“I’m not sure how I got so lucky. I certainly don’t deserve you, angel. But I’ll spend every day for the rest of my life trying to prove myself worthy.”
“I’m the one who’s not worthy of you.” I reach up and cup his cheek, and he nuzzles into my hand.
“There you go again, being all perfect. I promise you,Wren. You’re it for me. Where you go, I go. If somehow I get arrested again, I’ll just find a way to escape.”
“I’d visit you every day,” I swear, tears welling in my eyes. “I’ll bake a cake with a file in it. That’s a thing, right?”
He chuckles. “Yeah, angel. It’s a thing. And I promise I won’t let your brother get his hands on you. But if something ever does happen, know that I won’t stop until I get you back in my arms where you belong.”
“Sometimes you say the most romantic things.”
He grins at me, showing off his dazzling white teeth. “It’s easy with you. You bring this soft shit out of me.” I chuckle as he turns us to continue our walk. “But don’t tell the others, I don’t want to ruin my image.”
“Your secret’s safe with me.”
“You see?” he asks, raising my hand to kiss my knuckles. “That’s why I love you.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
WREN
“Wren? Wren, baby, wake up.”
I blink my eyes open, finding myself still in the van, my head in Dex’s lap. It’s completely dark outside. Slowly moving to a sitting position, I glance at the clock—1:08 a.m.
I try to reorient myself, remembering why we’re here. We were watching the house, Pete and I went for a walk while the others went to get food.
That’s when—My heart lurches in my chest as I turn to look for Pete, finding him sitting in the front, watching the house. My hammering heart starts to slow, seeing he’s still here.
Of course, he is; he promised he isn’t going anywhere.
That was right before he said those three little words to me. He had said something similar when I first met him in person, but I thought he was just being silly; I’d barely met him. But now I knew he meant it, because I felt the same way. I was desperate to say it in return. I’m not sure why I didn’t. My voice had sort of frozen in shock, not expectinghim to say that, especially not while we were strolling down the sidewalk.
He didn’t act any differently when I didn’t reply. He just continued walking us down the street, his easy-going smile plastered on his face. It was only a few minutes later that Sly and the others arrived.
We’d climbed in the van, ate dinner, and settled in for the wait. A few times, we took turns going in pairs to relieve ourselves in the park down the street. Something I was grateful to only have to do once, as peeing in public is definitely not something I was eager to do again.
After that, we got comfortable and watched. I must have fallen asleep, as the last time I looked at the clock, it was just after eleven.
“Are we going in now?” I ask with a yawn.
“Not yet. Jagger and Pete are going to go check it out first. We’ll wait here,” Dex explains.
Pete, who’s standing outside the open van door, leans back in and gives me a quick peck on the lips, then Jagger does the same, making my heart leap in my chest. They clearly didn’t mind me kissing both of them.
I lick my lips, trying to taste them both as I watch them jog across the street toward the very house we’ve been watching all night. Sly shuts the van door then climbs back in. Anxiety starts to fill me the second they disappear around the side.
Dex wraps an arm around my shoulder, whispering, “They’ll be okay.” I nod but don’t comment, staying alert for any sign of them.
Every minute that passes, I get more and more nervous that something's gone wrong. That it’s an ambush, and theyare inside, lying dead on the floor. Or they’ve been hurt and are bleeding out.
“We have to go help them,” I beg when fifteen minutes have passed. “They could be hurt!”
“They’ll be back soon,” Sly says. But I can hear the tension in his voice. He’s worried too.
“I don’t—look!” I point excitedly to the figure cloaked in black that’s just appeared from around the side of the house and heads straight for us. “It’s Pete! Where’s Jagger?”
I clutch Dex’s arm so tight, I’m worried I’ll actually draw blood.
