I kissed her, and I kissed her again, and I kissed her again. “I don’t want to.”
“I know. Me neither.” She rubbed her hands across my chest, staring sadly at the ring on her finger. After a few minutes, she looked up at me. “I love you.”
Pressing my forehead to hers, I pulled her as close to me as I could. “I love you too.”
“What are you going to tell your dad?” Denise asked.
“The truth,” I said. “That Illiana knows everything and thinks she’s going to ambush him on Wednesday, but we’re going to get the jump on her instead.”
“And then you’ll leave for California?” Denise looked directly into my eyes. She was a con-woman, so there would be no lying to her. “Ashton.”
“I can’t,” I said. “I won’t leave you to fend for yourself.”
“You have a chance to live,” she said.
“I don’t want it,” I retorted. “If I can’t live with you, I don’t want it. I’d never be able to live while knowing that I could have been by your side and wasn’t.” I set my lips to hers gently. “I’m your husband now. Till death do us part.”
She frowned at me, even though her eyes had happiness behind them. “That wasn’t part of the deal.”
I laughed. “That’s, like, theonlypart of the deal. We’re with each other to the end.”
“Those are real marriages,” she said.
I recoiled. “Ow.”
“No.” She sighed. “You know what I mean.”
“Actually, I don’t,” I said back. “Do you not think that this is a real marriage?”
“I love you,” Denise said, “and I can’tbelievethatI’m married to you. But you know, most people, when they get married, they’ve actually dated, most for a year or more. They plan on things like buying a house, having children, and growing old together. I just wanted to die as your wife.”
“I’m planning on that stuff.” I rubbed a finger over Denise’s ring. “Maybe you’re ready to go in there and die, but I’m not ready to let you. I want to go on dates with you, I want to buy a house with you, I want to have children with you, and I want to grow old with you. I want to die as your husband, but I want us both to be in our old age when that happens.” I kissed her. “When you came back to Philly, I made myself a promise to give you a will to live, and I’m staying true to that. What we have here is a gauntlet situation. You’re gonna throw your mom in, I’m gonna throw my dad in, and we’ll see who comes out.”
“Hopefully, no one,” Denise said.
I smiled. “So we’re in this together, okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”
“I need you towantto live.” I put a hand on her cheek. “Promise me.”
A few tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. “I do. I promise.”
I kissed her again then, strong and passionate so that there was no second-guessing it. The next forty-eight hours were going to make or break the rest of our lives, and I needed her as resolved as I felt. Finally, I released her and let her get into her car. I waited for her to pull out of the parking lot, and then I got in my car and started off, giving myself the drive to decide exactly how to approach the situation. I’d never confirmed it, but I’d subtly insinuated that I’d killed Denise and left town to dispose of her body, so going back on that lie was going to be tricky. Hopefully, I could entice my dad enough with the promise of ending Illiana for good that he would choose to overlook it.
Arturo was a different story.
He’d been on the warpath, and finding out Denise was still alive wasn’t bound to make him very happy. If I did nothing else, I was going to have to convince him that he’d get an opportunity to kill Denise if he just waited a couple more days, then if he wouldn’t let us go, I’d have to do the unthinkable against my own twin. The thought killed me, but if I had to do it to save my wife and our future together, I’d do it without hesitation.
The sun had fully set, and there were stars in the sky when I was finally arriving back at the Carducci estate. A sense of foreboding washed over me as I pulled onto the property, but no matter how freaked out I got by being there, I had to remain strong. I walked into the front doors, and there was shuffling from the basement immediately. Multiple sets of footsteps knocked against wood as they traveled up the stairs, and a few seconds later, Callista, Arturo, and my dad came walking around the corner into the foyer.
“Ashton,” Callista said. “Where have you been?”
“Is it done?” Arturo asked. “Did you finally put her down?”
I ignored them both in favor of looking at my dad in the eyes. “I need to speak with you. Should we go to your office?”
My dad didn’t reply, only stood to the side and motioned back in the direction of the stairs that led down. I led the way back down the stairs and to the left toward the office before entering and sitting down in one of the chairs that my dad had facing his desk. He went and sat down behind the desk, and shortly thereafter, Callista and Arturo came and sat down on either side of me. I side-glanced Callista to my left. Mentioning a proposed ambush when she was more likely than not working with the police was a bad idea. We could all get arrested, and there would be no future for anyone.
