by B. B. Hamel
“I don’t know how this would’ve played out if it weren’t for you.”
She grinned, got on her toes, and kissed me. “You would’ve been okay. I’m sure there’d be a few more dead guys, but you’d be okay.”
I smiled and held her against me. “I love you, you know that, right?”
“I love you too.”
“That’s why I didn’t want to let you go—why I was afraid that second time to use you in that plan.”
“I know.” She chewed her lip. “But we’re past that now, right?”
“You’re in this, little diamond. You’re in it for a long run.”
“Looks that way.” She laughed and kissed me one more time.
We stood there together watching the kids play baseball, not speaking, not needing to.
The future looked so different than I ever imagined. I never pictured a woman in my life like this, never thought I’d want to have a future with her, wanted to marry her, wanted to get her pregnant and make a family with her—but there I was, standing with her on the sidewalk and feeling like everything was beginning in earnest, like my life had been leading up to this point. From here on out, I couldn’t imagine being without her, couldn’t imagine taking a single step into the future without her by my side.
And I never would.
“Come on.” I squeezed her head. “Let’s go home.”
We walked back to the car together.
26
Leigh
Two Years Later
“Thanks for coming!” I smiled and waved at the young hipster couple as they left the shop. The door swung shut behind them and I walked over to flip the Open sign to Closed. I locked the top bolt and sighed as I cracked my back and looked around.
The shop was the same as it always was—at least the same as it had been for the past two years. Business had been surprisingly good, and although I made far more money selling pills. I cleaned up and straightened some of the shirt piles before heading down the short back hall and into the room that acted as both an office and storage for excess stock.
I sat down at the computer desk and stretched my legs before logging in and updating the sales data. I was exhausted and wanted to get home to Owain—but I had to make this business seem legit.
Since it wasn’t. Not exactly. I let my gaze drift over to the big cardboard boxes up against the wall. They were filled with black t-shirts wrapped around pill bottles, the best shirts in the world, and they were the reason I wore designer clothes and had way too many shoes.
As I turned back to the computer, someone knocked on the back door. I hesitated then got up and peered out through the peephole. Owain’s face looked back at me.
I pulled it open. “What are you doing here?”
He held up a brown paper bag. “I thought I’d bring you dinner.’
“You didn’t have to do that. I was coming home.”
“I wanted to.” He came inside and unloaded Thai food. It smelled amazing, and I pulled up a chair despite myself as he opened up a few containers. I accepted a pair of chopsticks and tucked into some incredible noodles.
“You don’t surprise me at work as much as you used to,” I said.
He laughed. “Is that something you want?”
“I guess. I don’t know. You can be pretty distracting.”
“Truth is, I’ve been busy. You know we’re expanding.”
“Sure, Clifton’s been bringing in the suburbs. Better be careful though, those people don’t mess around.”
He waved a hand. “Suburb people are just as addicted as anyone else.”
I shrugged and took a bite of noodles. I watched him carefully and felt the same flutter of desire as his arms flexed and he leaned forward to grab a bottle of water off the table. Even after two years, he still knew how to drive me wild, and as his business expanded he still remained as insatiable as always. He worked twice as much and twice as hard, but that only meant he wanted to release stress twice as often—which I never once complained about.
He put his food down and leaned back in his chair. “You know, I came here for another reason.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded, eyes serious. I slurped up a noodle and put my container down, afraid of what he was about to say.
“It all started in here, didn’t it?”
I snorted. “I guess so. This is where you took me captive.”
“And look at you now. The little queen of the underworld.”
“Is that what they’re calling me now?”
“Not yet, but they will.”
“Beautiful. I love it.”
“Seriously, Leigh.” He leaned closer then got off his chair. “I’ve been thinking.” He got down onto one knee and stared at me. I stared back, heart racing, head a little dizzy. We’d talked about getting married for a while now, but it was never the right time—too busy at work, too much danger with other crews, a million different reasons.
But there he was on one knee.
“Thinking?”
“I love you. You and me? This is serious. This is the rest of my life, and I want to make that for real. I want to marry you.”
“I want that too.”
He took a black ring box from his pocket and flicked it open. Big diamond, white gold, princess cut. I sucked in a breath and reached for it. Simple and elegant—he must’ve had help picking it out.
“What do you think?”
“I love you.” I took the ring and he helped me slide it down my finger.
“You’ll marry me then?”
“Yes!” I laughed, feeling stupid. “Of course I will. God, yes, yes, yes.”
He pulled me against him and we kissed, kneeling on the ground in the back room of my shop, right where it all started, right where I had some of the worst moments of my life— and some of the best. More good than bad now, so many more good memories than bad ones.
This was our home, our base. And now we’d do it for real.
“Let’s go out tonight. I want to show you off.”
“Yeah?” I blushed a little. “Really?”
“I’ll take you to one of those Leone family clubs. Let them get a look at my girl and her ring.”
I laughed and shook my head. “Owain—”
“We’re doing this.” He took my hand and squeezed. “You and me, nobody else.”
“Yeah. You and me.”
He kissed me and I melted into him.
I had nowhere else to go, nowhere better to be.
This was home, this was love. And I couldn’t wait to get started.
Read the mafia books that started it all! Obsessed with His Bride begins the story of the Leone Crime Family. Dante meets his match in Aida, though she resists his intense charms at first. But when a war breaks out, Aida must give in to her desire or end up dead. I’ll kill to keep her. I’ll do much worse to make her my bride. >> Click Here to read it!
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Also by BB Hamel
All my books are standalones, steamy, safe, and have a guaranteed HEA!
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Series include the Leone Crime Family, Steamy Daddies, SEAL Team Hotties, Love to Hate, Baby Daddy, Miracle Babies, and more.
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XO, BB
