Page 8 of Peaceful Chaos

Put A Ring On It

Raven

"Areyou going to tell me where we're going?" I ask as we slip out the back gate.

Sin looks down at his phone, scowling. "Nope. C'mon, we've got to hurry. I ordered a car to pick us up, but we've got to make sure we shake our babysitters before we get there."

I tug on his arm. "Is this a good idea?"

He stops, places his hands on my shoulders, and turns me to face him. One hand moves to cradle my face while the other slips around my back. "Do you trust me to keep you safe?"

"Of course." I don't know why he even needs to ask. There's no one and nothing that makes me feel safer than him.

"Then don't worry so much. Let me do that."

"That's not how marriage works. All of our problems don't sit on your shoulders. I'd like to take care of you too," I say back to him and give his hand a squeeze.

He plays with the ring on my hand again like he did earlier. "We need to hurry."

I don't miss the fact he doesn't agree to let me take care of him either, but he isn't retreating this time. It's something. Shit, for Sin, standing in place is everything.

Our fingers lace together and we cut through the neighbor's backyard. The lights are off inside, but just to be sure we keep to the shadows. We exit onto the street and find a dark sedan waiting for us up the block. Sin opens the door and motions for me to slide in first.

"At least now I can learn where we're going," I say when he joins me in the backseat.

He smirks. "Nope." He leans forward and speaks to the driver. "Take us to the location I sent you."

Sin watches out the back, probably making sure none of the blacked out SUVs in front of our house follow after us. "Can't they just track our phones?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "Ford helped me set these up so they can't track our location. You never know when we might need to slip our tail."

"And we need to slip it today?"

He glances at me without turning his head. "Just for a little room to breathe."

"Won't my father be upset if he finds out we aren't being watched by his new pet?"

"Damien is as arrogant as he is paranoid. He doesn't trust us, but he believes we're firmly trapped under his thumb."

The hired driver takes us through the glittering metropolis of Playa Pacifica to an upscale shopping center. "Shopping? We snuck past FBI agents camped in front of our house to go shopping? Have you already forgotten our trip to the store when we first got here?"

"You'll see," he says, still not sharing the purpose for our outing.

Yeah, I’d see the same thing I did the first time. Without trying, Sin draws the eye of every woman around. I teased him about being cougar bait all those months ago, but the truth is his appeal doesn’t have an age range.

As much as I hate being stuck away from the world, I like not having to deal with the attention he attracts. I get enough of that on campus. Turns out Sin isn’t the only possessive one in this relationship.

The car parks in front of a jewelry store, and Sin pays the driver through the app. I follow him out of the car, still confused about why we're shopping, let alone for jewelry. "Estate jewelry?" I ask.

He ducks his head down briefly before meeting my eyes. His cheeks are pink, and I have to fight my smile. Sin is rarely bashful, and only when it has something to do with me. Now I’m even more intrigued.

His hand rakes through his hair twice before he answers me. "I tried to research ethically mined stones, but it turns out it's harder to be sure about the source than they make it sound. There are so many ways to get a gemstone named 'conflict free' even when the stones are mined with underpaid workers or even slaves. At least estate jewelry isn't putting more money in the hands of corrupt governments who will go on to use the money to fund genocide."

He has the biggest heart. Watching the way he cares makes me fall deeper in love with him. "You know, I don't need a ring."

Sin stares deep into my eyes. It feels like he’s searching the depths of my being to make sure I am feeling the same as he is. This is all new to him, and I can see he is still grappling with the urge to run from the intensity of it. "I do. I need every man that looks at you to know you're taken."

I nod, hearing the words he hasn't spoken. He longs for family, belonging, and all the traditions denied to him during his years of captivity. "Let's go in then."

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