Vegas wedding.”
Something in his voice had me sitting forward a little, and I got a bad feeling. “Dad, you didn’t do anything, did you?”
“Like what, Vi?” he asked, stretching his legs out in front of him while Mom settled on the arm of his chair.
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking.” I felt Remington rub his hand soothingly down my back, but it couldn’t distract me when I saw the fire in Dad’s eyes. “You say you aren’t mad, but you look…well, kind of mad.”
“We aren’t mad at you or Remington,” he said with a shrug. “So, don’t worry about it.”
I muttered. “Which means you’re mad at someone. Who…? Aunt Layla,” I groaned, realizing exactly who he was angry with. “Dad, please. I didn’t tell you to cause trouble. I was only attempting to explain why I didn’t want a wedding.”
“Okay,” he said with a smile, but the fire in his eyes only spiked higher. “You explained. I understood. And she is no longer an issue.”
“Oh God.” I glanced at my husband, and he shook his head, telling me to let it go, but I couldn’t. “I bet people are already wondering if the band is breaking up.”
“It’s not,” Mom assured me, her face turning stormy. “Demon’s Wings is perfectly fine. Any recording that needs to be done for the new album can be accomplished without your father and Jesse having to be in the studio at the same time. And since they do live shows so rarely these days, that’s not an issue either.”
“I hate this,” I whispered. “You shouldn’t be having problems with them because of me.”
“She shouldn’t have said what she did,” Mom countered.
My heart began to ache, and I looked down at my hands. My engagement ring sparkled in the overhead lighting, and I tried to swallow the lump that filled my throat. “She was only worried about Luca. Don’t you think you would have done something just like that if the roles were reversed and it was him who got engaged?”
