Page 38 of Graves & Griggs
“There’s no running out on me now, Ronan. I love you, and now you’re stuck with me forever.”
How do I tell him that running out on him has never crossed my mind? That it never will? How do I tell him that now that I’ve been cracked open, raw and bare like this, that nothing will ever stop me from having him, just like nothing could ever stop me from having Skyla. I now have a fuller clarity on how she can love so many of us equally. I love him just as much as I do her, like two halves of my heart are finally clicking into place.
“Forever,” I agree.
Chapter Seventeen
Asher
Ronan and Wesley were able to pull a fingerprint match on the prick that was following Skyla and Blake. Alexander Coombs. Born and raised in Philly, in and out of juvenile detention nine times by the time he turned eighteen, followed by three stints in prison, all in his short thirty-two years of life.
Most of his crimes were stupid shit. Petty theft, breaking and entering. Though according to records, he died in a mysterious house fire three years ago. Clearly, that was fucking bullshit because he was alive and well just this morning. Until his own guys shot him in the fucking head.
I gotta be honest, we’re all a little to blame. We let Sky twist our arms. I don’t think any of us were overly comfortable with the idea of them leaving the house, but she stuck out her lower lip and batted her eyes, and just like that, I was a weak fucker ready to give her anything and everything that she wanted. Liam and I hung at home with the kids watching Christmas movies and burning Christmas cookies—twice, thanks to Liam the chef. All the while not having a clue that our wife was in danger.
It doesn’t help that on top of all this shit going on with theGraves family, Hutchinson has been fucking up. I get that his wife just had a baby, but that doesn’t give him an excuse to ignore his job. He’s head of cybersecurity, and twice this week alone, we’ve had data leaks. Not that I’ve admitted that to anyone besides the two of us. That information would only cause panic, and some things not all the Elders need to be privy to.
“Hey!” Liam says, bouncing towards me before jumping onto the couch.
I look up from my phone, raising an eyebrow in question as he grins. “Yes?”
“I swindled Ronan and Wesley into bedtime duty, which means with the way Jackson has been stalling lately, we should have a solid forty-five minutes of fun time!” he says with a smirk.
“Fun time?” I ask. He’s holding much more of my attention now than he did just a moment ago.
“Mhmm. I’ve got a surprise since we were all naughty,” he teases. “Meet you upstairs in five!” And he practically skips off to the garage.
I shake my head, only for a moment wondering why I love that goofy fucker. The smile on my face quickly reminds me, though.
As I climb the stairs, I see Blake, Zayden and Dominic all discussing something quietly, Blake’s arms crossed over her chest as Dominic massages her shoulders and Zayden nods seriously. If I wasn’t so goddamn exhausted with everything going on, I might be nosey enough to snoop on them. As it turns out, a little relaxation—or fun time—with my wife and boyfriend sounds a lot more appealing.
When I push inside our bedroom, I find Skyla already lying on the bed, a little black camisole dress practically wrapped around her body. She’s so fucking gorgeous. I still don’t know how I got so lucky. How any of us got so lucky.
The shower is on in the bathroom, the door slightly ajar.
“Griggs?” I ask.
She nods with a soft smile.
“Tough shit for him—you’re mine and Liam’s tonight,” I say as I slide onto the bed, pulling her to lie on top of me, careful not to squish the baby.
She giggles as she pushes her hair out of her face, smiling down at me lovingly. “I think he might have something to say about that.”
“Let him,” I reply with a shrug before cupping the back of her head and pulling her lips down to mine.
She smiles against me, and when we pull apart, she nuzzles her head into my neck. We lie there for a moment, my hand absentmindedly rubbing her back before she speaks.
“I’m sorry for today.”
“It’s fine, princess. I think we all underestimated just how closely they’re being watched. None of us anticipated them already tracking the Graves family up here.”
“Still…” She shrugs. “I feel bad. Blake is kinda lonely. I can tell. I was just trying to cheer her up.”
I laugh. “She has two husbands who’re obsessed with her—how lonely can she get?”
Skyla pulls away to look at me with a steady gaze. “Love and friendship are two different cups, and they don’t always fill each other up.”
I nod at that. She has a point, and with the way Zayden and Dominic treat her, I doubt she’s ever let out of their sight, let alone allowed to have friends. Skyla doesn’t have many friends either, though. She has Maggie of course, and by extension Bridgette sometimes, which is still a fucking trip for me, let me tell you. She does like Abigail, Andrew Hutchinson’s wife, though I wouldn’t necessarily call them friends. They mingle at Brethren gatherings, and Hutchinson tries to act like he still doesn’t have a crush on my wife. Annoying little fuck.
