Page 75 of Shattered

“What’s wrong, Angel? Are you in pain?” Koen exited the en suite bathroom, wearing gray sweats and nothing else. I licked my lips as my eyes roamed over his sculpted chest.Damn, my husband was hot.“Jade?”

“Huh?” I shook my head, snapping myself out of my Koen-induced brain fog.

“Are you hurting?”

“Not in the way you’re thinking,” I muttered under my breath.

He winked at me playfully, then smiled. I hadn’t seen enough of either of those things in the last few hours. When the doctor stopped in to check over my injuries, he’d been like a grizzly bear protecting its mate, grumbling and snapping his jaws every time I winced or grimaced. And don’t even get me started on the way he acted when a police officer showed up to take my statement. I thought both Banks brothers were going to have to be removed from theroom, especially after I told them about Macha’s sort-of confession regarding their father’s death. They’d already suspected his involvement, but to hear he’d basically admitted to ordering the hit renewed their dwindling hopes.

At this point, the drug lord was facing charges for my kidnapping and attempted murder. The lead detective on the case was confident he’d be able to get the man who took me to flip on his boss in exchange for lesser charges. Considering the guy thought I was Riley’s fiancée; it was clear he wasn’t the brightest bulb in the shed. Still, he might have enough information to bring down the whole operation or, at the very least, severely hamper it.

“Where do you need me to kiss and make it better?” He sauntered his fine ass over to the bed and bent down to kiss me. “Here?”

Damn him.I rubbed my thighs together, knowing if I actually had panties on, they’d be drenched.

“Gross.” Henley wrinkled her nose. “I’m outta here.”

We both laughed at her hasty exit, then his face grew serious as he traced a finger along the deep purple bruise at my temple.

“Marry me,” he said.

“What?”

“Marry me.”

“I know I’m the one with the concussion, Koen, but you seem to have bumped your head on something. We’re already married.”

“That was a practice run,Wife.” He nipped my bottom lip. “Our marriage was never just a convenience to me.”

“To me either,Husband.”

“We did it wrong the first time.” I narrowed my eyes on him, but he quickly explained. “Our family wasn’t there. Let’s do it right this time. The whole shebang: church,flowers, you walking down the aisle in a hot-as-fuck white gown that I’ll look forward to peeling off of you at the end of the night. I want us to be able to share those memories with our kids one day.”

I smirked.

“Okay, maybe not that last memory, but you know what I mean. What do you say? Marry me? Again?”

Dreaming big was never a luxury I thought I could afford. My happiness didn’t matter as long as Jett had everything he needed to have the best possible future. It wasn’t until this amazing man barged his way into our lives that I realized I could have both.

“Yes.”

24CIRCLE OF LOVE

Koen

As much as I loved California and my family, I didn’t settle until we were wheels down in West Virginia. Even then, the idea of having to leave Jade’s side was abhorrent. I shuttered whenever I thought about how close I’d come to losing her; how close we’d come.

For the first two nights, sleep had been hard to find. Each time she woke up screaming, I wanted to beg my brother for ten minutes alone with Macha. Hell, it would only take a few minutes with my hands wrapped around his throat before his miserable existence would be over. My thoughts had veered into dangerous territory. I knew it, I just didn’t give a single fuck. He deserved to know her pain. I thought I’d hidden my struggle well, but when Duncan pulled me out into the hospital hallway the day after we found her, I realized I was only fooling myself.

“Pull your head out of your ass, Koen.”

“Excuse me?”

“You think you’re the only one grappling with hate? News flash, I invented the emotion,” he snapped. “Fight it.”

“She’s having nightmares, Duncan. How am I supposed to fight that?”

“Love her through them.” It sounded so simple, yet he wasn’t the one who felt her terror with every tremble. He didn’t hear the anguish in her cries. “Don't be like me. You have one shot in life to have it all. Don’t let your hatred for one man interfere with your chance at happiness. Trust me, it won’t end well.”

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