Page 102 of Ship Happens
She nibbles her bottom lip and smiles. “I’m not okay with the way you handled things, but I won’t stop you from trying to make it up to me.” She steps into me and walks her fingers up my chest. When she reaches my neck, her hand slithers behind my head and pulls me closer. “You can start by kissing me.”
More than happy to oblige, I press my lips to hers, and my world feels complete again. “I’m sorry I ever doubted you. If you want to be a killer, I won’t try to stop you.”
“That’s the most beautiful part.” Her blue eyes glisten as she looks up at me. “King’s division is essentially made up of sympathizers—people who work with and turn a blind eye to certain serial killers. I’m free to explore my new hobby as long as I stick to some guidelines. Oddly enough, they’re the same rules you guys already live by.”
“I just didn’t want to change you.”
She shrugs. “Maybe change isn’t always a bad thing. The road I was on wasn’t a good one. I was becoming my mother, and that isn’t what I want for my life.”
“And what do you want?”
Frankie glances at the watch on her wrist and sighs. “Right now? An orgasm. How much time do you have?”
“I was due to get on a plane in a few hours, headed for Texas to look for the missing Carter sister, but I think the trip is off now.”
Frankie looks down the hall, toward the door to the restaurant’s sprawling front lawn. “Right. I have...brothers. That feels so weird. And they’ve been looking for me?”
“Well, they’ve been looking for Luisa G., and I’m really hoping that’s you.”
She smiles and shakes her head. “My mother had this planned from the start. Luisa on the birth certificate. Eileen on the social security card.”
“It worked. You weren’t even in Texas.” I shake my head and laugh. “Looks like you gained a lot on this trip, though. Some family and friends. A new hobby. A promotion.”
“A boyfriend?”
I smile down at her and plant a kiss on her nose. “Yes, you gained one of those too. You’ll have to be patient with me, though. I’ve never done this before.”
“We can figure it out together.” She stands on her tiptoes and places a kiss on my lips.
The manor door swings open, and Eve peeks through the gap. “Jim made reservations at that hot new restaurant in Miami. You guys in?”
“Miami? Why would we drive for hours just to eat?” Frankie looks up at me.
“The perks of Jim’s private jet. Unless...you wanna get some takeout and show me your place?” I wiggle my eyebrows at her. “I think that orgasm is very possible.”
“We’ll take a raincheck!” Frankie calls toward Eve.
Eve giggles and closes the door, but not before Bennett shouts something about me keeping my hands off his sister.
“He’ll get used to it,” I say to Frankie.
“He’d better,” she says as she looks up at me. “I don’t plan on going anywhere.”
Epilogue
Six Weeks Later
Frankie
The donation truck pulls away from the curb, filled with all the things that remind me of my mother. When I move in with Maverick and Eve, I’ll paint every wall in their apartment with a splash of color, just to keep that woman’s memory at bay. But I guess I need to stop calling ittheirapartment. It’s ours now. I signed the lease last week, and King okayed the move to New York with his blessing. Remote work isn’t unheard of in these post-Covid settings, after all.
The Midnight Masochist and I have gotten very close since that fateful dinner. He’s divulged his painful histories to me, and I now know the full story behind his scar. I shared my strange upbringing—all the little things I once thought were my mother’s quirks. Now I know they were merely ways to put me in danger to try and bring my father out of the woodwork. Too bad it didn’t work.
Maverick pulls into the driveway as I’m turning to lock up. The house holds no fond memories, so I’m happy to leave. All the memories I need wait somewhere in the future.
“Hey, sweetheart. Need a ride?” he says through the lowered window of my red sports car. He looks amazing behind the wheel.
“More like I need to be ridden,” I mutter under my breath.
