Page 67 of Vicious Rule

Taking my hand, he leads me back to my bed. “I think we should celebrate.”

“Oh yeah? What do you have in mind?” I playfully ask as I lie back against the pillows.

He licks his lips and grins in that sinful way I love. “A few things.”

A man after my own heart.

“But what about your parents? They’re still here, aren’t they?” I ask, unsure what’s going to happen with Kerry.

Alex sighs. “They are, and something tells me if we don’t deal with them, they’re going to interrupt us, probably at the worst time.”

I nod, sure of it. “Maybe we should spend a little time with them, although to be honest, hanging out with your mother now isn’t top on my list of things to do.”

“Don’t worry about that. She knows she fucked up. In fact, we should go see her so she can apologize for that bullshit. Jesus, if it wasn’t for her, they would have never gotten you tonight.”

With each word that comes out of his mouth, he gets angrier and angrier. I smile and lean forward to kiss his lips to stop him before he grows furious.

“It’s okay, Alex. As long as her opinion of me doesn’t change how you feel, we’re fine.”

A wicked grin lights up his face. “I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks of you or us. I’m the black sheep of the Rule family, so fuck ‘em if they don’t think we’re the best couple since Romeo and Juliet. What do they know?”

I stand up and shake my head at his attempt to defend me. “You know, nearly everyone dies in that play, including the happy couple.”

“Antony and Cleopatra? Do they work better?” he suggests with a twinkle in his eye.

With a sigh, I say, “First of all, I had no idea you knew two Shakespeare plays, and second, they both die in the end. Does it always have to be death with you Rules?”

Alex kisses me and grins. “We are who we are, Sasha. Let me think of another couple. Give me a second.”

I cradle his face in my hands, staring up into those dark brown eyes I love. “We don’t need to compare ourselves to anyone else. I like Alex and Sasha just fine. What do you say we deal with your parents and then come back here for some fun?”

“A woman after my own heart.”

We walk out into the hallway hand-in-hand, which seems quite romantic for a man like Alex. It doesn’t matter if he’s not all hearts and flowers. He’s the man I want, and I’m the woman he wants.

And that’s what matters.

EPILOGUE

Alex

Sasha kisses me and whispers, “Promise you won’t be long. I’ve got plans for tonight, and I can promise you I’m more interesting than your father.”

I smile and nod, sure of that. “This won’t take long. We’ve got some things to discuss, but after that, I’m all yours.”

We kiss again before I watch her walk out, leaving me alone with my parents. Not surprisingly, the woman I love isn’t in the mood to be hanging out with my mother tonight. I don’t blame her. She graciously accepted my mother’s apology, but that doesn’t mean she’s up for a girls’ night with Kerry Rule.

Like me, Sasha is willing to forgive, but forgetting takes much longer.

“I’ll be back soon,” my father says to my mother. “Alex and I have some business to discuss, but after that, we can start out for Gideon and Aria’s.”

“Fine. I’ll pack and we can let Alex and Sasha have some time alone. It’s the least we can do, don’t you think?”

My father doesn’t say anything to her mention of we and simply smiles. He knows the truth. Like it’s been all my life, he also knows there’s no point in broaching it with her.

The two of us walk in silence toward my office, and right before we get there, he says, “Your mother doesn’t mean any harm. I hope you know that. She just has her way of seeing the world.”

I glance at him and roll my eyes. “Very Gideon-centric, that view of hers.”

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