She offers me a thin smile. “I’m scared. And I don’t do scared, Bronx.”
Can’t say I’m not shocked at that. Tierney Blake doesn’t admit fear. Ever. She could stare down the barrel of a gun and flip off the person who’s finger is on the trigger before she’d ever admit she’s scared.
“Of what?”
“Of believing you care and having it blow up in my face when you get bored. Of trusting you and finding out there’s another lie I missed.”
“There aren’t any more lies. I swear.”
“How do I know that?” She narrows her eyes. “I fell for it once. How can I open myself up to you again without constantly worrying you’ll cut me off?”
“I’m done with keeping secrets between us, princess. They almost cost me everything that matters.”
She studies my face. “And what’s that?”
I trace a finger down the side of her face. “You.”
She leans against me then, and I feel some of the tension leave her body as her muscles relax.
“I’m still angry at you.” She sighs. “You have a long way to go before I’ll trust you again.”
“I know.”
“And I might not trust you at all for a while.”
“I’ll earn it back. However long it takes.”
“Even if I’m difficult and pick fights just to see if you’ll stick around?”
“Difficult should be your middle name.” I laugh.“I can handle a difficult wife. I love taming difficult.”
That gets a cute giggle out of her. “Challenge accepted I can be a real bitch when I want to be.”
“Princess, you’ve been a bitch to me since the day we met. Why would I want you to change now?”
She’s silent for a minute. “What happens when we leave this room?”
I kiss the top of her head. “We go home and figure out the rest as we go.”
“No more secrets?”
“No more secrets,” I repeat.
“And no more lies?”
“No more lies, Mrs Viacava”
She pulls away a little and gazes up at me with those blue eyes of hers. “And what should I do about Connor?”
“Handle him however you want. I’ll back your play either way.” I pause. “My parents invited us to dinner tonight. The whole family will be there.”
She nods.
“Okay.” Then she toys with the edge of the bed sheet. “I dunno…do you think we should bring Connor? Maybe it would be nice for him to join us and meet everyone. We have things to talk about. Lots of things. And I…I’m not ready to let go.”
“I know.” I drop a kiss on the tip of her nose. “I’ll make sure he’s there.”
“Thank you.”
