Page 113 of Unbound

“Just stay here. I’ll be back. But if I don’t come back…”

“What the fuck?” I started to shake.

“Love you. Sit tight.”

He kissed me hard and quick, his hand briefly touching my belly, then he left the room closing the door behind him. He had another gun stuffed in the back of his pants.

About fifteen minutes later, that felt like fifteen hours, the two men left in the red car and he was back.

“Who was that?”

“That was the guy who’s got Angel’s sister.”

“Oh my God.”

“He’s dangerous. He caught me off guard.”

“I’d say!”

“It’s okay. It’s all okay. Come here.” He pulled me tight against him and caressed my back.

He seemed relieved.

“What did he want?”

“To make sure we know his position on Holly. And to make efforts to keep us from becoming enemies.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I gotta talk to Dare about things. Don’t you worry about it.”

He pulled me toward the bed and we cuddled together.

“I’m sorry about the necklace,” he said.

I reached under his t-shirt and rubbed his chest.

I shrugged. “I’m sorry if that upset you. It was stupid. I know it’d never replace the one your mom gave you. I just saw it and it was similar and–”

“I don’t need it. I don’t need it to remind me to try to be worthy. Every day is a battle, baby girl, but not a day goes by where I don’t tell myself how fuckin’ lucky I am that you love me back.”

I kissed him.

He tucked my hair behind my ear. “Never will I forget how much you mean to me. I’ll never hurt you on purpose again. Won’t use my temper or demons as an excuse to hurt you. If you wanna play, we play. If you want me to spank this cute little ass, just say so, but I will never lay my hand on you in anger again. I don’t need the necklace. It’s just like you said baby girl; you’re the necklace.”

We were in Costa Rica for two more days before going home and they were blissful days. The day before we left, we took a long and scenic carefree drive to a little village and Tommy took me to a very fancy spa.

He told me he’d be back in three or four hours, for me to enjoy a facial, massage, mud wrap, and so on. He made sure it was a female masseuse, who he tipped ridiculously well, and then he left.

I didn’t look the gift horse in the mouth; I just enjoyed myself.

He picked me up and we drove back to the beach house for our last night there.

“What’d you do all afternoon?” I asked, feeling loose and relaxed.

“Wouldn’t you like to know…” he teased.

“Secrets aren’t good for a marriage,” I told him.

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