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“For the first time,” I said. “I’ve broken my word. There’s no going back now. Triple the efforts against the Irish.”
“No shit?”
“No shit,” I said. “Find the price, Dante. Whatever they want for her freedom. I’ll pay it.”
“Fuck, little brother,” he said. “Are you in love with the Irish Princess?”
I swallowed hard. “Find it for me, will you?”
“I’m working on it.”
I blew out a breath. “Whatever you need, let me know.”
“Will do,” he said. “Be smart. Be safe.”
“Always.”
We hung up, the action feeling like I’d just given the go-ahead to start an all-out war.
But Serenity was more than fucking worth it.
CHAPTER 10
Serenity
Sleep clung to me like a heavy, comforting blanket. I awoke slowly, sitting up in bed while still feeling like everything was a dream.
I held the sheet around me, blinking the exhaustion away and glancing around.
I was naked, and the bed was empty.
A knot formed in my throat.
Memories from last night flashed through my mind, desire fluttering through me. Gareth…we’d…slept together.
He’d been so perfect, like he’d been studying my body for years instead of weeks.
That man…God, he’d shaken me to the very fibers of my being. There was no getting better than that. I knew that without having been with anyone else. We fit together. And not just on a sexual level—even though a pleasant soreness throbbed between my thighs—but on a personality level too. We made each other laugh, which I hadn’t known was possible with how stern he'd usually been in the poker games. And I could sit in silence with him, without ever worrying about having to fill it. He made me feel like a worthy person instead of a piece of property.
I bit back my smile, hope filling me so fast it almost hurt.
And then it did hurt as reality crashed down on top of me.
I’d gotten what I wanted.
I’d worn him down with my requests to take my virginity. To wipe away the one thing that made me valuable to my family and to potential allies.
I wasn’t valuable anymore.
The one thing I’d been raised to covet and protect at all costs or risk shaming the family was now gone. Irrelevant.
My stomach sank, not because I felt ashamed about losing my virginity, but because now the favor I’d called in was done.
Gareth had no more reason to keep me here, to stay married to me. I was no longer in need of his protection because I would now be seen as worthless to the family.
Tears stung my eyes, and I jumped out of bed, throwing a robe on, angry with myself for getting so settled in Gareth’s life. I’d gotten so comfortable in the freedoms he’d offered me, the space he’d given me to start the healing process and find out who I was underneath all the bullshit my parents piled on me. I’d gotten attached to him in irreversible ways.
I’d let myself hope.
