Wilde at Heart (Wilde Security, #3)(84)

“Reece, no. You don’t hold me down. You—”

He touched her lips to silence her. “Yes, I do. But it’s not a bad thing. I keep your feet on the ground…” He unbuttoned her blouse, drew the two halves apart, and kissed one of the birds tattooed to her collarbone, then the other. “And you’re the wings that keep my heart in the clouds. We balance each other. It works.”

She swallowed to ease the tightness in her throat. “Yes, it does.”

“So…” He dragged the word out and he reached into his pocket. “I have a question for you. One I never really got to ask.”

Her heart fluttered as he dropped to one knee and held out her ring. “You were my first, and I want to be your last. Will you do me the honor of continuing to be Mrs. Wilde?”

“Yes,” she whispered and accepted the ring, sliding it on her finger. Back where it belonged.





Epilogue


Reece paused on the sidewalk in front of what would become the new Bean Gallery and smiled as he watched his wife through the window. She was talking to someone he couldn’t see, laughing while she stocked a glass-fronted refrigerator with soda. She’d jumped into the renovation with her usual gusto, full steam ahead, and had transformed the once empty space into something even better than the first Bean Gallery had been.

Her hair fell in a rainbow from her ponytail, bouncing as she hurried around with last-minute preparations for the grand opening tomorrow, and he wanted nothing more than to walk in there, wrap all that bright color around his hand, and draw her in for a kiss…

A car door slammed behind him, and he turned in time to see Vaughn stalk into Wilde Security next door.

Cam jumped out of his 4Runner and was right on his twin’s heels. “Vaughn! We’re not done. What the f*ck is wrong with you?”

Reece sighed and glanced over at Shelby again. After a long day spent transitioning DMW over to Quentin Enterprises, the last thing he wanted was to deal with a fight between his brothers. All he wanted was some quality time with his wife, but he’d promised Greer he’d look after their younger brothers.

Greer, who still hadn’t returned from wherever he’d gone.

And that was starting to worry him. He hadn’t heard from Greer since the night he spent in the hospital over three weeks ago, but he could only deal with one problem at a time and the fact the twins were fighting was a major one. He could count the number of times they’d fought with each other on one hand.

Reece followed them into the office and nearly ran into Vaughn, who was shoving back through the door with the keys to his Hummer in hand.

“Get out of my way,” Vaughn said through his teeth.

“No.” He stood his ground, blocking the exit, and looked backed and forth between the two of them. “What’s going on?”

“Ask him.” Cam threw up his hands in complete frustration. “He’s the one with the f*cking death wish.”

Oh, shit. This wasn’t good. “Guys. What happened?”

“This *,” Cam said and pointed at his twin, “talked me into a winter jump, then scared ten years off my life when he waited until the very last second to pull his damn chute.”

Vaughn growled and swung around to face off with Cam again. “You know how many jumps I did in the navy? I can fall out of a plane in my sleep and still pull the cord with plenty of time to spare.”

“Do you have any idea what it felt like to watch you go flying past me and not be able to do a damn thing but pray your backup opened? Jesus, Vaughn.”

Reece dropped his head into his hands and massaged his temples with his fingers. “Enough. Both of you.”

“Fuck this,” Vaughn said and shouldered past him.

Reece let him go. There would be no reasoning with him while he was like this. So instead, he turned his attention to the more rational twin, who had sank into one of the office chairs and looked utterly defeated.

“He considered not pulling the cord,” Cam said softly and then gave a humorless snort of laughter. “Did he really think I wouldn’t realize it? We’re identical. I know how he thinks, and he’s spiraling. I just…” He looked down at his empty hands. “I don’t know how to fix it.”

And Cam, usually the family’s peacemaker, the glue, hated not being able to fix things. Especially when it came to his twin, who had always been just a little bit broken.

Reece walked over and pulled himself up to sit on the desk beside his brother. “The only way to fix it is to find Lark Warren.”

Cam shook his head. “I don’t get it.”

“Neither do I, but this all started when she disappeared. He’s not going to stop until he settles whatever it was that happened between them.”

Another shake of the head. “I can’t do this now. Not tonight. Is Eva still next door?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t make it inside.”

Cam pushed out of the chair, and they walked to the door together. “Shelby’s done good work with the place. She has a talent for it.”

Reece smiled to himself as he stopped to shut off the light and lock up. “I know.” And he couldn’t be prouder of everything she’d accomplished in only a few weeks. His woman had vision and a good head for business. He still felt like an ass for doubting her.