Page 88 of Priest

“It’s a good pain,” I say. “I feel… different.”

“In a good way?”

I snuggle back further into his arms. “Of course in a good way. I just don’t know how we’re ever going to leave this bedroom.”

“Well, I’ve nothing I need to get done urgently.”

“Except coffee.”

“Always coffee.” We lie there for a few more minutes, neither of us saying anything. His finger runs over the ring on my middle finger. “This is pretty.”

I smile. “It was my mother’s.” As broke as I am, I’d never even consider selling it. It’s the one thing that holds me to her. I don’t know if the stone inside is a real Ruby — I’ve not dared to find out. I’d rather sell my soul than sell anything of my mother’s.

Even a damn bus ticket isn’t that important to me, not if it means I lose the only thing that holds me close to her. “I’ve had it for a long time.”

“It must’ve been hard, losing her at a young age.”

I close my eyes. “You’ve no idea. I miss her so much.”

He kisses my hair again. “Maybe someday you could meet my dad. He’s a good guy. Not somebody I’d ever imagine having a relationship with, not after all the years we never knew about one another.”

“I’m so sorry about that.”

He runs his pointer finger down my arm, sending goosebumps over my skin. “It’s water under the bridge now. I guess my mom never wanted me to know him for her own selfish reasons. And in my head, I had all these fucked up notions about him that weren’t ever true.”

“At least you can make up for lost time now,” I say. “It’s better than never knowing him at all.”

“Do you ever wish you could go back in time? Do things differently?”

I take a long, deep breath. “Yes. I think about the night I ran away all the time.”

“Isabella?”

Uh, oh. He never uses my real name. I swallow hard. “Yes?”

“Are you related to the Carusos?”

I close my eyes.

So he found me out. I knew I’d said too much last night, and that he’d put two and two together. I knew there were motorcycles there that night, that it was possible Priest could be involved somehow. But I didn’t want to think about it.

“If I said I was, would it change things?”

He pulls me tighter against him. “No.”

“Then why does it matter?”

“You know why. First, your uncle is the mob boss of New Orleans, and if that’s the case, then I need to let my club know.”

“Why do they need to know?”

“Because you’re with me now, and that means you’re under the club's protection. Once your family finds out you’re still alive, then what?”

I knew this was coming. I knew that it couldn’t go on like this forever. That I’d be free of them and that would be it. If I’d just left town… Never come back, things might be different. Maybe in my heart of hearts I know that I’ve a score to settle and no amount of bad blood or tyranny can make me change my mind. Maybe I want Carlo to suffer, just as I have suffered all these years. Maybe my father being killed isn’t enough.

“They were never going to find out. I was leaving town…”

“Except you’re still here.”

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