Page 74 of Reign of Psychos

“If it’s not all over X, it never happened.” Landon grinned smugly.

“I fucking proposed first, so if you think that cancels me out, you’re deluded,” Kyril said, stabbing at his phone screen. It was obvious this argument would run for a while.

“Where’s Thea?”

“In her bedroom talking to Eden.” Milo looked exhausted. I wondered if he’d slept at all. Every time I saw him the poor bastard sat glued to a screen.

I slipped my shoes off and padded into her bedroom. The moment she spotted me, she exhaled with relief.

“Gotta go, Eden. Bye!”

“Is she OK?” The pink-haired girl irritated me, but I couldn’t deny how useful she’d been, thanks to her family connections. And the fact she’d killed Torrance elevated her in my esteem, too. Not many girls could have done what she did.

“Yes, she’s fine,” she snapped crossly. “Where have you been and why didn’t you reply to my message?”

She caught me looking at the two rings on her finger, and blushed.

“About those…” I cut her off.

“I already know, and it’s OK. I understand Kyril’s motivation. Landon’s still a dick, though.” She nodded in agreement. “I didn’t reply because I was busy buying this for you.” I pulled out the gift box and her eyes widened.

“Dar… my finger isn’t big enough for a third ring…”

“It’s not a ring.”

Did she look disappointed? It seemed that way. “Bella, I’d marry you in a heartbeat, just like we planned all those years ago, but if the baby is Kyril’s, he needs to make you his wife or you’ll never be safe.”

“Not sure I’ll ever be safe while my father is out there still breathing, and also while Marku has his people hunting for me, but whatever.”

“We’ll deal with Marku. I promise. But first, I’d like you to have this.”

I passed her the box and watched as she carefully unwrapped the ribbons and paper to reveal a gold pendant of a butterfly, encrusted with diamonds and rubies, her birthstone.

“Dar, it’s beautiful!” Her eyes shone with tears.

“I bought you a similar one the night we were supposed to meet, but when… when we didn’t, I threw it away.” The shame of how I’d treated her spilled over again and I had to look away.

“Dar, it’s OK. That’s all in the past now.” Her hand reached out and stroked my cheek. But it didn’t matter how many times she said she’d forgiven me; I couldn’t forgive myself. However, this wasn’t about me.

“I know you loved butterflies when you were a kid, so this is a token of my love for you. I can’t marry you, obviously, but there won’t ever be anyone else. There never has been, Thea. Only you.”

“It’s beautiful.”Like her. I unclasped the pendant and hung it around her slender neck. The gold glowed against her skin; the delicate butterfly nestled in the deep valley between her breasts.

Why had I pushed her away for so long? It made no sense. She’d always been mine. If only I’d seen sense all those years ago, I could have had her all to myself. Adult me wanted to kick the ass of teenage me because now I had to share her with those idiots out there.

I sighed as she gazed up at me.

“Thank you,” she murmured in a husky voice. “Three gifts all in one day. I’m not sure how I feel about that. And it’s not even my birthday!”

“You deserve gifts every day,cara.”

“Just as well Cassian’s loaded then,” she joked.

“I’m not badly off. Whatever I have is yours.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “I don’t care about money as long as Ver is safe and we don’t have mob hitmen after us.”

“Once Marku has been taken care of, we can relax.”

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