Page 89 of Captivating

“Who prefers broody?” Jamie asks as he drops down into the Adirondack chair next to us. “Fuck... you guys aren’t working on nicknames for Killian’s dick, are you?”

“Dude—” I look for something to throw at him and come up empty. “She doesn’t call my dick broody, you asshole.”

Lilah giggles and traces my earlobe with her tongue. “I can if you want me to,” she whispers, and I slide my hand up under her short white dress and dig my fingers into her ass.

Fuck, I love this woman.

“Go fuck in the outdoor shower like the rest of the family,” Dillan laughs as she stands in front of the fire with a wine glass in her hand. “Maybe not Mom and Dad’s though. I’m pretty sure one of our cousins is in there with one of Killian’s cousins.”

“What? Who? And with who?” Lilah asks as she scrambles off my lap and takes Dillan’s hand excitedly.

“I’m not sure. It’s just a hunch.” Dillan and Lilah look like the spitting image of their mother, standing next to each other, and I get a flash of fear for my future.Boys. When we have kids one day, they need to be boys, so I don’t kill every dumb punk that comes near my daughters.

Fuck. I’m going to jail.

“Oh my God,” Lilah squeals, a little tipsy from her drink. The first she’s had since the shooting four months ago. “Come with me.” She tugs Dillan. “Now I need to know.”

Lilah drags Dillan behind her out of my sight, and I stand from my chair and watch them go, until they disappear behind Nattie and Brady’s gate.

“She’s only right there, Killer,” Noah tells me from the chair next to mine, while he strums Baby as I wait and watch.

“Yeah, man. I know. Still doesn’t make it easier though,” I admit, with my whole damn chest feeling tight. Because while I know I have to let Lilah live her life and let her out of my sight, it’s fucking hard to do. Visions of that morning still plague mydreams. A living, breathing, nightmare we both deal with every day. The media frenzy after what happened has forced a level of security my girl will never be okay with, but she no longer fights it.

I push away the fucked up thoughts and turn back to Noah. “She said the meeting with the lawyers earlier went well.”

He holds his hand over the guitar strings, stopping the music and grins. “Yeah, it fucking did. We signed the contracts. Blue Bell Records is in business, and Lilah St. James is the first act we signed.”

I hear Lilah’s laughter and catch her and Dillan stumbling away from their parents’ yard.

Fuck. I can’t wait for her to be my wife.

Wait—what?

“Lilah what?” I ask, because she’s not taking my name.

Not professionally.

“Fuck.” Noah looks from his sisters back to me. “You didn’t hear anything.”

He swings Baby over his back and heads for the house. “Nothing, St. James. You didn’t hear a thing.”

“Umm... what the hell is Noah bitching about?” Dillan asks as she and Lilah laugh, stumbling over the dunes, clinging to each other. Both a little off-balance.

“Lilah...” I lift her up as she steps in to me and then sit us both back down in the chair. “What’s this I hear about Blue Bell Records signing its first act?”

Her cheeks heat, and she rolls her eyes. “Noah,” she yells. “You little bitch.”

She pulls her knees up to my chest and tucks herself against me. “I liked it better when he was keeping things from everyone.”

“No, you didn’t,” I laugh and take a pull of my beer. “So you want to tell me what he’s talking about, princess?”

“Yeah,princess? How about you speak loud enough for the crowd?” Maverick teases, dryly as he stops on the other side of the fire.

“Oh,princess...” Jamie taunts, and she flips them both the finger while Dillan raises her glass of wine to them both. Always defending her sister.

“Fine.” She looks up at all the guys and Dillan and shakes her head. “I told you he’d find out.”

“I told you, you should make him fuck it out of you.” Dillan hiccups and finishes her wine. “My way would have been way more fun than this.” She shrugs and smiles.

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