She smiles, opening the door. When we get into the living room and I see Holden’s face, I want to punch something all over again. Iassured him this would all be fine, then he had to sit and listen to my dad talk down about him. I squeeze Les’ hand before striding right over to him. He stands before I can get there, afraid of what I’m going to say. No words come. The only thing I can do is seal my lips over his, letting him know I don’t give a fuck what my dad thinks. Or anyone else. Holden ismine,and I’m his.
I pull back, laying my forehead against his. “I love you,Bello.Nothing will ever fucking change that. Do you understand?”
He nods, eyes still wide from the shock of me kissing him. “I understand.” He pecks my lips. “I love you too.”
I turn to face Leo’s mom who’s smiling softly at us. “Thank you for what you said in there.”
She walks over, taking both my hands when I turn to her. “I meant every word. Your dad will come around.” She kisses my cheek. “Take care of them,” she whispers in my ear before pulling back. I know she doesn’t just mean Les and Holden. She means Leo too.
I nod. “Yes, ma’am.”
She gives me the most mom look I’ve had since my mom died. “Stop with the ma’am. It’s Katherine or Katie.”
“Yes, ma’a…Katie,” I reply, almost calling her ma’am out of habit.
“Much better.” She smiles, patting my hand.
We start saying our goodbyes, and she hugs every single one of us like we’re her own. No matter how tough we think we are, it softens everything in us. None of us grew up with a mother figure, and Leo’s mom seems willing to step up to the plate, taking on a bunch of criminals with fucked up lives. When she wraps Les in her arms, she whispers something, causing tears to spring into Les’ eyes. Les smiles through them and nods. Katie pulls back, planting a kiss on Les’ head before letting her go.
I wait until we get into the car. “What did she say?”
Les sniffs. “She said she couldn’t be happier that Leo chose me, that I was the daughter she never had,” Les chokes up on the last word. “Then she told me she loves me.”
Leo reaches between the seats to rub her arm while I grab her thigh. “She means it, Baby. I told you she would love you.”
Les laughs. “You told me that after she heard Gage yelling about me spanking you. I didn’t believe you then.”
Gage cackles behind me. “That was fucking hilarious.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Les says, turning around in the seat. “That was mortifying. I thought I was going to puke.”
Leo chuckles. “I’ve never seen someone so pale.”
Les huffs, crossing her arms over her chest and facing the windshield. “Whatever. I wasn’t prepared to meet your mom,” she grins. “But it looks like your mom was prepared to meet Rocco.”
I bust out laughing at Leo’s shocked face. “What’s the matter, stepbro?”
Gage howls, laughing. “That sounds like an opening to a really bad fucking porn.”
“Or a good one,” Holden quips, shocking us all.
I shake my head with a smile. We might be the most dysfunctional family, but I wouldn’t change a damn thing.
I know Dad will come around, so I decide to let him make up his own mind. He’ll come to me when he’s ready. However, something else sticks out that Katie said, and I need to fix that too.
Starting now.
I barely giveLes time to kick off her shoes before I drag her upstairs.
“Wow, Ryder,” she laughs. “That desperate, are you?”
“Ha. Ha,” I reply. I don’t give myself time to back out before I push right into Zane’s room. He glances up from the chair in the corner of the room where he’s reading, narrowing his eyes until he sees Les right behind me. I pull her in and shut the door.
“This is my cease-fire,” I declare. “I won’t stand in the way of whatever you want with Les.” I know Les is holding back because of me. That stops now.
He raises an eyebrow. “Since when?”
“Since I just realized what it felt like to be told that you don’t feel what you’re fucking feeling.”
