Page 55 of With This Ring

I’ve been working on this surprise for a few weeks now. We probably won’t get time in the coming weeks to get away, as this war heats up.

No matter where we look, we can’t find any of the Fensters. It’s like everyone went underground. Our families have been searching the streets, looking for even a glimpse of Anthony Fenster and his son, Sam and daughter Gabbi, but nothing. Word is, both Sam and Gabbi have a thing for rocket launchers and the chaos they bring. It’s safe to assume that one or both of them was involved in killing my guys, blowing up my money and almost killing me. When I see those two fuckers, they’re mine.

Tonight, though, I won’t think about the war. My mind is firmly on what I plan to do tonight with my husband.

I picked Kai up from work, grabbing us a quick meal since we had to drive two hours out of town to get to where I set up his surprise.

When we got about twenty minutes out, I tied a blindfold around his eyes, not wanting him to see before I pulled him out of the car.

Ten of our men are already there waiting and the car in front of us and behind us are full of men with guns and bad attitudes. I splurged on bulletproof SUVs with blacked out windows to give us some added protection while we waited for the Fensters to be dispatched.

When I see the lights up ahead, I smile. I slide closer to Kai and take his chin gently in my hands. “Do you trust me?”

“Yeah,” he answers without hesitation. “I wouldn’t have let you blindfold me if I didn’t.”

I plant a quick kiss on his lips, smiling into the kiss when Kai threads his fingers at my nape.

With a chuckle, I pull away and untangle his hands from my hair. “We have plenty of time for that.” The car stops and I undo his seatbelt. “Take my hands and I’ll help you out.”

He grabs my hands in a firm grip and allows me to help him out of the car. Confusion crosses his face when he feels rocks under his feet.

This is one of the first times I’ve seen him dressed down. Both of us have on a pair of jeans, a plain t-shirt—mine black and Kai’s blue—and sneakers. He looks really good like this. Relaxed. Younger. Carefree.

Smiling, I pull him away from the car and stand behind him, my chin on his shoulder. “Ready?”

“Yes.” I hear the trepidation in his tone, but he’s bouncing on his heels, so I know he’s excited. He tilts his head when he hears the music playing in front of us, and I know he can’t place it.

My heart knocking in my chest, I pull the blindfold off and step to the side so I can see his expression.

Kai’s eyes show confusion, then they light up, a wide smile spreading across his face.

The light from the concession stands, the games, and most importantly, the Ferris wheel brighten up the night. The music from the carousel breaks the silence of the evening. The smell of fair food fills the air with the scent of popcorn, funnel cake and deep fried everything.

It’s way too much for just the two of us, but Kai deserves to have this experience. My chest lights up with happiness when I see his face. It was well worth it to keep this secret from him.

After we watched the movie together and he rode me like a fucking bucking bronco, I made a call to figure out how to get a fair for Kai. It wasn’t cheap, but it was worth every penny.

“Carter,” he breathes as he continues to look at the fair set up. “When did you…how?”

With a grin on my face, I put my arm around him and kiss his temple. “I have my ways. Come on, let’s go have some fun.”

Matching his smile, I lead Kai through the gates of the fair. Our guards are walking around, but they stay out of our way.

It’s not a full fair set up since that would have required me finding a full staff. We have some of the fair games like knock down, balloon pop, ring toss and duck shoot. Along with those, we have bumper cars, the carousel, that giant danger slide, and the Ferris wheel. For food, we have funnel cakes, hot dogs, cotton candy, candied apples, and caramel popcorn.

All in all, we have everything we need to give Kai a piece of his missing childhood.

He threads our fingers together and pulls me towards the bumper cars. “Get in, Whitlock.” He looks over his shoulder at me with an excited grin. “Let me show you how it’s done.” He claims one of the cars further from the entrance.

“Oh, you’re talking big shit,” I say, sliding into my bumper car. My legs are a little too long for this to be really comfortable, but I’ll squish into the tiny car for him.

Kai looks like he’s going to spill over the side with his bulk, but his legs fit fine.

After the ride operator makes sure we’re inside, she starts the ride up. Immediately, Kai guns it towards me, bumping my car hard. His loud laughter sends that unfamiliar feeling down my spine. A feeling I’ve had for weeks but can’t manage to pinpoint. Whatever it is, I like it. A lot.

“You’re going to regret that,” I threaten, then take off behind him.

We stay on the bumper cars for many long minutes, ramming each other and laughing like children.

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