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“JJ, I almost lost you, and now I’m seizing the day. And just so we’re clear this is the question.” He winks, earning several more laughs from everyone, including me, although mine comes out more like a sob as my emotions get the better of me. “Marry me, JJ?”
With barely an inch of space in my throat for the word to pass through and tears running down my cheeks, I say, “Yes.”
There’s a deafening cheer as I’m lifted off my feet and swung around. As Rick stops spinning and my feet finally touch the ground again, his lips meet mine in a kiss that has me spinning in a whole other way.
Out of breath and choked with emotion, I break the kiss. Rick slides the ring onto my finger, and I hold out my hand, staring at it in wonder.
A finger beneath my chin, raises my head, and I look up into the eyes of a man who owns me. We share a brief kiss before Max barrels into us and we pick him together, giving him a kiss on each cheek before letting him go again as we’re swept away in different directions.
During the beautiful chaos that follows, my heart soars to see Max so happy. Rick told me what Max said about his mum, and had I not experienced something similar with Christian, I would have just put it down to a child’s active imagination.
I’m so grateful that he didn’t see much of what happened in that field and is doing well with no lasting damage.
When I left the hospital, Rick took me to visit Lottie’s grave. I cried a river of tears for her. Even more so when I heard that Tobias had absolutely nothing to do with Garcia, other than an employee using it to place the dark web back doors on websites for Rendezvous. Knowing that she was snatched because of me, just makes it hurt even more.
I don’t know if I’ll return to work as a CPO or if I’ll take Rick up on his offer to work with Triple R, it’s something we need to discuss more. But I do plan to set up a memorial fund and even a charity to help victims of trafficking. Be it themselves or family members.
Finding five minutes to sneak away and use the loo, I quickly grab a water too. As I undo the bottle, Jamie comes in.
“Hey, how’s the future Mrs Sullivan doing?” she asks with a laugh, as I take a mouthful of water.
“Hey, I’m good.”
In the last couple of weeks, Jamie and I have spent a considerable amount of time together, and as I thought, we have become good friends. Her and Cam have filled me in on everything, and it’s bonded us in a way that will never be broken.
Cam wasn’t surprised when I told her about Sean and wouldn’t accept my apologies for what part Archie played in the death of her mother and daughter. From what we know, they were already involved in trafficking together at that point.
We don’t know how Marcus got involved but assume it happened when he went to Mexico. Seems that it was his way of making a name for himself in the underworld while he worked on destroying Jamie’s dad.
“Have you thought anymore about your mother?”
I raise an eyebrow over the top of my bottle. “Rick put you up to this didn’t he?”
She shakes her head, but I know it’s a lie. “Maybe. Look, he’s doesn’t want you to regret not speaking to her, Jess. You know my story, and I regret so much not being able to tell my mum how much I love her, and that I forgive her. I’m not saying it will be like that for you, but you need to get some closure.”
I huff. “Maybe, Jamie.” I move around the counter, coming to a stop next to her as we look out over the back garden. Max is riding on the back of Ryder and brandishing a plastic sword as they chase Seb around.
“I’m not saying you’ll be best of friends but do it for yourself not for her.”
“I’ll think about it, okay. Happy now?” I snipe at her good humouredly. Threading my arm in hers, I pull her towards the garden. “Come on, let’s celebrate.”
The evening passes in a blur, and by the end of it, I’m gloriously happy but utterly exhausted. I’m just emptying the rubbish and ready for bed when the heavens open and thunderclaps in the sky, making me jump.
I’m hurrying back to the house before I get too wet when out of nowhere, an arm wraps around my waist, dragging me away from the dry warmth of the house.
“Rick, we’re getting wet, and it’s cold. What are you doing?” I laugh, as he drags me towards his car.
“We’re definitely getting wet, JJ, and you’ll be warm in no time with what I have in mind.” I’m swung around, my back meeting the side of the car. Lips crash to mine, swallowing anymore protest, not that there was any. His hands roam wildly, driven by a desire so immense that were it not matched by my own, I’d be consumed by it.
Reaching between us, I pop the buttons on his jeans and slip my hand inside, wrapping around the hot, hard length of him, just as his pull open the cord of my dressing gown to reveal a surprise of my own.
A growl ripples through Rick’s chest as one hand skims up my silk-clad torso and the other skims down my leg, running over the tiny little clasps of my suspenders.
“Fuck me,” he gasps, as his hips thrust forward, pumping in and out of my hand. “I need to be inside you. Right. Fucking. Now.”
I can’t help but giggle as I push his jeans down over his taut arse and raise a leg, wrapping it round his hip, which he catches expertly. “And you called me bossy and demanding.”
“Are you going to prove me wrong?” he drawls, pushing my hand aside and lining himself up.
“Oh no, my bossy turns you the fuck on,” I say as the sky lights with a bolt of lightning, showcasing the stunning man before me.
Now it’s Rick’s turn to chuckle. “And you called me arrogant,” he says, bringing us full circle to our first time together before thrusting inside me as the rain continues to fall and thunder crashes above us.
