“Not forever,” I told him.
“Okay, then lay it out for me, not on a bullet point. What do you want for your new freedom?”
“I’m open to ideas and how to change it,” I hedged, waiting until he nodded, his gaze curious and without judgment.
Creed never judged me.
I told him about having almost a halfway house—but agoodone. An estate of peace for all the Graves women to find themselves and heal. What I should have experienced after being pulled out of my marriage with Kenneth instead of what it was. Supporting each other and finding our way safely.
He nodded and listened. “Yeah, they set it all up so you’re chum in the water if you leave, not just financially. It’s a great idea assuming someone isn’t an asshole and actually wants it. I’m sure most of the halfway houses start good for ex-cons even. Someone always ruins it.”
“Yes, but we won’t rely on government funding, and they will have to sign agreements like a lease to live there or I toss them out.” I shrugged when he seemed shocked. “I’m not helping bad people, Creed. They have to fight for their future as I am. Yes, they can help with the personal chef meal plans idea or party planning since all Graves women are trained that way.”
“So you’re talking more like a commune but without the cult implication,” he mumbled. “Yeah, you could make that work, build other houses on the property for those with kids and—it could work. But start it all in Atlanta and when we don’t need the protection of here, we bounce?”
“I don’t want to be on Ellie’s turf forever. It’s not fair to either of us,” I answered.
“Fair, but as a lion, I will need somewhere that gets hot or access to hot regularly,” he reminded me. He read over the list and nodded. “I’m fine with the rest, but there’s one thing I want.”
“I’m willing to listen, of course.”
He let out a slow breath. “I want us to be intimate before we mate.” He nodded when I blinked at him in shock. “I wantusto have the confidence that we click and still can pull the emergency brake before we tie souls together. I want to have a week of courting—dates, sleeping in your bed—all of it. Xavier’s going to be gone and you shouldn’t be alone even.”
My face flushed so hot so fast that I honestly felt a bit lightheaded.
I hadn’t seen that coming.
12
Creed
I watched aseveryemotion played over Aurora’s face. Then she did the cutest impression of a fish before I practically saw her mind explode. She mumbled something incoherent and fled.
My lion was pissed at that—making her uncomfortable, but I promised him that it was needed if we were going to mate. It was people stuff that he wouldn’t understand and I wasn’t being mean.
Haven’t I changed and not been mean to people in a while?
I felt at least he was on my side when he settled. He’d been very vocal how often he didn’t like me screwing people over or which side I was on with our “family.” Yeah, well, that was part of the problem of being in the mob, and since I’d never decided to join… It was a prison sentence in another way since there was no real getting out.
Thinking of that made me frown. I would need to deal with that situation to keep Aurora safe but definitely after my lion was unbound.
I ate the massive grinder she’d made me, put everything away, emptied her dishwasher, and did my dishes before she finally came out.
“I apologize for that. That was incredibly rude,” she whispered.
“But understandable and I knew you’d come back.” I moved closer and kissed her hair when she leaned into me. “Thank you for the sandwich. It was exactly what I was craving.”
She glanced around and covered her face. “Thank you for cleaning up. I didn’t think I was gone that long.”
I wanted to lie and say she wasn’t, but it was like a half an hour. “I inhale my food.” That was true but… No need to pick on her. “Are you mad at me?”
“No, myself, because I didn’t even—I knew we’d be intimate eventually, but—yourlifewas at the front of my mind. Not our sex life.” She cleared her throat uncomfortably. “How would we even do that with your parole and rules and—I need to understand more of the logistics, Creed.”
Yes, she really did, and I even understood that with how overwhelming this all was for her. I moved her to sit down and smiled. “You were right about Ellie and she came through. I ended up having a meeting with the head of the New York City Police and someone high in the federal police at the president’s request.
“My sentence is being pardoned.” I nodded when her eyes flashed shock. “I made it clear that I wasn’t ready to rat on the pack yet, but I gave them piles of what they need to clean up the cops. They will probably rat to save their asses but either way, it was enough. I was under magic, and when the president heard I was adopted into the mob this way…”
“Ellie says he’s a good man who truly cares,” she muttered.
