Page 66 of With This Ring

“I know, pretty baby. And I’m sorry. I’ll help you get arrangements in order, and with the financial side of things. We’ll get through it. I promise.”

A sad smile tugs at my lips. “Thank you.”

We lie silently in bed for a few minutes and my eyes start to feel heavy. Before I can doze off, Carter rolls on top of me and puts his hand around my throat. He applies pressure, making my eyes bug out. His eyes have taken on that murderous look, causing fear to lance through me.

Putting his face close to mine, he snarls, “If you ever take off your fucking ring again, I will fucking kill you. I love you too fucking much to lose you because you’re being a fucking idiot.”

Even though my breathing comes out choppy, my heart feels light. Carter loves me. Carter lovesme. God, he’s a fool for that, falling in love with me. He’ll never be able to get rid of me now.

I nod frantically, placing my hand over his. He lets me go and I drag in a ragged breath. Then I smile. A real, genuine smile, which Carter returns. “I love you too, babe.”

He kisses me softly, nestling his body between my legs. “Don’t run from me again.”

“Never again,” I say between kisses. “I won’t run.”

Resting his forehead against mine, Carter’s gentle breaths drift over my lips. “I can’t live without you, Kaison. A man can’t live without his heart.” He places his hand on my chest, over that wildly beating organ behind my ribs. “You’re my fucking heart.”

“Just like you’re mine.”

“I’d do anything for you. You know that, right?”

I nod, a small smile spreading on my face.

Carter rolls over to lie beside me, dragging me into his arms again.

“And Carter?” I say against his chest. He tips my head up so I’m meeting his eyes. “Send the twink from The Devil’s Den a tip or something. He’s the one that kept the vultures away. He didn’t try anything. He got me away so he could call you.”

Carter’s lips twitch just before he gives me a soft kiss. “Anything you want, Kaison.” Then he reaches over to his nightstand, grabs my ring, and slides it back on my finger.

Where it belongs.

CHAPTER 22

CARTER

Planning Charlie’s funeral during a war where the opposing family has no fucking morals is hard, but we get it done. Unlike for anyone else that dies in our families, especially the inner circle, we throw them an extravagant send off, no expenses spared. The city is shut down, no illegal dealings done to honor the dead. But with the Fensters god knows where, we can’t afford to do anything like that.

The funeral we hold for Charlie St. Clair the next week is intimate, with only his immediate circle and ours in attendance. We have his service graveside, and we don’t stay longer than thirty minutes. I think Kai appreciated not being there for long, since he’s still conflicted on how he feels about his dad.

I arranged everything so Kai wouldn’t have to. It was more than Charlie deserved. If it were up to me, I would have tossed his ass in a ditch and let the birds have at him, but that would have hurt Kai. I’d cut off my right arm before allowing him to be hurt.

The family has a cemetery and Charlie already paid for his plot, but we knew the Fensters would expect us to bury him there. Kai suggested we keep his body on ice and wait until the war was over to lay him to rest, but none of us knew how longthat would be. So, we buried him outside the city with plans to exhume him when everything settles down.

Now we’re sitting in his home office, going over all the financial reports on his legal businesses. Charlie was in the hole close to eleven million dollars, a large sum when I know he makes more than that moving drugs and guns. What the fuck was he spending all that money on?

Kai grunts as I look over his shoulder, shuffling through paperwork for The Reef Casino, their largest holding. “He was behind on his taxes for the past five years. Wanna know how much it was?”

“Tell me,” I say, scanning over another set of paperwork for his house and all the bills.

“Eleven million dollars. Wanna know how much my construction company is worth?”

I already know the answer to that. Now it all makes sense. Charlie’s disparaging comments about the construction company not being profitable, suggesting that Kai sign it over to him. He probably planned to sell it to the highest bidder to cover his back taxes.

Kai shakes his head. “Pop was a fucking cunt.”

I bark a laugh, not expecting his comment. “He was something.”

“Maybe I should let it fail. Let it go back on the market and someone else can have that headache.”

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