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“It was the Halloumi cheese. I forgot how quickly it burns, and I was chopping the ingredients for the salad and forgot about it. Didn’t realize the fire alarm was this sensitive. Or loud. Speaking of—” She glances in the direction of the garage. “Guess it stopped. Thank God.”
My ears are still ringing—not from the alarm, but from the truth. I must find a way to have her in my life. I can’t live without her.Holy fuck,Arthur's ultimatum provides me the perfect excuse for coercing her to marry me.If not for me, maybe she'll agree for Serene's sake?I know, she doesn't trust me yet, and I can't blame her for that, but if I can convince her to marry me, it buys me time to prove to her that she can trust me.
Even as I think that, I know it’s wrong to do so—but also, it’s not. Because it feels so right. It’s why she came back into my life. At just the right time. As a former Marine, I know how much of life is about timing. It's why some people come back from missions and others don’t. It’s why I met her on the tube the same day Serene came into my life. It’s why Arthur gave me that ultimatum, at the timeshecame back into my life. It’s providence. It has to be.
“Are you okay?” She peers up at me from under her eyelashes. “You look a little shell-shocked. There was no fire.” She waves a hand in the direction of the apartment “As you can see, there’s no harm done.”
Except to my composure.I rub the back of my neck. “I can’t keep both my daughter and you safe if you live so far from the main house. I think you should move in with us.”
“What?” She laughs. “You’re joking.”
Nope. I’m going to find a way to get you to move in with me.I don’t say that aloud though. When I stay silent, her expression gentles.
“I’m all right, I promise.”
Not yet. But she will be. We will be.Outwardly, I nod.
“Come back home tonight.”
“Excuse me?” She blinks.
“Your dinner is burnt. Come over and eat with me.”
31
Tyler
"Congratulations, I hear you hired Priscilla as your nanny, and she’s lasted—what’s it, almost five weeks now?" Brody, my second youngest brother tugs down the shirt sleeve on his left arm. It’s to hide the scars I know cover the entire underside. A memento he picked up in the Marines. He’s never spoken about what led to it, so we can only speculate as to what might have caused it. Considering he’s the silent kind who prefers to limit his interactions to grunts, it’s telling that he made the remark.
I grunt in response.
“We’ve all noticed how much you’ve been juggling lately—looking after Serene and running a company at the same time—so I’ll admit, I didn’t expect you to volunteer to host tonight.” Connor deals the cards with practiced ease, his fingers moving smoothly through the deck. Two cards to each of us.
Poker night is a ritual Arthur started, and after he got sick, my brothers and I began rotating who hosts. Tonight, we’re in the basement of my townhouse. I’m only able to host because Cilla’s upstairs with Serene.
Nathan calls, tossing a small stack of chips into the pot. “I figured it might’ve been awkward, since she was once engaged to Knox. But he’s happily married now. And Priscilla doesn’t seem to hold a grudge. Plus, she’s great with Serene—so I guess it all worked out, huh?”
“Priscilla wasn’t strictly engaged to Knox,” I growl. “He never bought her an engagement ring. And it was never serious between them.
"It was all a part of Arthur's ploy to get Knox to notice June, anyway.” June’s his wife now. And yes, they are happily married, and I don’t begrudge him his happiness at all. But damn, if it doesn’t feel like I’m being stabbed in my chest to be reminded of how I almost lost her.
My brothers exchange a look.
Connor shrugs. “Whatever you say, Bro.” He raises, sliding in a bigger stack of chips into the pot.
He’s humoring me. I’m about to tell him to fuck off, when he adds, “Guess it’s a case of ninth, or is that the ninetieth, time lucky?”
I narrow my gaze on him. “What do you mean?”
“Given the number of nannies you’ve tried, I’m glad you found Priscilla. We were beginning to despair you’d ever find anyone to help. And boy did you need help.” Connor scratches his chin. “You were drowning, ol’ chap.”
Brody laughs. “You looked like you were one dropkick away from collapsing into a sobbing heap in the corner.” Brody fixes me with a stare. “We’re glad to have you back in the land of the living.”
And it’s thanks to Cilla. I survey the cards I’ve been dealt. Then re-raise. I push forward a neat stack.
“Leave the bugger alone.” James—a good friend who served with me in the Marines and is now a Michelin-starred chef—who’s joined us for the first time, lounges back with a whiskey glass in hand. “He has a lot on his mind.”
I shoot him a frustrated glance. “Thanks for the concern.Not.”