Page 86 of Beautiful Liar

“I love you,” I said. I slid a finger across his forehead, moving the wet hair away from his face. “I loved you since the first time we shared this shower. When you touched me for the first time. When you took care of me.” My heart did a thing in my chest that made it hard to breathe. “I never did thank you for that.”

“No,” he said. “You pushed me away.”

I always pushed him away, and he was still here. “I’m sorry I was an ass.”

“I’m not,” he leaned and captured my lips in his. A soft kiss, tempting. “I wouldn’t change anything about you.”

“Nothing?” He knew what I was asking. I was the heir to a crime family. I’d always be a Brennan. I wouldn’t be able to remain at Arcadia.

“Nothing,” he said and seamed our lips.

We kissed. Slow at first. Then he took the soap and ran his hands throughout my body. I came in his hand. I came into his greedy mouth. And then I took him intomybed and he fucked me into the mattress.

I fell asleep surrounded by him.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Tomás

There was always a moment just before I opened my eyes to the world after sleep that always grounded me. The chaos of my life. Daniel outside, radio playing, modding his car with something new. Mom listening to Olga Tañon bashing men in her songs, singing while eggs sizzled in the frying pan. The smell of bacon in the air. The memory latched on to my thoughts whenever the nightmares came. While some people held on to the bad, I always found myself remembering the good. Maybe it made me naïve. I don’t know. But even after facing Alessandro after what he did … nope. That fucker needed to die.

I breathed in Kieran burrowed in my arms. We had no shortage of rooms to use for our debauchery. I moved back into Arcas House and the place had more hidden rooms than I thought.

Kieran and I had officially come out. Well, it was a bit anticlimactic really. We just held hands and kissed wherever we wanted. Even on school grounds. We got looks, sneers, but I really didn’t care.

Boyfriend.

Kieran was my official boyfriend. During my mom’s funeral, Kieran had introduced himself to Nick as my boyfriend. Nick had almost died laughing I had turned so red. But I loved my boyfriend and my brother.

Daniel didn’t show up. Not that I expected him to violate Maddox’s warning. But Brenda had shown up. Daniel’s ex-girlfriend. It was nice to talk to her. To see her. I wished her well and thanked her for everything she did for us when my mother couldn’t. The funeral was small. Mom was estranged from her family. They always knew she was going to OD one day. And although she hadn’t OD’d without help, I couldn’t deny that thiswould’ve been her end anyway.

I knew she had hated me. She’d hate being memorialized in a church, but it was customary. So. Fuck it. She was dead anyway. We buried her next to Daniel’s plot. An anonymous donor had paid for it (Maddox), and the tombstone that would go over her plot with just her name and date of birth and date of death etched into it. There wasn’t much else to say.

It'd been ten days since Wren took Alessandro. River turned into a ghost. Showing his face in class but ghosting everything else. Until we had information about where Wren was, we couldn’t do anything but move through life as if we had a purpose.

I found mine wrapped in Kieran whenever he came to Arcadia to visit, which was often. Whether he’d have to take the mantle as heir was up in the air. Tristan was alive and well and had enough support. He didn’t need Kieran.

Kieran shifted closer to me, digging in for warmth. “How are you doing with everything?”

“Well,” I said. “Fox is no longer an asshole to me. I think he feels sorry for me.”

“Fox wouldn’t feel sorry for his own mother. It’s just that now he trusts that your secret wasn’t about getting us killed.”

“But I did almost get you all killed.”

“It was our choice, Tomás. Because it’s what we do. We protect family.”

“And I’m family?”

He burrowed deeper into me, no space between us. “You’re everything to me.”

We kissed for a long time. Just kissing. Feeling each other, making sure we were still whole. Unbreakable. No matter what happened now, we were stronger together. I knew that now. No more lies between us. I pulled away and held him. “Maybe I should show Maddox.” I knew when Maddox foundWren I’d have to show him the video of what Alessandro did to me. It would save Wren’s life.

“It’s up to you,” Kieran said, lifting himself up on his elbow to look at me. Even half asleep the guy was sexy as hell. “But yes. I would prefer it to Wren’s death. Even if the asshole might deserve a good kick in the ass for doing this alone.”

I smiled. Worry bags under Kieran’s eyes suggested that he was more worried than angry with Wren. Maddox was scouring every corner of the earth looking for Alessandro. The Brennans would go to war. I owed Maddox the truth. He had saved my life when I had tried to kill him.

“I … I think it’s time to tell Maddox. I don’t want him to start a war on false information.”

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