Page 2 of Broken Strings

"Mmhmm."

"We'll see about that, sweetheart." I nip her earlobe before laying her on the bed. "As soon as I get home from Mexico, I intend to show you exactly who owns who. And I want to hear you screaming my name while I'm showing you."

She smirks up at me, heat in her eyes as she snuggles in, stealing my pillow like always. "Have you ever noticed that your plans always end with me screaming your name?"

"Mmhmm. It's by design." I lean down over the bed, brushing my lips across her forehead. "I fucking love how good you sound screaming for me, Mina. Especially when that hot, wet pussy is wrapped around my cock while you're screaming it."

She's my first, my last, my only. And I'm hers. This love between us is wild and endless. It burns hot and bright. And goddamn, I don't ever want to stop wanting her the same fucking way I do now.

She whimpers softly, shifting on top of the bed, and I know she feels the same exact way.

I smile against her skin. Fuck, she's too tempting, too beautiful, even when she's sick. "Rest, baby. I'll be home before you know it."

"Promise?"

"Always. I love you forever."

"Love you forever," she breathes, her eyes fluttering closed.

Forever isn't long enough for me and her. I want whatever comes after that.

I kiss her again and then pull back, striding toward the door. At the threshold, I pause to grab my bag, glancing back at her.She looks so sweet in our bed, hugging my pillow like it's me. I hesitate, rooted to the spot. My feet won't fucking move as the desire to say fuck this job surges through me hot and fast.

I just want to crawl in beside her, pull her into my arms, and hold her. Fuck her father. Fuck the show. Fuck everything. This is where I should be—right here with her, taking care of her, loving her. This is where I belong. This is what matters.

We'll find a different way to get Lionel to back off. I'll go see him, plead for forgiveness, whatever it fucking takes to get him to see reason. But this—leaving her all the goddamn time on his whim—this isn't the answer. It can't be.

"Make me proud, husband," she mumbles, our tiny bed creaking as she shifts.

Shit.

Without Lionel, I'll never be able to give her the life she deserves. It'll be years, even decades, before I can make the kind of money these shows bring in. And she misses her dad, even if she'll never admit it. I owe it to her to pay my penance and fix this shit to ensure she has the future she deserves. She's what matters here—the only thing that matters.

For her, I'll do anything. Endure anything. Survive anything. No matter how long it takes.

"I love you forever, Mina," I murmur, dragging myself away.

Like always, I leave my heart behind…beating in her chest.

Chapter One

Mina

Six Years Later

"Hey. How are you?" Theia asks, worry evident in her voice as soon as I answer my ringing phone.

"I'm okay," I promise my best friend, staring out the window as Nashville passes by in blurs that make my skin crawl. I think maybe I'm lying to her. I feel wispy and insubstantial, as if a stiffenough wind might blow me away. "It's strange being back here again after all this time."

When I left town four years ago, I didn't intend on ever coming back. There were too many memories and too much pain painting every inch of this city. Everywhere I looked, I remembered him. I saw him. Ifelthim.

I couldn't take it anymore. So I ran all the way to California… somewhere I felt like I could breathe.

Funny thing, though, my lungs didn't hurt any less in San Diego. The memories didn't haunt me any less frequently, either. I just learned to live with Grayson's ghost constantly looming on the peripheral.

My gaze falls to the date tattooed on my wrist, tears blurring my vision. "It still feels like he's everywhere here," I admit, my throat raw. "I guess it always will."

"You never had closure," Theia whispers. "We see it a lot with families who lost a service member overseas on classified missions or those who don't have remains returned to them. They're frozen in grief because there's no resolution. They need answers or need to see a body to move forward but can't. It's called ambiguous loss."

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