Page 41 of Wine & Whiskey: Everything for You
Tears roll down her temples as her body shakes with sobs. She reaches for him, her grip around his neck weak, but steady. “You’re alive.”
Choked with emotion, his response dies in his throat. She cries for joy because of him. That he’s all right. Not for his money or his power. Just him. The depth of her love almost unfathomable, yet mirrors his own feelings for her. He swallows again. “Don’t cry. I’m fine. You’re going to be too.”
More than she knows. The immediate dangers eliminated, with a clear message delivered to everyone else. She and their baby are safe and can have the happy life they deserve.
“Is Max okay too?”
“Yeah, sweetness, he is.”
Her body softens under his. All her worries gone. He lies down next to her and nuzzles her neck, breathing in an unfamiliar scent. Not flowers, but still her essence underneath. She snuggles against him, at peace for now. “Spencer said—”
Fuck that bastard.She shouldn’t even have to say his motherfucking name. “Shhh. It’s over. You don’t have to worry about him or Juan ever again.”
“Okay.” Her eyes blink open, and she looks around. “Why did you bring me here?”
Not yet. It’s too soon. He just wants to hold her. Not have this conversation, not face her regret from being with a man like him. “With everything that happened, I thought you might need to get away for a while. I didn’t want you to have to run, so I brought you where you needed to be.”
Uncertainty replaces the grogginess in her eyes. “I need to be with you.”
He strokes her cheek and runs his fingers down her arm and across her stomach, while panic churns in his. She holds his fate in her heart, which he’s broken too many fucking times. “I wasn’t sure if you’d still want me. After what I’ve done.”
She curls her fingers around his shirt, as if he’s the one who’s going to run away. “I hate your world. I hate that it’s kill or be killed, and that you’re always in danger, and people die because of the need for power and revenge. But I also know you’re trapped in it.” The softness of her voice doesn’t diminish the love seeping through her words. “So, what choice do I have? Do you think I can just walk away? That I could get over not being with you? I accept all of this…” A shaky hand presses against his chest, rubbing over his pounding heart. “Because I know who you really are, even if you don’t believe it. Who you would be if you weren’t stuck in this life.”
All his fear disintegrates with her words. She still wants him. Unlike any other woman he’s known, she chooses to be with him because she loves him. He takes her hands in his and brings them to his mouth, kissing the palm of each one before pressing them against his cheeks. “I will be that man for you.”
“You already are. I love you, and I want…” Her face pinches as she closes her eyes. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
He wraps his hand around her shoulder and pulls her up with him, holding her hair behind her back. She dry heaves a few times before leaning against him.
“I’m sorry. I’m not sure why that keeps happening.” She rubs the back of her head. “Maybe Gina’s right. Maybe I do have a concussion.”
He kisses her temple, refraining from teasing her about declaring her love and then wanting to vomit. He’s one lucky bastard to be able to tell her the good news himself. “It might be morning sickness. Dr. Patterson was wrong.”
Her head flies up. Glistening eyes lock with his as her lip quivers. “Are you sure? What about the test results?”
“We took you to the doctor when you were unconscious, and I saw the baby’s heartbeat. After we got back, Max had the guys investigate it, and he thinks Evan altered the report she received. The original results at the lab show the increase in your levels.”
She shakes her head. “Punishment for what I did to him.” Tears stream down her face before she wraps her arms around him. “It doesn’t matter. I thought I’d lost everything, and now it’s all here. Everything I want is right here.”
One hand curls around the nape of her neck while the other slides to the small of her back as she clings to him. The feel of her bare skin against his fingers stokes his fury at the thought of that motherfucking bastard hurting her again. She deserves this happiness, and he’ll be damned if anyone takes it away from her. “Me too. We’ve got it all, and I won’t let anyone change that.”
Wetness covers his cheek from her shaking her head. “Please, Nick. I don’t need any revenge. Let it go.”
Even in his anger, a smile curls his lips. She knows him too well. Knows what he was thinking without him even saying it. He has to keep his other promise from when he proposed, be the man she believes him to be. “Okay. For you.”
She lifts up from his embrace and meets his gaze. “No, not for me. For yourself. I know you have to do what you have to do in your business. But with Evan, be the man I know you are, not the one you think you have to be.”
Clear and bright, her eyes hold no doubts. No uncertainty about her faith in him. Beyond her and the baby’s safety, to his very core. He let her into his heart, and she found her way to his soul. To the darkest part no one else gets to see. And she still thinks there’s goodness there among the demons. Something worth saving inside him. Too humbled to find the right words, he can only kiss her forehead before nodding.
Her smile can’t stifle an enormous yawn. “I told you that you would regret letting me nag you.”
God, she’s amazing. “I know it. No more fish tacos for you.” He winks at her and returns her grin. “But how about breakfast in bed? I think Carrie’s used all the bread in the house making you French toast. She’s been anxious for you to wake up.”
The sparkle returns to her beautiful, blue eyes as she laughs. “Bring it on, but don’t tell Max.”
“Don’t tell me what?” His best friend’s chuckle fills the room from the hallway.
At Shae’s gasp and teary smile, Nick turns toward the doorway. “Stop fucking eavesdropping and get your ass in here.”
