Page 69 of No Sweet Goodbyes

But she sees me.

Like a child whose favorite person in the world knows they exist, I want to celebrate the simple fact that she sees me. Yeah, she’s pissed as hell. But she wouldn’t care at all if she didn’t have feelings for me still.

“I hope you’ve got a plan,” Linc mutters next to me. “’Cause that look doesn’t bode well for you.”

I swallow down the doubt and worry and cock my head to the side. “How do you know she didn’t mean that for you? Besides,” I add as an afterthought, “I already broke out the big guns.”

After they dismiss the crowd and the newly minted law enforcement officers, I hang on the outskirts of the crowd and wait for Emma to walk by.

“No.” She holds up a hand as soon as she sees me. “I don’t want to talk.”

“I know,” I tell her hurriedly. “But I’m not above bribery.”

Her eyes narrow, and for a fraction of a second I feel bad. Only until I remember what’s at stake and what I stand to gain.

“What kind of bribery?” She crosses her arms over her chest, resting her arm right under her badge.

“I brought empanadas from Mama for you to take home and eat this weekend, and I got a reservation for everyone at the hibachi place in Bangor for an hour from now.” I tap my hand against my thigh. “And my parents called Bee’s uncle. They’re coming too.”

Emma’s face freezes, and my heart slams to a halt while she processes everything I’ve just said.

“You did all of that?” Her eyes narrow suspiciously. “How long have you been home?”

I swallow, and I swear that I still feel sand lining my throat. “Flew in day before yesterday, but no one knew I was home except Benton. Not until after I saw you.” The admission should have cost me. It should have hurt like her fist in my stomach had. But it doesn’t. Seeing Emma, hearing her voice, even if she doubts me, is the most beautiful thing in the world.

“Okay.” Her voice drops an octave. “But you’re not sitting next to me at the hibachi place.” She walks away without looking back, and I watch as her mother and father pull her into a group hug.

“She’s smiling,” Kennedy says from my side. “That’s the first time in four months that she’s really smiled, Dom.” Linc’s fiancée glares at me until I start to sweat. “If you make her cry, ever again, you won’t have to hide from Linc. And you won’t have to run from Emma. You won’t be able to run anywhere. I’ll wait until you think you’re safe, and then I’ll gut you with my machete. It’ll be easy, and then I’ll use your body as bear bait and no one will miss you.”

If there is one person who terrifies me more than the woman I love, it is Kennedy Townsend. “I’ve seen you with a baseball bat, Kennedy. I don’t even want to know what you’d do with a blade.”

She smiles, more of a snarl than anything else, and shrugs. “I know I’m a badass. You don’t have to say anything about it.”

I wish that Emma had been joking about the seating arrangements at dinner, but she hadn’t been.

We take up half the hibachi room, with two separate chefs, but it’s entirely worth it. Emma sits three away from me, with Kennedy and Linc on her other side and Bee and her uncle sitting next to me.

The other man, who introduces himself as Jesse, stares at his plate more than anything else. I actually feel bad, because he’s surrounded by a bunch of people he doesn’t know and it can’t really be that comfortable for him.

“You’re a good man,” I tell him over our little baby soups that are more water than anything else. “Taking in your niece like she’s yours.”

He turns to me with a half-smile, more shy than anything else, and I’m caught off guard by eyes that look exactly like Bee’s. “She’s my niece,” he explains. “What else could I do?”

“I wish Bee could have stayed with me,” Emma pipes up with her arm around the little girl. “But I’m so happy that she’s safe with you.”

Jesse turns to Emma and Bee, his eyes landing on Emma’s lips for a second, and I have to stop myself from growling. “She is. My brother was sometimes not the nicest man in the world, and I’m glad that you were there for her when she needed you. I’ve got her now, though, and I won’t let anything happen to her.”

It isn’t until they’re driving away, pulling out of the parking lot and leaving us staring at their taillights that Emma says anything to me. In fact, we are the last two at the restaurant from our party, and I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to walk away from her ever again, not if I can help it.

“Thank you, Dom.” Her voice is low and unexpected.

I watch her carefully, making sure that I don’t say anything or move too quickly. “It’s nothing.” I bite my lip instead of saying anything else. Not wanting to rush her or overwhelm her or make anything worse, I stay back when all I want to do is pull her into my arms and kiss her. It’s all I’ve wanted to do since she walked away.

“I didn’t read any of your letters,” Emma says suddenly. “I know you sent them, but I don’t want you to think that I read them and just didn’t respond. I didn’t open any of them. I couldn’t.” She takes a deep breath.

I look down to see her fingers interlaced and practically white from the pressure she’s putting on them.

“I didn’t need you to.” I fight the urge to touch her until it physically hurts not to reach out. “I know I screwed everything up, Emma. I wrote those letters for myself. To keep me sane while I was in the sandbox. Add it to the list of selfish things that I’ve done since meeting you. I wrote them because I think part of me knew that you wouldn’t read them.”

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