Page 37

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

FALIN

It’s been one month since killing Alexander Orlov. Seems like so much longer though. I don’t think I’ll ever stop looking over my shoulder, and I sure as hell won’t go out without my switchblade. Like I keep reminding myself, Alexander may be dead, but there’s so many more monsters hiding in the shadows.

But tonight, I put that out of my mind. Walking hand in hand with Jasper down a busy Manhattan street, I feel something I haven’t felt in years. Peace.

“You’re doing it again,” Jasper says, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.

I glance up at him. “What?”

“Hiding somewhere in your head. I call it your emo time.” He pulls me against his side and wraps his arm around my shoulder. “What’s going on in there?”

“My emo time, huh?” I laugh, soaking in how nice it is to feel his warmth against my skin in the early spring breeze. “I don’t know, just thinking about how different everything feels lately. How different I am.”

“Different good or different bad? If it’s bad, just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” I know he’s kidding around, but also, deep down, if I needed something, he’d seriously do it. Anything.

“Good. Definitely good.” We stop at a crosswalk and I turn to face him. “A year ago I would have run from all of this. The commitment, the family we’ve built, the messiness of letting go of what I can’t control.”

His blue eyes soften as he brushes his thumb across my cheek. “And now?”

“Now I can’t imagine running from any of it. Even when it scares the hell out of me.” I rise on my tiptoes to kiss him, not caring that we’re blocking pedestrian traffic. “Even when you drive me absolutely insane.”

“I am pretty good at that, huh. Some may say it’s my special skill.” He cocks his head and grins. “Actually scratch that… I have other, better, skills.”

“Speaking of skills,” I say. He smirks, but I bump his shoulder. “Not those kinds. Keep it in your pants, sir.”

“Sir? That’s not helping,” he jokes.

“I was saying…” I narrow my eyes, but with none of my usual annoyance, just playfulness. “Aunt Sarah called me earlier. She asked about you. Said and I quote, ‘That man can talk his way out of hell with the devil himself.’ I laughed but damn if she didn’t peg you right away.”

“Peg me?” He waggles his brows and I roll my eyes. “Kidding.” He laughs, full and deep. “It’s a gift. Got me out of trouble more times than I can count. Even got me the hottest woman in Manhattan, quite possibly the world.”

“Damn straight,” I say, squeezing his butt. So round and firm… I’m jealous. No man should go around with a butt this good.

“How are you feeling with all that?” he asks. I chew my lips, thinking of a way to put it all into words.

“It’s wild. Kind of like finding a missing puzzle piece you didn’t even know was missing. She has my eyes, or I guess I have hers. And she totally flings her hands around when she talks.” I start doing it without thinking and Jasper reaches for my hand, kissing my palm.

“You are a hand flinger when you talk,” he says.

I shrug. “Blake’s told me the same thing. Guess I never noticed before.” I smile remembering how my new aunt, my mom’s sister, embraced me like she’d known me her whole like. It’s still so surreal. She doesn’t have answers on where my mother is, but at least I can find out more about her past. “She wants us to come for dinner in a few weeks. If we’re not in London by then.”

“We’ll make it work either way,” he says, holding me close. “You deserve to know more about where you came from. Even if where you are now is pretty damn perfect.”

I lift up on my tiptoes to kiss him, not giving a shit that we’re blocking pedestrian traffic. “Pretty damn perfect, huh?”

The sound of a horn honking and whistling breaks us apart. Damon pulls up in his precious Chevelle with Blake hanging out the passenger window. “Get a room, lovebirds!”

“Good idea,” Jasper says. “Maybe we can use yours.”

“Over my dead body,” Damon says, smiling.

“Come on, we’ve got a going away dinner to get to,” Blake says.

The apartment is quiet when we walk in, just Leon sprawled on the couch with his sketchbook while the kittens attack his shoelaces. When they hear us, they zoom down the hall, yowling and batting at each other. I get a pang in my chest as I look at Leon. It won’t be the same at home without him.

“Are you all packed?” I ask. Blake and Damon head to the kitchen with the bags of takeout and bottles of booze.

“Almost. I have a few file transfers running, but once that’s through I can pack up the rest of my computer stuff.” His lips quirk up.

“No work talk,” Blake says, bringing Leon a glass of amber liquid. “It’s your last night, we’re sending you off properly.”

“By getting him drunk?” I ask. Although, I’m very much okay with this plan. I settle onto the couch, and Jasper claims his spot on the floor in front of me, leaning his head back between my legs.

“No,” she says, crossing her arms, so her cropped shirt rides up. Damon’s right behind her like a dog with a bone, wrapping his arms around her bare waist. She hums and leans into his embrace. “By being together. Everyone grab a drink, we need to make a toast.”

Jasper hands me one of the glasses on the coffee table, and takes one for himself. We all hold up our glasses, trying not to get emotional.

Jasper clears his throat. “To Leon, the smartest dude we know.”

“And the most stubborn,” Damon adds.

“And the best artist,” Blake adds, her lips quirking up in a small smile.

I think for a moment on what Leon’s become to me. “To the brother I never knew I needed.”

Leon angles his head, hiding his eyes. I catch the smile he doesn’t want us to see. The emotion in his gaze too. We clink our glasses together, the sound louder than the music coming from Damon’s phone. No one mentions how Blake wipes at her eyes, or how Damon’s hand shakes slightly as he throws back his drink.

We load up plates of Italian food and spend the whole night talking, sharing stories and laughing at memories from the past few months. The kittens eventually finish up their witching hour zoomies and curl up in their tower, purring contentedly.

“Promise us you’ll call every day,” I tell Leon. “Even if you haven’t found anything yet.”

He nods, his brows drawing in. “Of course I will. And the second I have a lead on Bailey…”

“We’ll be there,” Jasper finishes.

“Just don’t do anything stupid until we get there,” Damon says. “That’s our job.”

Leon scoffs, and takes a sip of his drink. He looks at Blake and me, smiling. “You two better make sure they stay out of trouble. I’m trusting you.”

I squeeze Jasper’s thigh, and he chuckles, saying, “You know they will.”

Leon holds up his glass, his eyes glazed with a far away look. “I’ve got one more toast.” Jasper adds another splash to our cups and we hold them up again. “To Bailey.” He swallows hard. “We’re coming for you.”

We take our drinks quietly, each of us in our own heads, until Blake clears her throat. “Who wants dessert?”

Later, after Damon and Blake head to bed, and Leon disappears to finish packing, Jasper pulls me against his chest. His body is tense against mine, and I know he’s thinking about Bailey, about London, about all the time that’s passed. I can tell when he goes to that place in his mind. “You okay?”

“Just want to be there already.” I smell the whiskey on his breath, hear the emotion in his words. “Every day we wait…”

“Hey.” I stand on my tiptoes to look him in the eyes. “We’ll be there soon. Leon will do whatever he can, I know it, and if he finds her sooner, we’re on the first flight over.”

He nods, pressing his forehead to mine. “I know. I just miss her so much. I want to call my parents, tell them we’ve done the impossible. They’re so torn up, at this point they’ve lost hope. I don’t want to give them anything yet, not until we have her.”

“We’ll get her back. You will make that call.” I pour every ounce of conviction I have into those words because I feel them in my gut.

“Thank you,” he whispers against my lips as he brushes his hand across my hair. I pull back, raising a brow in question. He goes on. “For loving me through all this craziness, for being there, for making our room feel like home even when my head’s a mess.”

He’s right, I’m loving our room now that we’ve combined our stuff and moved into the bigger space. His guitar next to my desk. Our clothes mixed in the closet. His comforter on the bed, and my pillows. Our life together growing piece by piece.

“You don’t have to thank me,” I say. “That’s what you do for the people you love.”

We get comfortable in bed, pulling the blankets over us, as Havoc and May claim their spot above our heads.

“Love you too, Trouble.”

Our life is far from normal. Police investigations linger unanswered, their questions a constant shadow. Bailey’s still out there somewhere, waiting. Ivan’s empire still needs dismantling, piece by corrupt piece. But tonight, I’m exactly where I need to be. With my family. With my man. Ready to face whatever comes next, as chaotic and unhinged as it may be.

I’ve finally found my place in the world—not just a place, but my people. And I’ll fight like hell to keep them.

With a switchblade, of course.

* * *

Want a little more Jasper & Falin? Check out their bonus scene now!

Find out what happens next in Love Bleeds Red book 3 in the Vengeful Hearts Series!