Page 105

CONAN

Song- Damocles- Sleep Token

T he pain from my injuries might be fading each day, but that ache in my chest never goes away. It always creeps back in when I think about what I did to Hallie. And about confronting my demons with her. Our final test.

Finn cleared me to leave the house. Just under three weeks since it all happened. I’m probably pushing myself too hard, but I have to. I want to.

I don’t know if I’m more nervous than Hallie as I punch in the code to the gates.

The iron bars swing open, and there she is.

Decadence.

The sweetest hell on earth.

Us Quinn brothers might rule it here, but sometimes I wonder if we’re the ones who are actually prisoners behind these gates.

It wasn’t until a ray of light pulled me out of the darkness that I started to see the monster I’d become. Or maybe I became evil to survive.

I’ll never really know.

But it gave me Hallie. It gave me a family. And a bullet hole in my chest.

I clamp my hand down on her bouncing thigh.

“Welcome to Decadence, trouble.”

She looks up at the purple sign above the chocolate factory doors but doesn’t say a word.

This place broke us. But it’s also the heart of my family. My two worlds need to exist together. I just hope she can see the good in all of us. Enough to make her stay.

“Please tell me who came up with the honeycomb and cherry flavor. Was it you?”

I frown. That’s my favorite one. The only batch I ever had an input in before I got bored.

“Yeah. I liked both flavors separately, but together they blended so well. The crunch against the soft cherry...”

I kiss my fingertips.

“Magical combination, Conan. Good job. That chocolate kept me company on my lunch breaks more times than I can count.”

I trail my finger along her bare thighs.

“See? There’s always been a bit of me in you.”

She bursts out laughing, and my heart fucking flutters.

“Yeah. Ain’t that right. And now I’ve got part of you growing inside me.”

I press my palm over her stomach.

“Destiny.”

I never believed in that. Not after losing my mother. And then my father.

In a fucked-up way, the tragedies that nearly ruined me led me here.

I know my mom’s been guiding me this whole time. She knew.

“Does this mean I get a lifetime supply whenever I want?” she whispers as we drive the track toward my cabin.

“Whatever you want from me is yours. I keep telling ya.”

She blushes and looks away. I hold my breath as we pass Inferno.

From the outside, it’s a beautiful white estate, blooming flowers and fountains softening the edges.

“Who lives there?” she asks.

“That’s stop two on our tour,” is all I tell her.

She nods slowly.

“Skeletons?” she asks.

“Something like that,” I mutter, pressing my foot harder on the accelerator.

When the cabin comes into view, my shoulders drop.

“Bertie would love it here, Conan.”

I smile as she laces her fingers through mine.

“Yeah. Until he runs off again.”

I snap my mouth shut when I feel her eyes burning into the side of my head.

“Again?” she squeals.

I pull up outside the cabin and cut the engine.

“Okay. Confession one. When you were in Barbados, Georgia took Bertie on a hiking trail and let him off his lead.”

“I’m going to kill her.”

I chuckle, ignoring the stab of pain in my chest as I turn to her.

“Lily called me. I found him. He was fine, chilling by the lake. Having the time of his life.”

God, she looks hot when she’s all agitated.

She yanks her phone out, probably ready to murder someone by text. I place my hand over the screen.

“I took Bertie back to mine for the rest of the week and snuck him back to you before you got home.”

She gasps.

“I thought I was going mad,” she mutters, shaking her head with a grin.

“What?”

“I kept smelling your aftershave on his fur. I thought it was because I missed you.”

“Awww.” I stroke her cheek.

“Thank you, Conan. You didn’t have to. Especially not then.”

“Bertie’s your family too. I couldn’t not. Plus, he and I had a great time. His recall should be way better now. We worked on that in the woods behind my garage.”

“No way. That little traitor. I’ve been trying for years to train him.”

“Be more dominant, baby.” I wink, and that earns me a light smack.

Damn, I love that side of her. Something I never thought I’d want or need. Now, I crave it.

I’ll do anything she demands, as long as she calls me a good boy.

“I’m trying,” she protests, throwing her arms up.

“Yes. You’re trying with me, but not your dog, Hallie. Trust me, you’re doing a perfect job with me.”

She slaps her hand against my bicep. I catch her wrist in my palm.

“Don’t push it, though. You know I can turn,” I lean in, my mouth at her ear.

“Just as quickly as I submit.”

She shivers against me.

I release her and climb out of the car, jogging around before she can open her own door.

I help her out and link our hands as we walk into the cabin.

I once thought of this place as my peace.

But I was wrong.

Because I’m only at peace with her.

My peace isn’t a place. It’s a person.

She lets go of my hand and drifts into the kitchen, studying everything like she’s trying to figure me out through the furniture.

It’s grand for a cabin. All clean lines and minimalist style.

“So this is where the beast sleeps, huh?” she asks.

“Yep. My home, I suppose.”

She shakes her head and saunters back to me, wrapping her arms around my waist.

“Was your home. Remember?”

I swallow hard.

“Let’s hope.”

I’m done with this place.

“So where next? That big white house—Finn’s?”

“Nope. It’s owned by all three of us.”

That’s all I give her.

I want her to make her own judgments. Ask her own questions.

Accept my past so we can move forward.

Because that’s what Inferno is to me.

My future is right here in my arms, wherever she wants to drag me.