“Ryan, don’t talk like that.”
“I’m just trying to be practical. I know I want to marry you, and I know I don’t want to wait. I want to do this tomorrow.”
“Can we even do that?”
“There’s no waiting in California for a marriage license. We can absolutely get married tomorrow. If you’re okay with that, of course.”
Her glowing smile outshined the fluorescent lights of the bathroom. “Then tomorrow it is.”
I would have pulled her back down on top of me, but I didn’t need to. Her lips crushed mine, sending a charge through my entire body. My breathing became shallow simply because I didn’t want to break long enough from her attack to inhale. My hands caressed her waist and then her hips, rocking them to meet my own. Our knees were tangled, thanks to the small depth of the room, but we didn’t care. Our bodies knew how to move together.
Her hands were on me too, tickling the curves of my shoulders as she allowed me to take control of her hips. Her still wet hair was a sharp contrast to her warm breath as she grabbed my ear between her teeth and rolled my earlobe with her tongue. I swelled beneath her, my body craving. Her kisses followed down my neck, sucking hard at my pulse. I lifted my chin to allow her more access and moved my hands up, to her breasts. They were swollen and firm and she made a small humming sound as I teased her nipples with my thumbs. They peaked instantly, but I continued to tease. I wanted her to hum louder. I wanted to hear her pleasure. I traced her cleavage with my fingertips and followed her fading scar down, pressing into her stomach and then finding my way back to her hips.
My hands continued down, now under her robe, grabbing at her thigh, grabbing her anywhere that would pull her closer. I wanted to be inside of her. I wanted her to physically feel my love. Honestly, I just wanted a way to be closer.
But I would have to wait. Just as my thumbs tucked under the lace of her panties, there was a knock at the bathroom door. We both froze, and we could feel each other’s hearts racing as our chests kept contact.
“Grace, you can’t hide in there forever. Please, let me explain.”
Celebrating would have to wait.
She tilted her head at me. “Guess we should tell your mom the news. Well… not all the news just yet.”
Grace lifted off of me, bringing her hand to the door.
Grace
“I’m going to put some clothes on. Then I am going to talk. You will listen.”
I didn’t allow her to respond; only crossed the hallway and snuck into the master bedroom. I could hear her and Ryan mumbling outside the door, but I chose not to discern the conversation. He was most likely telling her how I have a tendency to take charge and not let anyone push me around. I didn’t mind. She should know that.
I slipped on a pair of black yoga pants and a fitted t-shirt. Just because I was about to show Ryan’s mother who was boss didn’t mean I couldn’t be comfortable. I ran my comb a few times through my towel-dried hair, stepped into a pair of small slippers, and made my way back out to the living room.
They were both sitting on the couch, silent, waiting for my return.
“Now, I’m going to assume that you didn’t specifically tell Sean to murder my mother.”
“I didn’t. I swear to you.” She jumped in quickly.
“I’m not finished.” I snapped right back, but continued on. “And because I am choosing to believe that, we will still help you get your children back. In order to do that, we’re going to need you to be completely honest with us. Can you do that?”
She nodded.
“Then I think we’re going to get along just fine.” I smiled at her. It wasn’t sincere, but I didn’t care. I was risking my life for her; she didn’t deserve my sincerity.
“How did you get here?” I escaped to the kitchen, rifling through a few drawers until I found my notepad and pen.
“We drove.”
“All the way from Philly?”
She nodded again as I set the notepad in front of her. On it, I had written:
Are you wearing some sort of recording device?
Her eyes widened, but she shook her head. I very casually sat down and wrote something else.
Does he have eyes on the house?
That’s when she gave me a quick nod. Okay, so we were being watched, but not heard. I could deal with that. Judging by her silent answers, I could only assume we were being watched very closely. I continued with the notepad.
Is there anyone other than Sean here? I quickly scribbled.
She hesitated, but ultimately shook her head, so I continued.
Was he working with anyone else while still in Philly?
She looked down at her hand where she had lifted only her pointer finger. One other person. So it wasn’t just Sean. I imagined we were probably going to be dealing with Danny too. We never did figure out what exactly happened to him after we left him doubled over on the gravel at the warehouse. Part of me assumed Sean just killed him for letting us get away, but apparently their relationship was stronger than I had anticipated.
Still, if Sean had expected Anne Marie to accompany Ryan and I back to Philadelphia, it meant he never planned to make his presence known. We would not have to take on Sean while on the west coast. He would save everything for Pennsylvania, for the families. But how involved were the families? There were so many unanswered questions.
“Okay. I think that takes care of what I need to know right now.” I stood, addressing more of the room than just her. “The guest room is made up. Feel free to make yourself at home. We’ll leave tomorrow.”
“Where are you going?” She looked to the two of us as we stood from the couch.
Ryan wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in. “We have some celebrating to do.”
He kissed my nose before dropping his hand to his side. He knelt down and pulled the notepad to him.
Grace and I are getting married.
I opened my eyes and looked up at the ceiling. Today would be our last day in our little dream cottage. Today we would be traveling back to Pennsylvania. But first, today we were getting married. I couldn’t help but smile as I pulled my hand from beneath the covers to examine my new piece of jewelry. At just over a carat, the diamond fit beautifully on my delicate hand. The sun shining through the window bounced off the face of the stone, making it sparkle magnificently.
Well done, Ryan.
I turned to show him, but he was gone. I was alone in our bed. Lying instead in his place was a single flower, an orchid, and a note.
My dearest Grace,
Good morning, beautiful. I woke up with the biggest smile on my face. No matter what happens from this day forth, it’s you and me forever. I wanted to go for one final run on the beach, but I couldn’t wake you; you looked so peaceful lying there. I’ll be back soon. Until then, you might as well put on something nice, because we’re getting married today.
I’ll be seeing you today, tomorrow, and past the light.
Your loving fiancé,
Ryan
How cute was he? How freaking adorable was my fiancé? Even though I would only get to say that word for a few more hours, I loved it: fiancé. I hopped in the shower, twisted my hair up, letting the loose curls fall around my face, and opened my closet. Hanging there was a beautiful cream-colored lace dress that I had picked out the night before. The lace wrapped close to my neck, as I was still self-conscious of my scar, and fell just below my knees. I slipped into a pair of tan boots and completed the ensemble with a tan cropped light jacket.
Just as I finished pinning the orchid into my curls, there was a knock on my bedroom door. Fully expecting to see Ryan’s mother coming to ask what time we were beginning our road trip, I flung the door open.
It was Ryan. He stood there in his pressed khakis and bright white shirt, leaning against the doorframe. His smile took my breath away.
“Good morning.” I giggled.
His arm shot out, wrapping around my waist. “Hey pretty lad
y. You want to get married today?”
“Mmmm…” I teased, winking at him. “Okay, let’s do it.”
I angled my face up, accepting his kiss. In that kiss was all the passion we had shared up until that moment. All the excitement, fear, doubts, and love that surrounded our entire relationship was in that very touch of our lips.
It was the same kiss we shared after the judge pronounced us husband and wife.
We held hands until I climbed into the passenger side of the car. Our little vacation was over. It was time to face the real world again.
We were silent as we drove back to our cottage, but it was a comforting, happy silence. It was the kind of silence only two people who are absolutely in love could share. I took a deep breath and twisted my wedding band off my finger. We had picked up the matching pair the night before. I lifted my ring into the sun and smiled as I read the engraving.
Today, tomorrow, and past the light
It had been a perfect morning.
To my little one,
I feel like I know you already, even though we’ve never met. I can picture what you’ll look like, the books you’ll want to read, and the games you’ll insist we play. I can picture your father pushing you on the tire swing, and I can hear your laughter filling the air.
I pray I get to experience all those things. We’re about to enter into something scary, something I thought we had finished. Now, because of you, we have a reason to finish it once and for all. I don’t know how long it will take, but I promise you, we’re doing it all for you. We’re doing it so that we can give you a better life than the ones we were given. We’re doing it because we love you.
If something happens to us along the way, please know that you were brought into this world by two people who were desperately in love. Your mother and father came from two different worlds, but we found each other, and we fought our fate until our stars changed. It was because of that love that you were born.
You are special, you are loved, and you will never be alone.
Today, tomorrow, and past the light,
Your mother
Ryan
As one could imagine, the ride from southern California to southeast Pennsylvania with my wife and mother wasn’t all sunshine and happiness. I would actually equate it to multiple hurricanes coming in one after the other: treacherous, growing storms followed by that all too misleading eye. As the ride went on, those eyes grew smaller and smaller. The storms surrounding their distaste and distrust for one another were wicked, to put it mildly. Having grown up around mostly men, I wasn’t fully aware of the cruelty women can inflict on the other members of their own sex. Grace and Anne Marie gave me my first lesson.
At least we started off the drive in the beautiful calm of the eye of that first storm.
“Grace, that is a lovely dress.” I knew my mother was laying it on thick. Grace had every reason to hate her, but at least they were both trying to be civil.
“Thank you, Mrs. Carter.” Her voice was sweet, too sweet.
“Call me Anne Marie.”
“I will, thank you.”
Silence. Had I known what I was in for, I would have instead referred to that silence as peace and quiet. It didn’t seem like much, but it was the start of something. It had both the time and energy to build into something terrible. The drive from our dream cottage to the city where Grace and I met was thirty-nine hours and forty-two minutes. I know that, because I counted. The first bout of silence lasted only fifty-eight minutes.
Then came Arizona.
“I would love to know how you two met.”
“It was at a bar.” I jumped in. She didn’t need to know anything more.
Grace had a different thought. “You know, had you been there, you would already know this story.”
More silence. This silence was deafening. Grace took that first punch. Now there was no stepping back from the fight. The two women in my life had started something that they were sure to see through to the end.
I believe I learned the most about my mother when we hit New Mexico.
“I’m surprised at you, Ryan.”
“For what?” My attention was on the road.
“I just thought, with everything that happened between me and your father, you wouldn’t have been the type of guy to rush into marriage.”
She said it so nonchalant, but the intention was clear. As soon as the word marriage escaped her lips, I felt all the air suck out of the car. Grace’s head whipped to the backseat.
“There has never been a question for me when it comes to Grace.”
My quick thinking should have saved the moment, but Grace had already started talking.
“I’m sorry. For a second, I thought you were this random woman who skipped out on her son twenty years ago and therefore gave up her right to comment on the way he lives his life. Oh… wait… no, that is you.”
What was I supposed to do? Obviously, if I were to take a side, it would be my wife’s, but I still was unsure how I felt about my mother’s return. I wasn’t ready to burn a bridge that I had spent so long wishing I could cross. There was nothing I could do, so I decided to keep quiet and stay away from the water.
“I’m sorry. I thought you were the daughter of the man who made it his life’s mission to ruin my ex-husband’s life. Oh no, I was right. That is most certainly you.”
“I’m sorry. I thought---“
I couldn’t allow it to escalate. “Enough of your passive aggressive apologizing. This trip is way too long to listen to the two of you. Just sit there and fucking be quiet.”
The look I got from Grace after cutting her off could have made my eyes bleed. She was anything but happy, and after making sure I knew she was pissed at me, she turned her face to the window and crossed her arms over her chest.
We stopped in Texas for a quick bite to eat. The eating took five minutes. Grace throwing it all up took another twenty.
“Is this going to be the whole trip?”
We had decided against telling my mother about the pregnancy, but if Grace was going to keep reacting this way to food, we might not be able to hold off on the news.
“I mean, my children are being held hostage by a psychopath, and your little wife is too worried about her figure to keep anything down.”
Of course, Grace walked up behind her at that exact moment. Her face was bright red. I wasn’t sure if it was from losing her lunch, or from anger.
“Listen, Anne Marie.” There was such distain in her voice. “As far as I’m concerned, you are the bad guy here. You admittedly ruined my childhood, and now you’re trying to take away the one good thing left in my life. So, and I mean this with all my heart, back away bitch.”
“You, child, have no right to talk to me like that.”
“Don’t I? Don’t I?” She was repeating her question; that’s never a good sign. “You don’t actually believe you deserve my deference, do you? Just because you’re older than me doesn’t mean you’re automatically worthy of respect.”
“Just because you were raised by a pack of wolves doesn’t mean you deserve mine.”
And it was back to the car.
Grace slept through Oklahoma.
“How much further?”
“Probably another twenty-two hours.” God, I didn’t know if I could handle another twenty-two hours of their catfight. I don’t even think either of them knew what they were fighting about. They just pulled out their claws and refused to put them back in before the other did.
“Ryan, please tell me you know what you’re getting yourself into.”
“I’ve known Sean my entire life, and I’ve been dealing with him in this light for… almost six months.”
Six months. Had that really been all? This thing with Sean felt like a lifetime, a lifetime that I was ready to put to bed.
“I didn’t mean with Sean… I meant with Grace.”
I peeked over at my sleeping wife, praying that my mother’s jab wouldn’t stir her. She stayed in
her curled position. Thank God.
“I know Grace.”
“How well?”
“Better than I know you.” I heard her quietly gasp. It was mean, but I wanted to see to what degree my poke would pain her. It was enough to make her react audibly. I felt my cheeks lift as I reveled in my shot.
“I deserved that.”
“You did.”
“Ryan, believe me, I want to see you happy. I wouldn’t wish anything less for you. But just like you, Grace was raised to hate her enemy. One day that hatred is going to come out: maybe from you, maybe from her, but either way, it’s bound to happen.”
“You’re wrong.”
“You see how she’s been reacting to me. And I’m your mother, your blood. The slightest bit of provocation sends her over the edge. There’s something innate about that.”
“She’s reacting in an effort to protect me.”
“She’s protecting herself. She’s afraid you’re going to pick me instead of her.”
Death of Cupids (The Blood of Cupids MC) Page 4
