Page 72

What better time than when I needed him to know I was still all in? It would always be him in the end, even if the foundation beneath our feet caved in and the walls came tumbling down around us.

“I know you do, baby.” He wrapped his arms around me and pressed his lips to my forehead. “This shit won’t always be easy. Love…is just a word to me, but you taught me how to define the feeling. It’s how I feel inside, and how fucking insane you make me. I want to kill you half the motherfucking time, but the need to keep you is overwhelming.

“You’re the queen to my king. I’ll worship the ground you walk on as long as you always walk beside me.”

“I’ll always be beside you. I don’t need perfection, Rome. I just need you and all your insanity.”

He cupped my face in my hands, kissing me hard before stepping back again to open my door. I climbed inside and watched him walk away.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

We drove for hours.

The first two, it was awkward as hell.

Three was unbearable, and I had to say something.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I tossed out honestly.

That apparently was the right thing to say; Grimm seemed to relax visibly. I studied him from my peripheral. We looked nothing alike. His skin was tan and covered in tattoos. His hair was dark brown with naturally lighter strands on top.

He kept it brushed back or trimmed short. Same with his beard; it was either full or freshly shaven. His eyes were dark, too.

Everything about Grimm had an edge of darkness about it, just like the man himself. He was quiet and hard to read. I could easily see how he and Romero had ended up so close.

He let out a sigh and glanced at me a brief second before giving the road his attention. “I meant it when I said someone should have been there for you. I’m not sure how this all works, but I’m here now. Always.”

I nodded, finding it hard to voice a worthy response. The feelings talk had drained me enough already, and this was something I needed to process in my own time.

Silence reigned again, but it was different. Companionable.

By the time we reached where we were going, my head was still all over the place, and my ass was numb from sitting for so long.

It all momentarily faded away as Grimm approached a twelve-foot barbed-wire fence. All I saw was an expansive desert-like field.

There was a guard shack on either side of the lone gate. Three acolytes manned each one. They had guns similar to those the skinners had carried.

Two held what looked like thin tow chains turned into leashes for the beasts at the end of them. They were funny shaped and had spots.

“Are those fuckin hyenas?” Arlen asked incredulously.

“Max and Toby,” Grimm answered, almost affectionately.

“They’re kinda cute,” I mused.

A buzzer went off, and the gate slid open with a clicking sound. Our small fleet of vehicles pulled through and continued down a long road.

“Where exactly are we goin?” Arlen asked after a minute rolled by.

“Home. The house is just up ahead.”

“You sure it’s not a prison?” I mumbled.

He laughed aloud and shook his head.

“Holy shit.” I stared up at the monstrous house rising in the distance.

“Your man’s been holdin out,” Arlen breathed.