Page 180 of Diamond Kisses

She followed me, laughing softly under her breath. “One of these days, you havegotto stop making me fall in love with you.”

I slammed to a halt.

Our eyes met.

I fell.

I tumbled heart first into a snowdrift of effervescent happiness.

She wanted me? Well, she had me. Forever.

I’d find a way to make her come as hard as she had back at Joyero with worship instead of wounds. And then I’d put a ring on her finger, just like I’d promised when we first met.

“Come with me.” Grabbing her glove-puffy hand, I tugged her toward the château.

I had no idea where we would end up in another few weeks when we left France. We couldn’t stay here, and Ily said her place was with me now, not back in England with her parents.

I’d tried to give Q his money back, but he’d refused. I couldn’t keep it, so…I’d already begun tracking down all the jewels who’d survived with us. I owed a million euro debt to the guards who’d taken our side. Q assured me he hadn’t killed those who’d fought for us, and I had every intention of finding each one to say thank you.

Once I’d tracked down the jewels, I planned on sharing my ill-gotten wealth with them. Q said he’d already paid them a small sum to help them get back on their feet, but what I wanted to give them was worth so much more than money. To me at least.

I needed to give them something I’d never had when I was younger.

After trauma like what we’d all endured, sometimes the mask we put on for other people became permanently fused with our souls. It hid everything we hadn’t dealt with. It allowed us not to scare our loved ones from the truth of just how fucked up we’d become.

I’d had no one to help me through what my father made me do.

I’d fused that mask right onto my very bones, and my mind had systemically deleted every memory that didn’t conform with the story of ‘I’m fine.’

I didn’t want that to happen to Corinne and Caishen, Citra, and all the others.

Even if they didn’t want it now, I needed them to know that someone wouldalwaysbe there to listen. Someone who had firsthand knowledge of their pain.

A community.

A fucked-up family.

A friend.

I wanted to ensure they knew they were never alone. They might have their mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, but only those of us who had been there could truly share in the nightmares, the scars, and the memories.

Once I’d found each jewel and created—I didn’t know…a Facebook group chat or some way of always being there for each other, I then wanted to track down my half-siblings.

I wanted the girls and boys I remembered huddling in that nursery block to know they weren’t alone like I’d always thought I was. Q might not want anything to do with his father’s bastards but me? Iwasone of those bastards, and it was about time I did what I’d failed to do as a kid and look out for them.

Ily didn’t say a word as I marched with the slightest limp up the patio steps and into the lounge at the back of the château. Toeing off our snowy boots, we cut through the dark living room, avoiding a few dog chew toys and Lino’s scooter.

Everyone had retired, leaving the place in shadow.

The scents of pesto pasta that we’d shared for dinner still lingered in the air, garlicy and homey, adding yet another layer to my happiness.

Ily giggled under her breath as we cut into the foyer, and I pushed her against the banister of the fancy curved staircase.

“You’re suddenly very eager.” She grinned.

I kept my eyes on hers all while flashbacks of my past tried to distract me with memories I’d willfully forgotten.

The paintings on the walls differed to how they’d been when my father had dragged me through the house to the wing where he kept his harem. The carpet had been gold then, but now it gleamed a dark blue.

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