I looked into those green eyes, just a few shades darker than my own and I swallowed thickly. Trying to reason with the basic impulse of all children to love their parents. I knew better now. That family was what you made, not what you were born with. That sometimes, the people who loved you best didn’t have to share the same blood as you, or even the same morals and outlooks.
Love transcended everything, if you let it. If you felt it.
But looking at Beckett, thinking about the years he’d been a patron of Inequity, the way he’d helped Bianca with Caroline and Lane’s will, the way he’d stepped up twice to help me, I knew if I gave him a chance, he’d love me.
Bryant had been my father all my life and he’d never ever tried.
So I jerked my chin up at the man. “You can stay, if you want. But don’t think this makes us best friends.”
Beckett’s lips twitched. “Never.”
“Tiernan?” Brando’s sleepy voice rose a moment before his head did, slumberous eyes blinking up at me. “Are you awake?”
“Are you?” I teased, pushing his hair back with one hand even though it hurt my shoulder. “Hey, buddy. I missed you.”
His lower lip quivered, eyes filling. “You’re okay?”
“Yeah, kid, I’m more than okay.”
“You got shot,” he informed me, as if I didn’t know. “Three times.”
“Yeah.”
“You were trying to save Anca,” he reasoned. “But if you do something like that again, I’m gonna have to be really mad because you can’t leave us, okay?” He swallowed thickly and fisted his hand in my hospital gown. “Please don’t leave us.”
My nose itched with the urge to cry as I stared into the gentlest face I knew. I wrapped one of his curls around my finger and tugged. “I promise, Brandon, I’m not going anywhere. You, me, and Bianca are going to be a family forever.”
“And Henrik and Ez and Wally?” he demanded.
“Them, too, of course.”
“I always wanted a big family,” he admitted, curling into me and casting an almost shy glance at Carter in the corner. “Are your brothers gonna be like my uncles, now?”
I looked over his head at Carter.
“Sure, we are,” he agreed easily, then he bent forward. “Lucian and Leo couldn’t be here, but you’ll be seeing a lot of us in the future. I hear you like superheroes. You know, not to brag or anything, but I’ve helped save the world before.”
Brando’s mouth fell open. “Woooow. That’s so cool.”
Everyone chuckled, Brandon’s charm melting the last of the cold tension in the room. Carter started entertaining Brandon with stories of his own adventures, and Sarah and Beckett struck up a tentative conversation in their chairs.
So, I took the momentary respite to urge Bianca’s head back and kiss her deeply.
“You have hospital breath,” she teased when we broke apart.
I growled, nipping at her lower lip until she laughed.
“I don’t care,” she whispered as if it was a secret. “Honestly, I don’t even care about Dad’s will or getting into NYU or about Constantines vs. Morellis. I don’t care about anything except for you and my baby brother.”
“You don’t have to worry about us,” I swore, cupping the entire back of her head in one of my palms, loving the vulnerability of her resting her skull in my care. “We’ll always be here. You can focus on graduating, on making new friends and growing up, and being NYU’s brightest new student. You can have it all, Bianca, I’ll make sure of it.”
Her laughter feathered over my lips as she cupped my scarred cheek. “Whoever would have guessed that my nightmare would be the best dream I’d never thought to hope for.”
I grinned at her. “Oh, I think I can remind you of just how much of a monster I can be when the occasion presents itself.” She laughed again and the sound did more for me than the IV drip ever could. “So, is this it, the happily-ever-after you promised me?”
“Does it feel like it?” she whispered against my lips.
I kissed her again, sealing our lips around the words I didn’t have to say. Laying there in that hospital bed, riddled with bullet wounds, bereft of my house and my club, but surrounded by people who wanted to love me, I’d never been happier in my entire godforsaken life.
Thank you for reading BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE! We hope you love Giana Darling’s forbidden romance, the second book in the Dark Dream duet. You can read a bonus epilogue of Tiernan and Bianca by signing up for our newsletters here: www.dangerouspress.com/nightmare
And Tiernan’s older brother, Leo Morelli, has an epic romance!
The beast hides a dark secret in his past…
Leo Morelli is known as the Beast of Bishop's Landing for his cruelty. He’ll get revenge on the Constantine family and make millions of dollars in the process. Even it means using an old man who dreams up wild inventions.
The beauty will sacrifice everything for her family...
Haley Constantine will do anything to protect her father. Even trade her body for his life. The college student must spend thirty days with the ruthless billionaire. He’ll make her earn her freedom in degrading ways, but in the end he needs her to set him free.
READ SECRET BEAST >
The warring Morelli and Constantine families have enough bad blood to fill an ocean, and there are told by your favorite dangerous romance authors. See what books are available now and sign up to get notified about new releases here…
ABOUT MIDNIGHT DYNASTY
The warring Morelli and Constantine families have enough bad blood to fill an ocean, and their brand new stories will be told by your favorite dangerous romance authors. These series are now available for you to read! There are even more books and authors coming in the Midnight Dynasty world, so get started now…
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As Father Magnus Falke, I suppress my cravings. As the headteacher of a Catholic boarding school, I’m never tempted by a student. Until her...
I became a priest to control my impulses.
Then I meet Tinsley Constantine.
READ LESSONS IN SIN >
“Taboo romance at its best! LESSONS IN SIN is another dark masterpiece by Pam Godwin!” - JB Salsbury, New York Times bestselling author
Meet Winston Constantine, the head of the Constantine family. He’s used to people bowing to his will. Money can buy anything. And anyone. Including Ash Elliot, his new maid.
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READ STROKE OF MIDNIGHT >
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