Beauty and the Rose: a Beauty and the Rose Novel
Page 12
He loses hold of Logan’s arm.
And then he falls.
Strangely enough, this part does seem to go in slow motion.
Down and down he falls, arms wheeling in the air. I can’t look away, somehow expecting something at the last minute to save him.
He’s Adam Archer. Golden boy of the city. Sexiest Bachelor of the Year for three years running.
But no magical golden parachute appears beneath him.
He hits the ground, three stories down, as hard as any regular man would. And I know, even without running down the stairs to check, that he is just as dead as any other man would be after such a fall.
And I don’t give a flying fuck.
I grab Logan around the waist and he grasps for the railing now that he has both arms free to steady himself. Together, we haul him back onto the balcony, where he collapses, heaving hard.
It’s only then that I see he’s bleeding. Not much, it looks like the bullet just grazed his cheek. The same one that’s already scarred.
“Logan! Your face! Are you okay?”
He lifts a hand to his face and then looks at the blood on it. But then he just starts laughing.
He draws me into his arms, but that’s obviously not enough, because soon he’s dragging me into his lap and hugging me harder than I’ve ever been hugged before.
“It’s over,” he whispers into my hair. “Our happily ever after can finally begin.”
Epilogue
Daphne
Five years later
“Isabella,” I call, craning my head to peer into the bushes in the back garden. Her brother babbles on the blanket beside me, pulling up clumps of clover.
“I’ve got her,” Logan’s deep voice rings out a second before he appears with my girl on his shoulders. He has to duck to fit under the clematis covered archway, but then he pauses so Isabella can pick one of the purple flowers. They both drift my way so my daughter can present the blossom to me.
“Thank you. Baby, you didn’t go into Daddy’s office while he was working? You know you’re supposed to stay out.”
“I wanted to see Daddy.” Isabella shrugs. “He said I could.”
“It was fine.” Logan sinks down next to me. “She sat on my lap and didn’t talk too much.” He ruffles her hair and she gazes up at him adoringly.
She is such a Daddy’s girl. Both of our kids have their dad’s dark good looks, but Isabella has my mother’s eyes.
“I thought you were on a call,” I ask him quietly as the kids play together.
“I was.” Logan lounges out beside me, his huge body taking over most of the blanket. He wriggles to get comfortable. I would’ve missed his sigh if I wasn’t looking for it.
“Everything good?” I raise a brow. He knows better than to keep bad news from me.
“It’s fine. I went over the latest numbers from the New Rome labs. St. James is happy.”
“That’s good.” When I first learned of the deal Logan worked out with a shadow investor, I was skeptical. It seemed too good to be true. Unlimited funding for our full-time research? Logan wasn’t sure either. “A deal with the devil,” he called it.
But so far, it’s worked out well. Just ask the other Battleman’s patients who are in remission. Yeah, we have to have regular infusions, but we’re able to live healthy, normal lives.
“St. James sends his regards. He’ll be at the gala. No plus one.” Logan grins suddenly. “I told him we’d help him find a date.”
“You didn’t.” I can’t imagine joking or teasing someone like St. James. He’s my age, but so intimidating. “Maybe we should introduce him to Rachel. Whenever I call her, she complains she’s too busy running Belladonna to have time to date.”
Logan snorts. “They’d kill each other.”
“Probably.” I shake my head, imagining them meeting. I’m about to joke about it when a few drops of water hit my arm.
Isabella runs up to us. “Mommy, it’s raining.”
“You grab her, I’ll get Nathan and the blanket.” Logan kisses me and we triage, racing inside ahead of the heavy summer downpour.
An hour later, Logan finds me in my mother’s old room, which I’ve converted to my study. It has the best view of the gardens. I stare out the window, letting the rain lull me to peacefulness.
“Kids are asleep,” my husband whispers in my ear.
“I was going to check the latest test results,” I murmur. “But I might have a few minutes.” I turn and ease up to tiptoe to twine my arms around his neck. “What do you think, Dr. Wulfe? Will this only take a few minutes?”
His answer is a growl. I laugh as he pounces. We make love under the open window until the storm recedes, leaving only the sound of dripping leaves and the heady fragrance of roses.
* * *
Hungry for more dark romance from Lee and Stasia?
Find out what happens when Marcus, the king of the criminal underworld who always gets what he wants decides to capture the beautiful, innocent Cora, in his web. He’ll give her all that her heart desires. Except for one thing. Her freedom. She’s his to keep, and he’s never letting her go.
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About Stasia Black
STASIA BLACK grew up in Texas, recently spent a freezing five-year stint in Minnesota, and now is happily planted in sunny California, which she will never, ever leave.
She loves writing, reading, listening to podcasts, and has recently taken up biking after a twenty-year sabbatical (and has the bumps and bruises to prove it). She lives with her own personal cheerleader, aka, her handsome husband, and their teenage son. Wow. Typing that makes her feel old. And writing about herself in the third person makes her feel a little like a nutjob, but ahem! Where were we?
Stasia’s drawn to romantic stories that don’t take the easy way out. She wants to see beneath people’s veneer and poke into their dark places, their twisted motives, and their deepest desires. Basically, she wants to create characters that make readers alternately laugh
, cry ugly tears, want to toss their kindles across the room, and then declare they have a new FBB (forever book boyfriend).
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About Lee Savino
Lee Savino has grandiose goals but most days can’t find her wallet or her keys so she just stays at home and writes. While she was studying creative writing at Hollins University, her first manuscript won the Hollins Fiction Prize.
She lives in the USA with her awesome family. You can find her on Facebook in the Goddess Group (which you totally should join).