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Benny runs over, nuzzling his legs, with Lucifer close behind him, yapping happily.
Jamie smiles at me, looking so handsome I could start weeping again.
Striding toward me in his T-shirt and faded jeans – his tattooed arms muscular, looking ready to claim me – he reaches down and brushes his thumb across my cheek.
“Is something wrong?” he asks.
“Kelly just told me,” I murmur. “About the loan shark.”
Jamie closes his eyes and sighs as though letting go of a heavyweight.
“I wish I could’ve told you,” he says, opening his eyes. “Are you two… good?”
“Yes,” I say, smiling. “I know why she did it. I get it. And, heck, it’s better than the alternative.”
“The alternative?” he says.
“Yeah, you know…you and her.”
He shakes his head, staring at me with that possessive certainty that makes me feel so wanted, so needed, so loved.
Say it, and I will myself. Tell him now.
“It’s only going to be us,” he says fiercely. “Just us. Forever. I’m happy you and Kelly worked it out, but I would’ve helped anybody in her position. I didn’t see any harm in pretending to be together. I knew it would make the shark back off… but then I met you and realized – way too late – I’d made a mistake.”
We kiss passionately, his hands spreading over my back, holding onto me tightly as I collapse against him.
And then he breaks the kiss but stays close to me.
“There’s something else,” he says. “Junior’s dead.”
I gasp. “How…did you…?”
I’m ready for the answer to be yes if it comes to that. He did what he had to do and killed the man who kidnapped my sister.
But he shakes his head.
“Cormac Junior was found in a puddle of his own vomit in a strip club toilet a few hours ago. He died of an overdose.”
“An overdose,” I repeat.
“He was never fit to take his father’s place. That was the worst decision he ever made, but I can’t be angry. It brought Matt back. But now it’s over. Junior’s gone.”
“And we’ve got each other,” I whisper, hugging even closer to him.
“That’s the most important thing,” he agrees. “Forever, Jennifer.”
“Forever,” I repeat, closing my eyes and laying my cheek against his chest.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR
Jamie
Matt runs ahead of me, grinning over his shoulder as he completes the lap and comes to a stop. With his hands on his hips, he looks thinner, and his sports shirt is stuck against his frame.
I remind myself it’s only been a few days since Junior’s OD.
Matt’s not going to look like his old self overnight.
“You let me win,” Matt says.
I chuckle, shaking my head. “It’s not that. I’m just built for power, not speed.”
Matt shakes his head, grabs the towel, and wipes his face down, looking around the track.
I steadily breathe as I pick up my water bottle and take a long sip.
Matt smiles over at me. “Nervous about later?”
I smile, shaking my head, as my memories flit over the days since the cabin, then the days since we found out about Junior’s overdose.
I remember Matt’s face, that flicker of rage that he didn’t get to right that wrong himself.
But then he nodded, a matter of factly, and I could tell he was going to be okay. He was going to let it go.
Mostly I remember a thousand moments with Jennifer, dozens of stolen smiles, the taste of her lips, lying in bed talking about a thousand scenarios for our future family. All of them with laughter and love and joy…and all the pleasure that’s going to lead there.
All of them filled with us.
“I just want…need to know what she’s going to say.”
Matt claps me on the shoulder, and even now, it feels like a miracle, feels like it should be impossible.
“I know. I’ve seen you two together, don’t forget. She’s going to say yes.”
I try to make his words slam into me with the force of certainty.
I know she wants it as badly as I do.
Later….
I lead Jennifer to the bottom of the stairs.
The tattoo studio has been refurbished since the brick was thrown through the window. The start of all the madness is just a painful memory now. It’s after hours, the reception desk closed, but it still makes me feel a tiny bit hurt when I think of Peggy, her betrayal, probably with a new name, a new history, a new everything by now.
She’s lucky nobody I cared about was hurt by what she did.
Jennifer turns to me, her smile pushing away all the dark thoughts, making everything seem bright and good.
She’s wearing a blindfold, looking a few inches to my left, her brown hair spilling gorgeously down to her shoulders. She’s wearing tight jeans that make her hips seem even more irresistible.
“Am I looking in the right place?” she asks.
I chuckle, touching her chin and softly adjusting her gaze. “Now you are.”
