Page 40 of In the Grey of Dawn

Gently pushing me away, her hands find my face and she tenderly strokes her fingers across my cheeks, eyes and over my head. The calming sensation working its way down my whole body.

“I like you Porter, I like your company, I like how protective you are of me. I like how we just seem to fit together, how easy it is despite everything else,” she says, lightly kissing across my face and along my ear. “And I like your cock,” she whispers.

Rearing my head back, her face is radiating, the overhead light shining in such a way she practically glows. I can't help but grin. Yet again, I'm allowed to continue my existence with this woman.

“Careful, baby. I might have to take you right here on the bar and show my little brother how a real man satisfies a woman.”

“Satisfies huh, you might have to work on that later tonight then,” she says, a beautiful smile on her face as she wiggles her eyebrows at me. Lightening the mood but not ignoring it.

Gods, I could love this woman.

Shaking my head at the thought. I don't know if I can let myself get there with someone again. If I can let someone in enough, knowing what it feels like when everything can go wrong.

“I'll take you so hard later you'll struggle to walk tomorrow, but for now I think I owe my brother a little welcome gift.”

Kissing her lips quickly, I cup her cheek for a moment and take in the way she's looking at me. I don't think anyone, not even Lila looked at me like she does. Everything about her says it's going to be alright and I just have to let it.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll have the courage to do it.

Walking over to Dimitriy, he tilts back his head taking the almost third of a glass full of liquor into his mouth and swallows. I've forgotten how similar in height we are. Gone is my little brother, my best friend, replaced by this hardened man in front of me. One I knowingly let take my place the day I became a ghost. The day I became Porter Anderson.

“It wasn't easy to find you, you know. I never gave up that you were alive. I didn't believe the stories about how you died. I searched and searched but I never got anywhere. Every time I thought I had you, it was just another dead end.

It was only because Charlie all but confirmed you wereVdovetswhen we were talking that I knew it was you. She's not bothered by our world and as much as I tried to convince her to join me at the top, she doesn't want it. Love herstarshiy brat,[8]and let her love you back. It's okay for you to move on.”

“Don’t ... just don’t. It's not that easy.” I grit out.

The weight of my past creeps in again, threatening to take over and reveal itself. The notion that my little kid brother knows my woman better than I do, for him to understand her enough to talk about her like that.

I'm livid.

That should be me enjoying her smiles and laughter. I hate that he said that to me, but I appreciate that he did, at the same time. It's reassuring to know that for the time he's known her, she has at least been safe.

I've kept up with what's been happening in my old life and I know that as soon as my father disappeared from public view Dimitriy took no prisoners. Sure, everyone was told he was second in command but I knew better. My brother always had a flair for the dramatic, so I paid attention when bodies started turning up tortured by unusual methods.

Boiling tar, drawn and quartered, even old fashioned burning at the stake. The news reported it as a modern day witch trial when bodies started appearing all over the city burned to a crisp, but I knew it was him. He tried to prove to our father over and over that he wasn't a weak man, a weak son. So while I enjoyed the hunt, my baby brother enjoyed the kill.

Without thought, I rear back my arm, closing my fist and punch him square in the face. The feeling of his nose crunching giving me a little satisfaction. Charlie calls out from behind me, yelling to show her where the first aid kit was. The whole reason we were down here before opening time.

He knew why I did it.

And as I drew back my arm once more he just stood there, grinning at me, blood spread across his mouth, waiting for my next blow.

“That was for kissing my woman, and this is for asking her to marry you,” I say, crashing my fist back into his face.

Chapter 23 - Charlie

Country Girl (Shake it for Me) - Luke Bryan ?

This is it, the moment every little girl dreams of. Sliding into my cowboy boots I quickly make my way down from the apartment.

Dante and Ace leave tomorrow evening so I'm taking a last minute opportunity to help out at the bar ... only Porter just doesn't know it yet. Thank the gods for online shopping because there is no way I would have been able to pull this off without it.

Peeking out thestaff onlydoor, I can see him on the far side of the room talking to a man hidden by shadows while Mel is at the other end of the bar serving a patron.

Perfect.

Patiently, I wait for the current song playing to end, syncing my phone so there is only a small delay in the music starting. I'm careful not to seem too obvious but when the unmistakable guitar riff plays across the speaker, several women across the room clap and laugh. I can't help but giggle along with them because this secret moment is everything right now.

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