Page 93 of The Last Dance You Saved
My head and soul were torn on how to protect the women I loved, but getting them away from me and the ranch and the hate and retribution we both seemed to draw had to be the best thing to do until things settled down. “If I can convince Sadie to leave and take Fallon with her, would you escort them to Tennessee before heading to Virginia?”
“I can do whatever you need as long as I’m on base by oh-five-hundred on Friday.”
“If this drags on longer than that, I can arrange for someone else to take your place.”
He gave me a curt nod, and I turned back to the two females who were calling to me with their smiles. From the moment I’d held her as a newborn, Fallon had taken ownership of a portion of my heart, and I’d never expected anyone else to own the other half. I thought the rest of it had become a dead muscle, and yet Sadie had brought it back to life.
I pulled Fallon into me with one arm and linked my fingers with Sadie’s on the other side. “You both look beautiful tonight.”
Fallon beamed at me, and it hit me right in the chest all over again.
The DJ kicked in a new song—slow and sensual—and the crowd around the cake table dissipated. Some slid back onto the dance floor while others grabbed dessert plates and headed for the tables. When Maisey dragged Fallon away to get cake, I turned to Sadie, wrapped her into my arms, and swayed us to the music right where we stood.
I ran my hand up her back, pushing her into me until I felt every soft curve pressed up against every inch of me. Until the rhythm of her heart echoed the beat of mine. A fluttering beat I wanted to capture and hold on to forever.
“You promised me all your dances from now on,” I whispered in her ear. “And yet, I saw you dancing.”
“You’re remembering it wrong, Slick. I simply said you’d get my dances tonight, and look at that, we’re dancing.”
I swirled her out and around, and when I brought her back, I drew her even closer. Our hips shifted in perfect unison, as if we’d always been together, as if we’d spent a lifetime dancing with each other. We’d been that way in bed too, finding each other’s rhythm instinctively. She might be a hell of a lot younger than me, but Sadie and I fit. I couldn’t shake it. Didn’t want to. I just had to figure out how to keep her and meet all my responsibilities, to which the ranch had now been permanently added.
I dipped her backward, kissed her lightly, and then swung her into my arms again, all while keeping the beat. I pressed my groin into her, and she let out a little breathy gasp.
“No one else should be able to touch you this way, Tennessee. I’m willing to negotiate. Line dancing with the men in your family is acceptable, but this, these moves with us tucked together, have to be mine and mine alone.”
Her eyes turned the same deep shade of blue they’d been when I was deep inside her, and it took everything I had not to embarrass myself amongst the guests. I’d said she’d be begging me to take her on the dance floor, but now our roles were reversed. As much as I didn’t like losing control, I’d found myself not only losing it repeatedly with her but willingly handing it over.
Sadie twined her fingers through the hair at my nape as she aligned herself into my every groove. She lifted onto her toes and kissed the corner of my mouth.
“How about if I promise you all my last dances?” she offered.
I shook my head. “Not good enough. All your last dancesandall your slow dances.”
She pretended to think about it.
“All my last dances and all my slow dances, unless planned and negotiated ahead of time.”
I didn’t let her see it, but inside, I was smiling. Instead, I grunted as if I’d barely agreed to her terms. But from this day forward, negotiating with her would be one of my favorite things.
Before I could answer her, before I could seal our deal with a full kiss that would leave us both breathless, my gaze settled on Noah cutting through the crowd toward me. His face was pale and unsettled. He was followed into the marquee by one of Puzo’s men, who jogged around the outside of the dance floor to the back table where Puzo was talking to the bride and groom.
I turned so Sadie was behind me as Noah reached me. His words sent a chill through me. “Nero Lancaster has just stumbled up outside the tent. He’s been brutally stabbed. I’m not sure he’s going to make it.”
Parker had joined me from the sidelines as Noah had approached, and I met his gaze. “Don’t leave Sadie and Fallon alone for even a second. Not to piss. Not to fetch your dad. Not one second.”
Parker nodded curtly, and Sadie called my name, but I just ignored her as I followed Noah outside. A small group of my team and Puzo’s were gathered around the tailgate of a rig parked near the barn. The string of white lights Lauren had added to every building and every fence around the wedding marquee lit up the sky enough for me to recognize Nero lying in the truck bed. He looked like he’d been dragged through the brush. His clothes were torn and muddied, face and hands scratched.
But it was the long, jagged cut down his sternum and over his rib cage that set my pulse racing.
The matching wound on my chest threw me right back to the alley the night I’d gotten it. I could smell the trash covering the grimy pavement as my arms were twisted painfully behind me. I felt every punch as it landed in my stomach, my kidneys, my back. And I felt the tip of the knife as it broke through my sternum, slicing down toward my navel. I could even feel the blood oozing out of me with each heartbeat as I’d fallen to the ground.
I fisted my hands, nails biting into the palms, and pushed past the cloud of dark memories in order to ask, “Did someone call for an ambulance?”
One of Puzo’s men responded with a curt yes. Another was in the truck, adding pressure to the wounds with the suit jacket he’d removed. Blood had already saturated it.
I looked at Noah. “Call the sheriff.”
“The deputy on duty already did,” he responded.
