Page 69 of Sniper

Acid grins at Theo’s possessiveness. He tilts his head, his eyes looking between me and Theo, before he remarks, “I guess now this means I can get married, huh?”

I furrow my brows while he smirks, but he soon grins when I see the name on the side of his neck, and I gasp. “You finally got the balls to ask Perrie out?”

He rolls his eyes. “I wasn’t scared to ask her out….”

Steel chimes in, “She went on a date, and he saw them. Instead of speaking normally, he decided to throw her over his shoulder.”

I snort. “Such an alpha-hole move.”

Acid narrows his eyes as Snake speaks up, “We’re Alpha men—brothers—we know what we want.”

I raise a brow at him. “Is that before or after you all mess up? Because I’ve heard all y’all stories.”

He winces but nods. “Yeah, you’ve got me there. I think every man in this room has fucked up where their old ladies are concerned….”

I cut in, “Except for Tats,” and look his way. He grins as the brothers throw pens and paper at him, making me chuckle.

Acid smiles at me, seeing I am okay. “You’ve found your place,” he concedes, and I nod because I have, and Theo squeezes me.

I look around the room. The brothers are all smiling at me, including Steel, whose eyes shine with pride. The fact that he’s my blood uncle is something I don’t know how to process just yet.

I look toward Piston, who hasn’t moved. Guilt radiates from him, and I hate that he feels this way. He didn’t know his cousin would do what he did, and I know it’s the same for my father, but I think my main problem with him is my dad broke his promise.

I never blamed Piston. In fact, I struggled to figure out if he knew what was going on. But the way he’s looking at me right now, full of heartbreak, I can see he didn’t, and deep down, I knew he didn’t.

His voice just clouded my judgment and my mind.

I wipe away my fallen tears, and I whisper, “You better have that footage of Natalie kicking two clubwhores asses, Piston. I’ve waited four years to see it….”

His tears fall, and my heart hurts. I look up at Theo. He gives me a smile and a slight nod, letting go of me. I squeeze Acid's arm, who gives me a wink, and run over to Piston, who doesn’t move. When I’m close, I wrap my arms around his waist, placing my head on his chest. I can feel his heart race, and he doesn’t move, but I don’t let go.

I squeeze him tighter as his breathing deepens, before his arms wrap around me, holding me tight, his face going to the top of my head as he sobs.

“I’m sorry, I’m so fucking sorry. I should have just let Natalie hit them; I-I should have been there,” he cries, and I hold him tighter.

I could placate him and explain that I’ve started to see the silver lining because I got Autumn, and that she’s not a reminder of my terror; she’s a reminder of my strength. But right now, I know he won’t listen.

“He’s dead, Aurora, I fucking mean it. I’m going to kill him,” he growls, holding me tighter.

I sniffle, admitting, “You’ll have to get in line.” I pull back and look at him. “My husband has first dibs.”

He scoffs, “Husband? You can’t be married; you're only fifteen and crushing on the quarterback.”

Theo growls again, making me grin, and I shove Piston with a laugh. “Sorry to burst your weird bubble there, Piston.”

He sniffs but nods, then rasps, “I missed you.”

I smile at him. “I missed you, too.” He nods, his hand cupping my cheek, his eyes looking at me with such relief. I bat my eyelids and whisper, “Like, I really missed you….”

He raises a brow, and I bat my eyelashes again. Then he sighs. “Let me guess, math….”

Annie snorts. “That girl sucks at math; poor Brook is negotiating with Huntersville College not to make her retake her math, and to just let her redo the test.”

I wince, and Theo groans. “Fuck’s sake, Firecracker, I thought you passed it.”

I twirl and narrow my eyes, pointing at him, stating, “Well, I’m sorry, but I was a little bit preoccupied with my husband knocking me up on purpose but overachieving, putting two babies in me, lying to me about who he is, and then kidnapping me!”

Theo points at me, “I’ve already told you; it’s not kidnapping when we’re married!”

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