Page 82 of Last Chance Seduction
“Damn straight.I mean, we fought off the mob together.You can’t break that up.”
“Was it really the mob?Or just a couple of bookies?”
“When we tell the story to others, it’s going to be the mob or the Mafia.We’re going all out.”
She threw her head back and laughed, her whole body shaking.
“Okay.If that’s what you’d like.”
“It is exactly what I’d like.So, you’re just going to have to do what I ask.After all, I got stitches for you.”Her face shut down, and I could have kicked myself.“I’m sorry.That’s not what I meant.It’s not your fault.”
“No, I know it’s not my fault.It’s that asshole’s fault.And I’m wondering if I could borrow Dash’s brass knuckles.”
“I’m sure that could be arranged,” I said with a laugh before I leaned down and brushed her lips with mine.“I love you, Mercy.”
“I love you too.I was so afraid I was going to spend the holidays alone, wondering why the hell I had moved back, and yet, I’m glad that I was wrong.”
“Are you ready to deal with the entire Montgomery clan?You’ve only met a fraction of us.”
“I think I can handle it.After all, we fought off the mob.”Her eyes danced, and I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, holding her close.
Because she was my forever.She might not know it yet, we might not be there yet, but I knew she was it.
I had always been the man that you dated before you found your forever.And part of me knew I was running out of chances.Mercy wasn’t my last chance though, she was my only chance.
And she was mine.
Complete with fighting off the mob and the Montgomerys.And I knew was whatever happened next we’d figure it out.Together.If we could fight off the world, we could have this moment together.
Where everything was real, and nothing fake could ever touch us.
ChapterEighteen
Brooklyn
A few months later
“Why do I have so many freckles?I think I have more freckles than everybody in the family combined.”I scrunched my nose, staring in the mirror.My freckles had been the bane of my existence for longer than I cared to admit.It wasn’t that I truly hated them, but sometimes I wished there weren’t so many.They covered most of my face, not just my cheeks and nose like my siblings.No, they were on my forehead, my chin, all down my chest.My dermatologist swore I was doing just fine, and it wasn’t anything to be alarmed about.It was just genetics.
And yet, none of my cousins had this wide array of freckles.Not even my brothers.And yes, technically they were my half-brothers, as we didn’t share the same father, but still.
Riley snorted at my side.“You do realize that it doesn’t matter what kind of freckles we have genetically?Because although I love you with every ounce of my soul, we don’t share quite the same genetics.Some, yes, but not all of them.”
I frowned at my cousin, or perhaps first cousin once removed (I could never understand what that meant), then conceded the point.“Okay fine.But your siblings don’t have any freckles.And you only have like three.Our dads are twins.You would’ve thought we would’ve looked a little more alike.”
Riley, the oldest of her siblings, just snorted.“My friend.My cousin, near love of my life.We do look alike.We have the same nose, the same chin.Your eyes just happen to look gray and silver underneath some lights.While mine are boring blue.”
“Okay, we don’t need to go and comment about who has boring eye color, do we?”Mercy said as she leaned back in her chair.She had her e-reader on her lap and was barely paying attention to us.Considering I knew for a fact that our cousin Lex had kept her up all night doing things I didn’t want to think about, I was surprised she had any energy left to even join in the conversation.
“Okay sorry, I love my eyes.I love everything about us.And I love your freckles,” Riley said pointedly.“And Duke loves your freckles.”
I blushed, that bright pink shining radiantly underneath said freckles.“He does, doesn’t he?Once he tried to count them all and kiss them all, and it took all night.”I put my hand over my chest, that warmth sliding through me.Then once again I looked down at my left hand, at the new ring twinkling underneath the lights.
“I’m getting married.Married.I can’t believe it.”
“I can’t believe Uncle Storm let it happen,” Riley said with a snort.
“You know, I grew up with you guys, at least in the periphery.And I know that you guys say that your dads are all overprotective and growly, and yet, I don’t think so.I think they’re just marshmallows.”
