Atone (Recovered Innocence #2)(73)

“You didn’t ask a question.”

“Why did you assume the identity of a dead girl?”

“Javier Abano wanted me dead.”

“Why?”

“I took a thumb drive that had information about how he abducted young girls and sold them for sex.”

“You were one of his victims?”

“Yes.”

“Who shot you?”

“Javier Abano.”

“You’re sure about that.”

“As sure as you’re standing here.”

“What happened?”

“Javier somehow found out where Beau and I were being held by the U.S. Marshals and the FBI. He broke in and tried to shoot Beau. I stepped in front of him and Javier shot me instead.”

I tell him everything I can remember until I passed out. He takes me through it again and again, going over why we were in that apartment in the first place. His partner appears partway through and asks some questions of her own. I’m so tired my words slur, but I keep going because what I have to say could free Beau. They ask me if I need a rest and if I want them to come back later at least three times, maybe more. I tell them no every time. I can’t hold my head up anymore and I’m still talking with my eyes closed when a nurse comes in. She tries to put a halt to it. I have to work at raising my head to prove I can keep going.

The nurse doesn’t buy it and shoos everyone out. She checks my vitals. I’m so tired, but I want to talk to Cora. I ask the nurse about her, but she tells me she left. I want to know about Beau. He’s what I’m thinking about when I drift off.

—

I wake up three more times alone. It’s day. It’s night. It’s still night. Or maybe the next night. I don’t know what f*cking day it is or how long I’ve been here. They tell me I’m healing well as they poke and prod at me. I finally get to eat some Jell-O and it tastes like heavenly green slime. But I can swallow it, so that’s a plus.

The next time I wake up, Cora’s back.

“Where’s Beau?”

She looks up past me. I roll my head and there he is. I try to reach for him. He takes my hand. Tears stream down my face. Finally. Finally, I get to see for myself he’s okay. He lowers his head to my hand. When he lifts it, his eyes are damp. I touch his beautiful face, trying to reassure myself he’s real, that he’s really here.

“I love you,” I blurt out.

He gets the biggest grin on his face. “I know. Took you long enough to figure it out.”





Epilogue


SIX MONTHS LATER





Beau


She’s got nothing on under that dress.

That’s all I can think about as the officiant does his thing, and I somehow manage to repeat what I’m supposed to repeat, say my I-do’s, and stand there stoically while Vera does the same. My fingers don’t stop moving. I can practically feel the fabric balling as I hike it up. The hard peaks of her nipples tease me. The slight shine of the material shows me exactly where her belly button is and the curve of her belly before the skirt falls straight. There, right there, is where I want to be buried, balls deep. A line of sweat drips down my face and neck. I can’t do shit about it, just like I can’t do shit about the raging hard-on tenting the front of my pants.

One corner of her lips curves up. She knows she’s torturing me. She’s enjoying it. Her eyes are wide and innocent, but her mouth…f*ck…her mouth. She runs her tongue across the seam of her lips, taunting me. As soon as I get her alone I’m bending her over the back of something or up against a wall or I don’t give a f*ck where. I just need to be under that dress and inside her.

Leo hands me her ring and I slide it onto her finger, stroking her palm how I want to be stroking into her. Her tits swell on her sudden intake of breath, straining toward me against the fabric. Fuck me. I hope to f*ck the sudden wet spot doesn’t bleed through to the outside of my pants. She shifts her stance. I can smell her arousal and it shoots mine into another orbit. I’m gonna blow right here in front of all of our family and friends.

Cora hands Vera my ring and she slips it onto my finger. Husband and wife, I scream in my head. Say it, already.

Finally.

I put one hand on her face and one on her ass, bringing her up against my hard dick, trying to get some kind of relief and to maybe torture her like she did to me. We kiss for the first time as husband and wife. She’s mine and I’m hers. There won’t be anyone else for me. Ever. I look down at her beautiful face and I can’t believe what a lucky son of a bitch I am. She doesn’t look like Emmaline. She doesn’t look like Javier’s property. She looks like Vera, soft and pretty. Her hair’s a light brown, grown out around her face. She wears the dress I dreamed about all those months ago and my ring on her finger.

We turn to face the crowd and a cheer goes up. I tow her down the aisle. She laughs and follows. She knows where we’re going and what’s going to happen when we get there. We’ve waited a long time for this. For happiness. We’ve been to hell and back more times than we can count and now here we are, starting our life together with nothing and no one to stand in our way.

I find an empty room—a bedroom—close the door, and back her up against it. The material is soft and cool, in contrast to how hot the skin of her thighs is. Her hands work the buckle of my pants. I can’t get enough of her mouth and go back in for another kiss. She wraps her hand around my dick and all the air leaves my body. In one motion I take control, lifting her to wrap her legs around my waist. I glide through her slickness. Just as I’m about to thrust into her, she stops me with a hand on my chest.