Page 31

THIRTY

Dante

Caerwyn Hale is a high-powered lawyer from a prominent family. His grace when he enters Andrea’s home, and his comfort around his men, tells me he’s used to consorting with dangerous people. He gives me one of the sunniest smiles I’ve seen a man produce as he shakes my hand, then Inaya’s. The usual caution other people exercise around me is absent. I instantly trust that he’ll know what he’s talking about.

“Andrea, I told you I left criminal law so I could move back home,” he complains, his smile still intact.

Andrea waves him off like his words are trivial. “You told me that just to return home and slide into Andres Bishops’ formation.”

Caerwyn shrugs, but I’m too perceptive to miss the very faint wince. His association isn’t by choice.

“Well, you know. I gotta take care of home.” I read his response as a way for him to talk about it without talking about it. Fascinating; an NDA a lawyer can’t work around. The penalty must be death. That’s the way I’d play it. “But more specifically, I mean that I’m not recognized here as a criminal lawyer.”

Andrea waves him farther into the office and closes the door. “Let’s consult then.” I don’t feel inclined to talk too much and watch Andrea and Inaya get Caerwyn up to speed on the entire story.

Wyn, as he told us to call him, nods thoughtfully at the end as he looks at Andrea. He sighs and sits back in his chair, resting his chin on his knuckles.

“Andrea, you may not be a lawyer, but you’ve been in this life long enough to at least know my first suggestion.”

Andrea grins like he and Wyn are in on a secret that they haven’t shared with us yet. He opens a desk drawer and pulls out some paperwork.

“I put as much information as I knew. It’s notarized and they just have to fill in the rest and sign,” he tells Wyn as he slides a paper over to us. “I got this stamped when he called me weeks ago.” Another paper slides our way as he continues to speak. “It’s easier to have this stuff ready and shred and delete if we don’t need it than it is to not have it at all.”

I stare at the documents and watch Inaya as she catches up. Her mouth drops open when she reads the paperwork, but her eyes find mine to seek my reaction. On a detached side, it does make sense why we’d marry, but the side of me that’s learning how to care is cautious.

I turn back to the men waiting for my response. “You have us reported as married?”

Andrea nods. “Preemptive paperwork. It can show finalized as of the earlier dates or I can get it deleted from the system. Your wife can’t be compelled to testify against you, but a pregnant girlfriend can.”

“That’s correct,” Wyn adds. “If I were in the spotlight for kidnapping my wife, I’d spin the story to where we were lovers who ran away from it all. It makes all the kidnapping parts arguable. It also helps that she actually loves you.”

My entire body freezes at that word again. I haven’t heard it since I left her in Spain, and I’m still trying to process how I should act or feel about it.

“Excuse me,” I announce as I leave the office and pass Theodore on my way out.

I need some air. I went from a brainwashed assassin to a hired vigilante. Breaking away from Father was already a major shift, and now I’m supposed to turn into a husband and father. Even if the marriage is for show, the baby isn’t. There will be a small, fragile person who needs me to protect them. How would I help raise him or her? I don’t have a strong sense of family anymore. The six-year-old version of me would have been a better candidate for this.

Inaya’s love is just another weight on my chest, constricting my breathing. No matter what I did, she managed to see the better parts of me and focus on that. I’m not sure if I have that capacity.

I stop by a tree and sink down next to it as I focus on pushing air back into my lungs, but it’s proving harder than usual. The weight of it all attacks me at once, showing me that being a family man is more terrifying than going to jail. A warm hand smooths my back. Inaya hums, much like she did when I was having my night terror.

My breathing eases back to its normal rhythm. Inaya has tears in her eyes when I look up at her. On instinct, I wipe them away and my irritation spikes enough to kill whoever hurt her feelings.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to marry me, Dante.” More tears fall, and she hiccups to choke back her emotions to speak. “No need to panic. I understand.”

I must be suicidal because her pain is coming from me. Inaya took my internal war as a refusal. Somehow, consoling her takes precedence over my doubts. I pull her close, dropping my forehead to hers. I use her earlier request for me to be honest with her to guide my words.

“My issue isn’t you. It’ll never be you. If this is what you want, I’ll do it. It’s… I’m not sure if I know how to love.”

“You do,” she counters. “You just need to be patient with yourself to undo what was done to you. Legally, it makes the most sense, but I don’t want to force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

I smile and drop a kiss on her nose. “Baby, with the year we had, it’d only be fair to force me to do something .”

Inaya giggles, but sits back to look at me. “How about neither of us force the other to do anything, hmm?”

I squeeze her hand to accept that. “Okay, but you’re going to want me to return your love one day. What if I fail my family emotionally?” My question doesn’t warrant a smile, but Inaya smiles anyway. My mind goes back to my first assumption. She’s weird. “Why are you smiling?”

“You rarely mention the baby, but you just called us your family. You just showed concern for feelings I haven’t even shared…”

“You did.”

She gives me a confused look as we stand. “I did not.”

I nod. “Yes, you did. It’s the reason I let you go. I was torn between allowing you to live or hurting Father by killing you while you were asleep. You sighed my name and said you loved me.” Inaya gives me a perplexed look as I scratch my head. “I didn’t know what to do with that, so I gave you a new life.”

“So, my feelings saved my life?”

“Essentially,” I confess.

“Wow. Well, in a perfect world, you could have simply returned the sentiment. In our world, you could have awakened me, made love to me, and held me like you never want to let go.” Inaya grabs my collar like I’ve done to her before and gets in my face. “That’s my preference. You don’t leave me alone and confused with a new identity and a bank full of money.”

“Some women would like that.”

My deadpan joke catches her off guard and makes her laugh. She’s so beautiful when she’s amused.

“True, but not me. We had a terrible meet. There was nothing cute about it. I don’t get it either, yet I am in fact in love with you no matter how improbable it may seem, and I’d prefer to keep you out of prison and here with me.” She moves my hand to her belly. “With us.”

Fuck, that’s somehow arousing. I pull her into the kind of kiss that got her pregnant in the first place, savoring the taste of her like I’ve never had her before. Her moan makes my dick hard; my desire to be inside of her overrides everything else.

I press her against the tree but break the kiss. “Tell me again so I can grant your preference.”

I may not possess those types of feelings yet, but I can give her the outcome she imagined until I figure it out.

Inaya smiles up at me and locks her hands together behind my neck. “I love you, Dante Orejón.”

Her words warm my entire body like she didn’t just tell me minutes ago. She stares at my face like she’s never seen me smile before. Yes, it’s still rare, but she’s the only one who consistently makes it happen. I nip her lips, but my efforts are cut short.

“We can see you, you know.”

Inaya giggles as we turn to face Theodore. His amusement is etched in his face, but I know he’s pleased that I’m becoming more emotive with Inaya. He tilts his head at me in respect, but focuses his attention on Inaya.

“Does this mean that you two are going forward with the plan?”

“Yes,” Inaya gushes and pulls Theodore into a hug.

I don’t like it, but I know Theodore is very much in love with his wife. I still cannot let the hug go on any longer.

“That’s enough. I’m sure River is looking for her Teddy.”

Theodore guffaws but takes the hint. “They’re waiting for you two to finish the paperwork. I am off to see my wife and child. I’ll see you two tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” I ask.

Theodore nods. “I’m officiating. Andrea just asked me.”

I shake my head. “Is he always…”

“Making plans with other people's lives? Yes. He planned my wedding before I was able to admit to myself that I was in love.”

He gives me a knowing look, but we aren’t the same. I would threaten to kill Andrea, but that would mess with our alliance. Besides, it’s something Inaya wants. We’ve pretended to be married many times before; it shouldn’t be much different doing it for real. I just need to plot it out the best way I can, so I’ll be able to wrap my mind around all the changes.