Page 150 of Desperate Actions

Aella loves me.

It’s like the whole world shifts beneath my feet, and for the first time in my life, I swear to God, I feel weightless.

Then my sister’s voice breaks through my euphoria.

“Good.”Andrea’s voice is softer than usual, almost gentle.“Take care of him, okay?”

And then Aella speaks again, and this time, her words knock the wind clean out of my lungs.

“I’ll try,”she murmurs.“For however long he lets me, I’ll try.”

Something inside me snaps.

I slam the front door shut, loud enough for them both to hear it.

I don’t wait for them to come to me.

I go to her.

I follow the sound of their quiet conversation, my pulse a heavy, steady drum in my ears. When I finally step into the kitchen, I see them—Andrea wiping at her eyes, and my wife, my Aella, standing there in a goddamn crop-top and soft lounge pants that cling to her hips like a fucking dream.

They both startle at my presence.

“You two alright?” My voice is rougher than I intend.

Andrea whirls around and glares at me. “Jesus, Sammy! You scared the shit out of me!”

I smirk.

My sister is a firecracker, but she’s not actually scared of me.

She never has been.

She grabs her purse and walks over, pressing a kiss to my cheek like the conversation she just had with my wife isn’t currently rewiring the entire architecture of my brain.

“Thanks for having us over, Aella,” Andrea says with a warm smile. “I had the best time.”

“You need me to call a driver for you?” I ask, still processing, still trying to breathe through the sheer magnitude of what I just overheard.

Andrea shakes her head and says her goodbyes.

I don’t argue, but as soon as she’s gone, I pull out my phone and shoot a text to Santos.

Me

Follow my sister home. Don’t let her see you.

A confirmation comes back almost immediately.

Santos

Yes, boss.

Then it’s just me and her.

Alone.

I turn my attention back to Aella, drinking her in—the delicate curve of her jaw, the way her hair falls in soft waves around her face, the hint of pink still dusting her cheeks from her earlier emotions.

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