Page 105 of Victorious: Part 2
I meet her eyes, seeing the determination there, the certainty.
“I don’t regret this,” she says. “Any of it. Last night, this morning, or telling Maverick the truth. Do you?”
I think about it for a moment, the potential consequences, the complications we’ve just created, the anger in her brother’s voice, and then I think about how she felt in my arms last night. How she looks right now, fierce and beautiful andmine. How she makes me believe I might actually deserve something good in my life.
“No,” I say. “I don’t regret it.”
“Good,” she states, leaning in to kiss me softly. “Because I meant what I said. I love you, Phoenix. Whatever comes next, whatever we have to deal with, I love you.”
“I love you too,” I say against her lips. “More than I thought I was capable of loving anyone.”
She smiles, that bright, sunlit smile that makes everything else fade away. “So, what now?”
“Now…” I say, rolling her underneath me on the bed, “… we celebrate our first morning as a married couple. Properly this time.”
“But Maverick—”
“Maverick already knows we’re together,” I point out, trailing kisses down her neck. “The damage is done. Might as well enjoy the benefits of being on his shit list.”
She laughs, the sound turning into a gasp when I find that sensitive spot just below her ear. “I like this rebellious side of you.”
“Oh, baby, you haven’t even begun to see the bad boy in me yet. You want choking and hair-pulling? I’ll show you my bad side.”
“I can’t wait,” she arches beneath me.
“Good,” I say, claiming her mouth with mine. “Because you’re stuck with me now, Mrs. Evans.”
“I can think of worse fates,” she murmurs against my lips.
And as I lose myself in kissing my wife, I can’t help but think that whatever hell we’re about to catch from her family, whatever complications we’ve just created, it’s all worth it.
She’sworth it.
We’reworth it.
Even if the whole damn world disagrees, I will burn it all down for her until there is nothing but us left standing in the ashes.
Clover wants a bad boy. Well, I was raised in hell.
If she wants me to be a Steel Serpent, I have the next two weeks to show her who I truly am.
And at the end, she will barely be able to walk.
Ask and you shall receive, Mrs. Evans.
Chapter Twenty-Three
ALPHA
The war room atmosphere in the chapel is thick enough to cut with a knife. Six screens line the wall, each displaying a different Defiance chapter president waiting for my signal. Hurricane and Bayou sit to my right, still visiting from New Orleans after flying down to support South and Ingrid through Bella’s passing. On the main screen, City holds down the NOLA chapel while his president sits here with us.
The Martinez twins’ intelligence has changed everything. What we initially thought was a Los Angeles problem has revealed itself as a nationwide cancer. After days of individual calls with each chapter president, laying out the scope of Javier’s operations and his plans for what can only be described as systematic infiltration of multiple organizations, every chapter has committed to this coordinated response.
Lucky for us, most of Javier’s major operations happen to be in Defiance territory. Unlucky for him, he’s about to learn what happens when you threaten everything we stand for.
I lean forward, my hands flat against the table as I study the faces of my fellow presidents. These men have committed their chapters, their brothers, their lives to what we’re about to do.
The weight of that responsibility sits heavily on my shoulders.
