The phone chimes again, and Ryker picks me up in his arms and carries me the two steps to the island to hit the button on his phone that will open the elevator.
But he doesn’t set me down. And I find myself curling around him, my nose sliding over his cheek.
Because I like being held in his arms, and I really liked what he did to me in the closet.
And for the first time I wonder what it might be like to be wrapped in the arms of a man who might actually protect me, care for me.
It touches something deep inside, and I place a kiss on the stubble of his jaw.
On my finger, my new ring sparkles in the evening light and the elevator opens again.
My brother and his wife step into the kitchen, Dimitri stopping when he sees me in Ryker’s arms.
“Well, this is…unexpected,” Dimitri says in Russian, his brows up high on his forehead.
Ryker gives me a squeeze as he slowly sets me down on the floor.
Was it only yesterday that Ryker and I married? He’s already shifting my feelings, making me forget the danger, and making me wish to trust.
Is that foolish?
Or, if I give myself over to the Smiths will they keep me safe? Help me find the future I’ve always wanted?
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Ryker
Dinnerwith my family is the same shit as always. They eat a ton, clean the fridge out of wine and beer, and the volume within the room…ten people make a ridiculous amount of noise.
I’ve hated these gatherings in the past. They look fake to me. Like we’re pretending we have a bond that we do not.
But I’m starting to wonder if that’s been me all along. Because tonight feels different. The laughter feels warm, the conversation easy.
But it’s more than that that makes the night interesting…
The funnest part of all…. Watching Sasha with my sisters-in-law.
Chloe links arms with her, pulling her toward Honeyeh, Triston’s wife.
Ava joins them, and sitting on the couch together, feminine laughter fills the room, Sasha right in the middle of it all.
In fact, she looks happier and more relaxed than I’veeverseen her. She’s having a good time, her eyes absolutely sparkling with her delight.
And for whatever reason, that means I have fun too.
I take a swallow of my beer, leaning on the stove as I half watch her, half listen to Triston regale us with his story of his recent boardroom success.
He’s gotten the investors in our casinos to drop the interest rate of our loan, because we’re going to be able to repay the loan early.
It must be a major loss for the investors, and yet, they are happy to oblige. My guess, they see a rising star in the Smith Brothers’. And the success of the last year is about to beget more success.
Tris, Gris, and Rush stand in a semi-circle, their classically handsome features a matching set.
They look the same, think the same. They even have the same laugh, as they all chuckle over the investors’ groveling. Fuckers. They’ve always been winners.
That thought puts me back where I usually exist with my family. On the outside. They don’t know what it feels like to be on the losing end of any equation.
“You’re quiet,” Gris rumbles from next to me. His wife isn’t here tonight. A Kincaid, she had family obligations of her own.
