Colton and I step into the elevator to take us down to the parking garage and as the doors lock us into the confined space together, our issues suddenly become very loud.
Colton hits the button to send us down and as the elevator starts moving, he crowds me into the wall, blocking me with his hands on either side, keeping me trapped. “I missed you,” he murmurs, raising his chin and brushing his lips over mine. “You walked out on me.”
I nod. “You lied to me,” I whisper. “You let me believe that Marco was going behind bars just like his brothers.”
“To be fair,” he says. “When I said that, I thought that was what was going to happen. It wasn’t until Sunday afternoon that I heard he was back in town. I couldn't miss the opportunity to make it right. He killed Maryne, I couldn’t just let it go.”
I nod again and press my hand against his chest, feeling the rapid beat of his heart beneath his shirt. “I got your email.”
“I know,” he grumbles with a cocky smirk. “I got a notification that it was read only thirty seconds after hitting send. You never replied though.”
“You didn’t deserve a reply.”
His eyes heat, realizing that I’m just being stubborn and loving that we’re able to talk about this without it turning into something so much more. “You’re not scared of me,” he comments, referring to the way I backed away from him in his bedroom.
I take his hand and curl it into a fist, looking down at his bruised knuckles. I press my lips to them, loving that he’d go to such lengths for Milo while also hating that he’s hurt. “You were right,” I tell him. “I’m not afraid of you or what you did. I’ve been around the Widows for far too long that I feel somewhat immune to that darkness. I guess it just came as a shock that you had that in you. I’d filed you away as one of the good guys and then you made me go and undo all my paperwork.”
“I am still a good guy,” he insists. “I don’t kill for sport.”
“I know,” I whisper as we hit the bottom ground and hear the familiar ding of the elevator before the doors slide open.
Colton steps back from me, keeping his eyes on mine as he tugs me away from the elevator wall. Together we walk out of the elevator and I can’t help but rub my thumb over his sore knuckles. “Tell me that you’re coming home with me,” he questions, stopping in the middle of the nearly deserted parking lot and meeting my eyes.
“I …” I let out a breath, not having thought about it since before Nic’s ridiculous proposal. “I’m not entirely sure yet,” I tell him with all honesty. “I can’t get past this feeling that you’re just like the rest of the guys I know. You kept this part of yourself hidden from me. Especially after everything we went through with Jude in the wine cellar. If you were going to come clean about it, that would have been the time.”
“I know,” he says, dropping his forehead to mine. “I should have told you when we were sitting in the shower after you nearly took out Jude. I’ve thought about that moment nearly every fucking day but it’s not something that you just tell someone.”
“I would have been able to handle it.”
“I know that now,” he tells me, squeezing my hands. “Just please, Ocean. Come home with me. We can work this out. I don’t want to lose you over this.”
My heart breaks as I meet his eyes, seeing the raw desperation within him. “I … I feel like I need to think about this for a minute. Too much has happened. I can’t even think clearly right now. After everything that just went down with Nic. I just need—”
Colton cuts me off as he drops to his knees before me. “I’m so fucking in love with you, Jade. Please, baby, come home with me so we can sort this out. I need you in my life, but I’ll get it if you want to leave. I won’t hold it against you, but it’ll fucking hurt.”
I look down at him on his knees, begging me to stay and the raw emotions begin to rise within me until they’re completely overwhelming me. A lump forms in my throat and I step into him, desperately needing to be closer. “You love me?” I whisper, feeling my voice break as he says the very words I’ve wondered about since the day he sat at my mother’s dinner table and admitted that he didn’t love me … yet.
“I do,” he says, the desperation shining brightly in his eyes. “I love you so fucking much that it hurts. I’ve hated being away from you these last few days. I need you in my life. I don’t know how you did it but you weaseled your way in and now I can’t fucking breathe without you.”
I fight the tears that well in my eyes as I curl my hand around the back of his neck. “I love you too,” I whisper, meeting his eyes and letting him see just how much I mean it.
A smile tears across his face. “I know,” he says with the slightest amusement. “You blurted it out on Sunday while you were screaming at me.”
“Shut up,” I laugh just moments before he grabs me and brings my lips down to his.
Fucking home.
I kiss him deeply, feeling all the hurt from the last few days finally dissolve into nothing and allowing my aching chest to finally begin mending.
His fingers lace through mine and I pull him up, never wanting to see my man begging on his knees again. As he stands, his arm twines around my waist and he pulls me off my feet, refusing to break our kiss.
“Put her down,” comes a pissed off growl from across the parking lot.
My back stiffens, recognizing that voice from anywhere.
Colton’s hands tighten on my waist and he pulls away from me, lowering me to the ground as his head snaps around to find the threat.
Nic stands across the lot and I find him leaning up against Colton’s Veneno with his finger through the finger grip of his gun, spinning it in circles like a fucking idiot. Did nobody teach this guy gun safety? If he wants to accidentally shoot his balls off then that’s one sure way to make it happen.
“What are you doing here?” I demand, looking at the man who killed my father in distaste. Colton instantly picks up on my tone and I’m sure that he’s reminded of the state I was in when I first arrived at the hospital and is currently putting the puzzle pieces together. Sensing my unease, Colton discreetly puts himself in front of me.
“You and I haven't finished our conversation.”
“Yeah,” I scoff. “We’re more than finished. In fact, I’m pretty certain that there won’t be a damn thing left for us to ever discuss.”
Nic’s face drops and anger flashes in his eyes. “Don’t fucking say shit that you don’t mean. You’re a lot of things, O, but you’re not a fucking liar.”
“Sorry,” I laugh. “I must have learned that trait from you.”
His eyes narrow, pushing off Colton’s car and striding toward us. Colton moves with him, always keeping himself between me and Nic’s gun, and from the look on Nic’s face, he’s more than aware of what’s going on.
He stops a few feet from us and glares at Colton. “Do you mind fucking off now? I’m trying to have a conversation with my girl.”
“You see, that’s just the thing. She’s my girl and judging from the way she’s shrinking away from you, she doesn’t want a damn thing to do with you.”