Page 42 of Make You Mine

“I can’t say the sound of that doesn’t weirdly turn me on, but it’s also still strange hearing you talk about killing a man and knowing that you are every bit serious and capable of doing so.” She bites her lip with a sexy smirk.

Serious. Capable. And so fucking ready to end him.

Her expression turns grave, and she rests one of her hands over my thudding heart. “Are you sure this is the lifestyle you want, Trent? I can’t help but feel like you’ve given up all your dreams because of me.”

I encase her face in my palms, making sure her eyes are on mine. “I am one hundred percent sure. There is nothing, and I meannothing,I want more in this life than you. And if the last three years have taught me anything, being without you is no life for me. I still get to be a doctor, just in a different capacity. Plus, it’s kind of cool being a badass who can protect my girl.”

“Just promise me you’ll be careful. This can’t all be for nothing.”

“I promise. I didn’t go through all of this not to be with you in the end. But your safety is most important to me,” I say, tucking a piece of her messy sex hair behind her ear.

Her brow furrows. “I know you can’t tell me everything, butwhat was Europe like? Did you have to go through a lot to become a Saint?”

I wondered when these questions would come, and I made up my mind a long time ago I wouldn’t keep anything from Ashley in regard to The Saints, unless it was for her own safety.

“As much as I hated leaving, Europe was good for me. I was going crazy missing you, but nothing felt like home there, which, in a weird way, helped. I was so out of my element, but it allowed me to grow and focus on what I had gone there to do.”

“Which was to become a Saint?” she asks, but it sounds more like a statement.

I nod. “Yes, I wanted to be a man who could protect you. So, I learned how to use every gun known to mankind and how to win in a knife fight. I trained in Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai too, all while still getting my undergrad.”

That smirk is back on her face as her eyes sear into mine. “So you planning to challenge Nox at Greyson and Lottie’s engagement party?” she asks, regarding my cousin’s best friend who is currently fighting in the UFC.

I let out a loud chuckle at that. Using my thumb, I pull down her bottom lip, and she nips me gently. “If you want to see me in action, I’ll do it for you, Doll. Challenge him to a fight on the sand and all.”

“That’d be hot. But in all seriousness, Lottie was telling me about Emerson teaching a self-defense class for women, and it got me thinking about how much I need a refresher in that.” Her voice is confident, but I see the sadness creep back onto her face, and it makes my whole-body ache.

“I’m so sorry that I didn’t know sooner what he was putting you through. Honestly, before I hated the thought of you with him, I was blind with jealousy over the fact that maybe you were slowly falling for him and forgetting about me, but knowing he was hurting you all along and you were having to live in that hell hurts so much worse.” My chest constricts at the thought of all of this. “I’m sorry so many of the men in your life have failed you, including me.”

She shakes her head vigorously. “Don’t say that. You have never failed me.” Ashley reaches up, placing a reassuring palm on my cheek. “Neither has my brother. I intentionally kept him in the dark. I was worried for his life too.”

I cover her hand with mine.

“Nori boy hasn’t let me down either. I still can’t believe you had a hand in that.” She smiles, pressing a sweet kiss on my lips.

“Yeah, didn’t you wonder why he refrained from chewing my leg off the first time I came into your space?”

She chuckles at that. “It did kind of freak me out how he reacted to you. More so because I was trying to cloak myself in a tough exterior, and I realized that if Nori could read right through me to my true feelings, then you probably could too.”

“And what are those true feelings?” I tease.

Ashley’s blue eyes bore into mine as she answers without a flicker of hesitation. “That I’m still hopelessly in love with you.”

My heart dips at her admission, breath catching at hearing those words from her lips again, and I return my own. “My love for you knows no bounds. Every breath, I breathe it for you and because you exist. Some people may call that co-dependent, but the day I fell for you, there was no choice in the matter, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Her eyes gloss with tears, and I pull her body on top of mine, holding her tight. “You set my world on fire, and I’m about to burn down the world you’ve been forced into. Like a phoenix, you are going to rise from the ashes and find the light in the darkness, like you always have.”

She kisses my chest before snuggling against me. “Let’s burn it down together, baby.”

Ashley

Last night was like a dream I wish I could relive every day. Trent fed me a delicious Parisian-inspired breakfast in bed that ended with round five in the last twelve hours. Unfortunately, that dream quickly dissipated into a nightmare when Trent handed me the wedding ring from the ice bucket as Luca texted that he was downstairs.

Reality hit hard that the evening was only temporary.

But for the first time in a long time, I have things to look forward to. We finally reconnected fully, and knowing Trent’s plans makes the biggest difference in lifting my spirits. My hell is only temporary; I have faith in that now more than ever.

Luca interrupts my thoughts, holding his cell phone over his shoulder. “Trent wants to talk to you.”

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