Page 120 of Shattered Diamonds

“No. No.” I shake my head. “I thought at one time, yes. But after being with you, what I felt for him I realized was just infatuation.”

“Hmm.” He starts playing with my hair.

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“Your mind will always wonder if I don’t. But if I do, I know you will always carry a bit of resentment towards me.”

“I won’t.”

“You will. But I will make sure you remember who you belong to.”

“I don’t want to know.” I shift to move just as my phone vibrates for the tenth time tonight. Paisley hasn’t stopped. I quickly sent her a message back when her SOS came through, but she called again. I answered. She was checking to make sure I was okay. When she started asking about my brother, I explain that Demetri and I were talking and that we could speak in the morning.

Demetri shifts his weight and pulls me under him. “Tell your friend, your days—and especially your nights—belong to me. If she is in feckin bits, as you call it, she can call someone else and complain about your brother.”

“I don’t even want to think about her and my brother together.”

His focus pins on me, searching, when he says, “He does care about you, Haven. After you shot me, he called Luca every few hours to make sure you were okay. Even showed up at the house. Was livid that I had you drugged. But then he had to return home for your dad.”

“Speaking of, don’t ever do that again.”

“Your safety will always be my priority.”

“I’m going to ignore that.” I lean down and place my lips on the black lined tattoo. There’s a lot I don’t know. “To a certain degree, I feel betrayed by Cillian. It’s unsettling to think I knew who my brother was, but now I realize I don’t know. When I came home from school, I noticed the change in him.”

“Prison will do that to a man.”

“Excuse me?”

“Cillian went on vacation when you were away at boarding school. It’s the reason why he had Finn so close to you. Enemies, baby. They are everywhere in this business. He needed to make sure that you were safe while he was away.”

“Some vacation.”

“We don’t speak of the P-word.” He kisses me. “We refer to it as a vacation.”

I can’t help but wonder about his mother, losing her life while her son was behind bars. Not being able to say goodbye. It’s so sad. How hard it must have been for her to leave her first born child to a devious man and then leave her second born without being able to say a proper goodbye. He has known pain like I have. Only he has dealt with it differently.

“Are you okay?” He waits a beat before addressing the elephant in the room. “You have now lost two people in your immediate family.”

“I will be.”

Quietness has fallen between us. It is peaceful just laying here in his arms. I take a deep breath and snuggle down into his body.

“Sleep.” He runs his fingers back and forth over my lower back. “We have a long day tomorrow.”

“Demetri.” I tilt my head up to meet his relaxed but intoxicating gaze. “I love you.”

His arm tightens around me. “I bleed for you, firefly.”

ChapterForty-Five

HAVEN

It isthe smell that twists my stomach. The old wood that has participated in life and death surrounds us.

It’s overwhelming.

In Demetri’s clutch, we stand next to each other at the front of the church. We light our candle and say our prayer before turning to view the rows of people waiting for the service to begin.

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