“Well, yes. But for you to confirm it—” she says with wide eyes.
“Most of the people we hunt deserve it,” I assure her. “People like him.”
“And do you like it?” she asks.
“I do. And I willneverstop.”
“I would never ask you to stop, Soren. I understand who you are, at least a part of you. I get that you have a dark side because I’ve seen it in the ring. But if this is going to work between us, you are never, and I repeatnever, to bring this around my son. Even if I love you, I will leave you.”
“You love me?” I ask, surprised.
“Tell me you heard me.” She gives me a severe look.
“I heard you, and I would never expose Oliver to any of this. One thing you should know is how well I can keep secrets. You’ve been trying for years to find them.” I head to her closet, select a white dress, and place it on the bed.
“And to think, all I had to do was sleep with you in order for you to open up,” she jokes, then her gaze falls to the dress. “What’s that for?”
“Get dressed, Hurricane. The courthouse is open, and you and I are getting married.”
“Soren, I can’t.” She shakes her head.
“You can. And in a few months, we’ll have a bigger wedding, when your family accepts us.”
“They already do,” she says, setting her coffee down and then getting up from the bed.
“What do you mean?”
She grabs her phone, brings up her sister Izzy’s contact, and then shows me her text messages.
Izzy: Did you fuck him yet?
Izzy: Come on, sis, bang that man.
Izzy: Have you said “I love you” yet? Because that man was hooked.
Izzy: I want all the details!
I read them with a smile,then look back at her.
“Your family likes me?”
“Hold up, big boy. You’ve only met one sister. You still have to meet the other and my parents.”
“I will.”
“I’m not moving in with you…” She pauses. “Yet.”
“And marriage?” I ask eagerly.
“Maybe in a few months.” Her arms wrap around my shoulders as she rises to her tiptoes and whispers into my ear, “I still have a few hours before I have to get Oliver. Should we take a shower?”
Who am I to say no to this beautiful woman, even if I couldn’t get her to marry me today? You can bet your last fucking dollar that I’m going to be trying every single day until she says yes. Because one way or another, I plan to get a ring on that finger, no matter how hard she fights me.
Then she’ll beall fucking mine.
FORTY-THREE
CRESSIDA
