I smile, not daring to agree, because I don’t know that I am.
“So you’ll marry me.”
She wraps her arms around my neck, stooping so her minty breath tickles my lips. “Still not a question.”
“No,” I say, trailing my finger up the slit of her dress, enclosing on her pussy. “And I don’t think you want to be asked, angel. I think youwantme to take you. Use you. Have my way with you and make you mine in every way there is. That’s the kind of girl you are, Dove…” Her breath hitches, my finger drawing circles on the inside of her thigh. “And it just so happens that I’m the kind of man who delights in doing just that.”
She whispers, “But what if… what if…”
“No. No what-ifs. I’ll take care of everything. The only thing I need you to do is pick the white dress I’m going to rip off you on our wedding night. Will you do that for me?”
“Look at you, asking me a question. I knew you had it in you.”
She laughs. Marco’s arancini arrive. And I spend the whole evening whispering sweet nothings in my wife’s ears, charging me with the strength I need to do what needs to be done a few days from now.
twenty-three
Dove
“Jesus,” my friend Sterling says, her lips frozen in a silent gasp.
Her hand squeezes mine as I relay everything to her. How Rowan and I got together. How I met the president and his wife, how I got kidnapped and injected with a deadly virus with no cure. I tell her about my brother being alive. And about the EFW and everything I found about them through my research so far. She sits by my side on the couch and listens, lost behind her furrowed eyebrows and fiery eyes.
“I… I have no words,” she says when I’m done. “I’ve been back for over a month and thought you were straight-up ignoring me. Then I saw you in the magazines and I felt so betrayed. Like you had suddenly gotten this whole new life,” she gestures around the house, “and didn’t want me to be a part of it. To think that you were out there, fighting for your life, Dove…” She looks down at our entwined hands. “I am so,sosorry. I’ve been a terrible friend. I should’ve known something wasn’t right.”
I shake my head. “I should’ve messaged you the moment I was back. But I had no idea how to tell you about all of this. I thought maybe you wouldn’t want—”
She scoffs. “Be around you anymore? Dove, fuck, this is some serious shit. You know my mom died of cancer. If these assholes have the cure and keep it hidden from the public, that’s a crime I can never forgive. Besides…” She smiles faintly. “I’m pretty sure I told you when I was hammered that I’d follow you through a ring of fire if I had to. That still stands.”
“No, you said you’dthrowme into a ring of fire if I took your fifth shot away.”
“Semantics.”
She laughs, throwing her head back, and I can’t stop my shoulders from shaking as I laugh with her. I can’t believe she’s here. I didn’t think I could see her with my precarious state and all, but after our last dinner, Rowan sent a car for her and she agreed to come.
“Damn,” she says, her finger swiping over my ring. “How much money does this guy have?”
I huff out a laugh, not knowing or caring about the answer to that.
Then the whole day turns into much-needed girl talk. My thoughts go back to Rowan now and then, wondering if he’s all right. He said he had something to do with Cole today and that he wouldn’t be back until later tonight. When I asked for details, I didn’t get any, but I didn’t let it bother me. I thought it was time… time for me to weave my own secrets and give my new friend at the White House a call. Cam, it turned out, was more than happy to indulge me.
Rowan
When I get home, it’s already past one in the morning. It’s raining hard. The cold water glides down my skull mask as I walk toward the main door with Cole and Hawke by my side. It’s been a shitty day, and the only thing that makes me feel better is knowing Dove is sleeping in our bed right now. But the lies… the fucking lies are getting to me. I had to lead my friends astray tonight so I could make progress with my plan—not the one I told Dove, nor the one I told Cole and Maddox. I knew neither of them would’ve agreed to my real one, and we’re running out of time. Dove coughed up blood this morning. Her condition is only getting worse.
My phone vibrates in my pocket and I take it out, seeing a string of messages pop on the screen.
Well done, Commander
So very close to getting everything you want
Cheer up
My jaw clenches and I close my eyes tightly, trying to block out the world for just a second. Then I dial the doctor’s number and bring the phone to my ear. When he picks up, I only tell him, “I’ve got the cure. A car is on its way to pick you up.”
Dove
The air feels damp and heavy, carrying the faint scent of holy oil and aged stone. The soft hiss of wind and rain splattering against the distant windows tells me something’s wrong. Against my closed eyelids, the lights are warm, red, as if a fire burns nearby. I nudge my hands forward, but they’re tied up somewhere above me. Instantly, panic rises to my throat and my eyes snap open.
