Total pages in book: 170
Estimated words: 160166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
My mother’s silent. “We’ll give you a key,” Carter offers. My eyebrows must be up at my hairline, but he’s not done speaking. “You can come over as often as you’d like and whenever you’d like.”
“Unannounced?” my mother asks, obviously testing him, and I can’t hold it in anymore. Declan and his family are being more than generous.
“Mama! You can’t—”
“If you prefer to,” continues Carter smoothly, stopping me from getting too worked up.
Before my mother can answer, Declan says, “I really am sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I was only falling in love with your daughter. But she told me how much you mean to her, and I will never get between you two. Even if you worry, even if you never want me as a son—”
“I didn’t say that,” my mother says abruptly, and she has a look in her eye that’s conflicted. I don’t recognize this tone in her voice at first. She sounds almost like she’s scolding him, but it’s so soft that it can’t be. My mother points a finger at Declan. “I didn’t say that I don’t want you as a son.” She clears her throat and takes a sip of her drink. “I said I’m worried.”
There’s nothing Declan can say to that. We both know better than to think this world is completely safe for any of us. Life is not guaranteed, and especially not for anyone in the Cross brothers’ lives. They’re not the only ones like that, though. Danger can find a person anywhere.
“Time will be good for all of us, I think,” Aria pipes up. For a minute I worry that my mom will argue with her or that she’ll burst into tears at the table.
But my mother nods slowly and then tells them all she’s thankful for tonight, and I can’t help but smile.
All around the table, everyone picks up their forks again. The worst of the tension seems to have passed. In the new calm, I can see how it might be between all of us. I know Carter meant it when he offered my mother a key, and this…this could be a regular part of our reality. Dinners together. Getting used to each other. Getting to know each other as we actually are, not from the rumors and whispers that surround the Cross brothers.
After a moment of silence, my mother says, “Well,” and Declan looks over at her, his eyebrows raised. “I know where you live now.” She says it as if it’s a real threat, her voice lowered and her eyes narrowed, and there’s a moment of tense silence at the table.
Then she smiles to herself, and Carter laughs. Declan follows him a second later, and so does Aria. I can at least smile at that as more hope slips in.
I know in this moment that it’s going to be okay. Aria’s right. Time is going to be good for all of us. It will take time to figure out how we all fit into this life, but we will fit. I won’t have it any other way. I’m going to have the people I love with me, even if it takes work.
The best things usually do, anyway.
After a few minutes, Aria starts telling Carter about a new painting she’s working on, and I reach over for my mom’s hand. For a second, all three of us are touching. I have her hand in mine, and Declan’s hand covers mine under the table.
My mom looks me in the eyes, pride and patience on her face.
“We got started off on the wrong foot, Mama.” My throat gets tight thinking of all I’ve been through since I met Declan Cross. Since before I met Declan, even. The two of us have come a long way, and my mom and I came even further together. “But I promise you, I’m happy. This is what I want.”
“And I love her more than anything.” Declan lifts my hand from beneath the table and kisses my knuckles. He rests our clasped hands on the table, no longer hiding it from my mother or from anyone.
My mom stares at our hands for a long moment, tears glistening in her eyes. They don’t fall, though. She raises her napkin from her lap and dabs at her eyes, taking a long, deep breath. Then she looks Declan in the eye. “You need to make me a promise.”
He clears his throat, looking back at her. They’re both very serious now. It’s not a joke, and I know Declan can tell that as easily as I can. “What promise is that?” he asks.
“Promise me you won’t let anything happen to her.”
My mom doesn’t have to make a threat along with her request. If anything were to happen to me, she would do whatever she could to get justice for me. But the truth is, none of that would matter to her. The only thing she’s ever wanted is for me to be safe and happy. The stakes are higher than retribution and revenge. She’s telling Declan, in not so many words, that her heart would be broken forever if any harm were to come to me.