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My tone had turned to ice. Selena straightened, looking as if she was ready to jump in front of Dominic.
“I should have told you sooner,” Dominic said. “I couldn't let you go through with it. I know you thought it was easier to let your father have his way, but there are some things you can't take back. All those women would have suffered.”
“You can’t just go behind my back!” I said.
“You’re always the one who’s right, Aiden,” Dominic said crisply. “Doing whatever thepragmaticthing is. Your father wants Aster taken out as part of your expansion project. Were you going to talk to Selena before you let Xander blow him to pieces?”
“Selena wants him dead more than I do,” I reminded him. “Aster’s the real reason her parents are dead.”
Selena had fallen silent.
“Aiden is right that Aster needs to go,” she said. “If you can guarantee there’s no innocent collateral damage…let’s do it.”
But not even killing one of the worst criminals in the city could fix the darkness that had fallen between us.
I wished we could reverse five minutes to when we were all happy.
When I thought she was going to stay.
CHAPTER33
Selena
The next week went by,busy with preparations but also strangely quiet. All of us were being careful around each other now.
Aiden sat down beside me on the couch and handed me a USB stick.
“This doesn’t seem like you,” I said, covering my curiosity by being glib. “I thought you assumed I could kill someone with one of these.”
“I have faith in you to kill someone with a coffee mug,” he said. “But that’s all the info I’ve collected about the Belladonnas. I deleted it from everywhere else. It also has the information I used to track you guys to San Francisco, so you can tighten up the patterns in your airline travel. You girls shouldn’t always fly first class.”
“Ooh, if the Belladonnas find out you’re responsible for them flying coach, you really should expect a hit,” I told him lightly. Then I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“I want the best for you, Selena.” His jaw tightened so much that a tick leapt under his cheekbone. “And if you don’t see yet thatthe bestis right here, with us… then I guess I’ve got to give you the space and time to figure that out.”
* * *
We wentto one of Aiden’s resorts for the wedding. I dressed in a simple, but expensive—because Aiden loved for me to spend his money—white gown, edged in lace. I asked Xander to take some pictures of me, because I knew the girls would find this hilarious, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be here long enough to receive the official wedding photographs.
But when I walked down the aisle toward Aiden, my heart still swelled.
Aiden’s eyes were soft and adoring, and he whispered, “I love you.”
I paused for a moment, and returned a soft, “I love you, too.”
We finished the ceremony under a canopy on the lush green lawn of the resort, overlooking the shimmering lake.
But the most important moment came after the reception, when Aiden disappeared into a back room with the men who had come to witness the transfer of Gavin's business to Aiden.
When Aiden came out of the room, he looked tense, but he nodded to me.
It was done.
I could kill Gavin Crude and fade back out of their lives.
If that was what I chose to do.
I still didn't think Aiden could truly bear to be with me if I killed Gavin. He loved his father. Gavin was a monster, but he was a peculiar monster. He was good to his family and terrible to the world.
