Page 65 of Die for You

Barb drags her husband and son to the Mercedes, and Damien waits until their car disappears down the road before he says, “Should’ve gotten a contract.”

I shrug. “I don’t give a shit about their blood money. But Jeremiah does. If he violates the protective order, the most the law will do is slap him on the wrist. A one-thousand-dollar fine that his parents will pay off like it’s nothing. But losing half a million dollars? That will keep him away from me.”

“I hope you’re right.” A muscle in Knox’s jaw feathers as he stares after them. I’m pretty sure the only person he hates as much as Jeremiah is Monica.

Finn squeezes my hand. His blue eyes shine with uncertainty, skepticism, but he hopes I’m right too. They all do.

Hopefully, this is the last we ever see or hear from Jeremiah Crowder. A life of peace with the Devils? It sounds too good to be true, and I want to enjoy it for as long as I can.

“Thank you for coming with me today. Seriously. I...I don’t know how I could’ve stomached it alone.”

“We wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” Damien’s dark eyes are intense, and I know what he’s really saying.We wouldn’t want to be anywhere without you.

“Anywhereelse?” Knox teases. “I can think of a couple of places. On the ice. In front of a plate of homemade lasagna.Definitelywith Aurora naked in my bed.”

A smile pulls at my lips. Knox always knows how to break the tension. To make me laugh and smile even when my heart is hurting. That’s one of my favorite things about him.

“I have one more favor to ask.”

With a hand, Finn signs,Anything.

I step closer to the Devils, tension crackling between us. They’re more attractive than ever in their suits. More attractive than ever at my side, supporting me through everything. Anything. “Take me home and make me forget.”

Damien’s mouth pulls into a smirk. “Forget what?”

“Everything but your names.”

Knox’s green eyes flutter shut as he tries to restrain himself. Damien bites his bottom lip dangerously, like he wants to devour me right where I stand.

Finn slides his hand into my hair, sending tingles from my scalp to my toes. A reminder of how he pulled my hair in Damien’s car. In his rare, ocean-deep voice, he murmurs. “Anything. For you.”

Chapter 18

Finn

She’s ours.Fully ours. As long as we can keep her.

Aurora was so brave in that courtroom. Speaking in front of a judge to tell her all about the hell that asshole put her through. Something I fantasized about doing to my own mother as a kid. Telling a cop, a judge, somebody about all the ways she made my sister cry. How she silenced me, screaming at me every time I spoke. Locking me in my room for so many hours, they turned into days. Silence my only companion.

I’ve never been more proud of Aurora than when she strode out of that courtroom with a huge grin on her face.

But I’m not convinced that’s the last we’ll be seeing of the asshole. So I’ll be keeping an eye on him.

Damien’s SUV comes to a lurching halt in a deserted parking lot on campus. Dusk casts the nearby woods in deepening shades of burnt orange and red. “Get out.”

At Damien’s order, Aurora balks. Her brown eyes harden. Delicious mouth puffing out in a perfect pout. “What?”

From the driver’s seat, Damien turns to face her. “Get. Out. And run.”

A smile tugs at the edge of my lips. This will be fun. After all the stress of dealing with Aurora’s ex, classes, practice, and games, we could all use a night off.

“What the hell is going on?” Her glare swings between the three of us. So fucking adorable when she pretends to defy us. “I said I wanted you to take mehome.”

“You are home,” Knox insists.

Aurora’s brows furrow, and she opens her mouth to protest, but I cut her off. “With us.”

That snaps her lips closed. She knows. This is where she belongs. With us. We’re her home now. And she’s ours.