Dirty Love (Dirty Girl Duet #2)(54)

Closing the remaining distance to the door, I unlock it and pull it open.

Greer stands there, holding a heart drawn on a napkin in black marker. “It’s not huge, but it’s the best I could manage under the circumstances.”

“I love you, Greer.” The feeling hasn’t dimmed in the time we’ve spent together, only grown. “I love you so damn much.” I drop to a knee. “I’ve been thinking about this for four years. What I would do. What I would need to say to convince you to say yes.”

It’s not smooth or polished, but the words are raw honesty.

“All you had to say is exactly what you did. I love you too, so much that sometimes I feel like there’s nothing else holding the pieces of me together. This has been yours since before I even realized you stole it.” She holds out the napkin.

I lift the box I’m holding. “I think this is a fair trade.”

Flipping the top open, I wait for her reaction. It is big, but it’s not a diamond. It’s tanzanite, which I read is a thousand times rarer than diamonds. It seems perfectly fitting for the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.

Greer’s eyes go wide when she sees the brilliant blue stone surrounded by diamonds.

“How long have you had that?”

It’s not a question I was expecting, but I tell her the truth. I always tell Greer the truth.

“Eleven months.”

“Are you serious?”

“I bought it after you moved in. In case you were wondering, I never planned to let you leave.”

“Why did you wait so damn long?”

“Your brother. Jerk-off wouldn’t give his blessing until he saw I could make you happy for a year.”

As much as it pisses me off, I understand his protectiveness. I’ve won his respect—grudgingly.

“You actually waited? For Crey’s blessing?” Greer’s tone is incredulous.

“He’s family. I wasn’t going to piss him off for the rest of our lives. He matters to you, Greer. So that means he matters to me.”

“I love you. You didn’t need his blessing—I never would’ve cared.”

Even though Greer says that, I know it’s important to her. Greer’s uncle’s death was ruled to be natural causes until her aunt’s body was found a week later at the family house in the Hamptons with a suicide note admitting to poisoning her husband “like he’d poisoned everything else in his life.” The autopsy techs still haven’t figured out what kind of poison Greer’s aunt used or whether she’d been mentally unstable when she’d done it, but the case is considered closed.

In that same week, Stephen Cardelli was found dead in the showers at Rikers for no apparent reason. Dom swore he knew nothing about it, and I hadn’t pushed it.

Regardless, that means the last remaining family Greer has is her brother. My brother.

Creighton and I had words about that too. Over a beer. Like actual brothers. We’ll never be as close as he and Greer are, but he doesn’t want me on the opposite side of the country from his sister anymore.

Last night, I got an e-mail from him.



Better make an honest woman out of my sister pretty f*cking soon. No man will ever be good enough for her, but you’re damn close.



Today is exactly one year from the day I stood at Greer’s door to answer her ad. It seemed the perfect time to do what I wish I could have done years ago.

“So, is that a yes?” I ask, still kneeling at her feet.

“That’s a hell yes.” Greer laughs and holds out her hand.

I breathe a sigh of relief and slip the ring onto her finger before I rise.

Greer bites her lip, staring down at the ring before looking back up at me. “So, are you going to let me in?”

Backing into the house, I move so Greer can shut the door behind us. She wraps her hands around my shoulders and turns me so my back presses against it.

“If we’re going to stick to the script . . . I think we both know what happens next,” she whispers.

“Damn right, we do.”



The End