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Heath’s warm fingers wrap around mine, grounding me to what is real—him. The fact he’s faced down his brothers and his father to have me.
To say that shakes me to the core is like saying death isn’t final. It rocks me. Dizzies me. Stuns me with the force of it.
After it’s all over and Heath leads me to the waiting car, with his family gathered around us like bodyguards, it hits me—what would happen if thingsweredifferent. If Nathan hadn’t gotten into trouble—and tossed me into it too—I never would have run to Heath for help. I’d still be toiling through my days and nights waking with hunger pangs because I never have enough.
Heath’s offered me protection and a life at his side. I see the love for me in his eyes and feel it in the way he touches me.
He’s also given me a family again.Hisfamily.
All the way back to the Connolly home, I mull over how this can all play out. Sergei is still out there, a threat not only to me but to all of us now. The Connollys’ enemy hasn’t had much reason to come after them until now. Men will die during this war that will inevitably come.
When we enter the house, I see tables of food set up in the dining room. People mill around there, friends of the Connollys and maybe my brother’s friends too. Though it’s doubtful—Nathan didn’t have friends. He had people he used and who used him in return.
I squeeze Heath’s hand, and he drops his gaze to me. “I’m going upstairs and change,” I say.
“I’ll come with you. If you want,” he says, chewing his lip.
The action draws my attention, and I finally see Heath for what he is.
A man of power. Of grace and beauty.
He’s rugged and dangerous in the black suit and tie. He’s a mobster.
Can I live this life I grew up with? I’ll be closer to the danger with Heath. He will be right in the thick of it. Any day, someone can take him from me—maybe even Sergei.
Will I survive loving a man like Heath?
Would I ever have a life again if Idon’t?
I tug on his hand, leading him toward the stairs.
His eyes spark with light again, and suddenly I see the power I have over him too.
At the top of the stairs, he lifts me into his arms and carries me to his room. I wrap my arms around him and bury my face against his neck, breathing in the spice of his aftershave and personal musk.
In his room, he sets me on my feet. We break apart, staring at each other.
“I’m sorry for everything, Serenity.”
I shake my head. “You have nothing to be sorry for. You’ve given me so much. You gave Nathan so much. I can never thank you.”
He steps closer but resists touching me. “You never need to thank me. I live to make you happy.”
Love floods my chest. “Heath, Idohave so much to thank you for. You made things right with your family for me.”
“I refuse to live a day without you, babe. They’re just going to have to accept it.”
“I think they do.” When a smile pulls at the corners of my mouth, I’m shocked at how natural it feels in the face of the past few days.
“There will be more to come. We have Sergei’s man. Sergei won’t stop until we stophim.”
I step up close to my lover—my love—and wrap my arms around him. “And you will. This is our kingdom, and we’ll do what we must to fight for it.”
As he stares down into my eyes, my love triples for this man. “And you are my queen. Now…let me help you out of this dress.”
I give him a nod and he turns me around to slowly edge the zipper down my spine. The light vibration and the sensation of his rough hands against my smooth skin has me trembling to have him between my legs.
The dress pools at my feet. Before I can step out of the heels I’m wearing, Heath circles me and drops to his knees.
