Page 112 of Cruel Secrets

“Have you thought about what comes next for us?” I ask, tone wavering a little as I move, shifting my pillows so I can sit comfortably against the headboard.

He leans back with me, arms crossed over his chest. “I’ve thought about it, but I don’t think we need to rush into anything, if that’s what you’re wondering. I was thinking we should take some time to get to know each other better again.”

There’s a small tinge of disappointment that settles in my chest. I don’t know what I was hoping for, but I thought it would be something more than that.

I pull my knees up and loop my arms around my shins. “And yet here we are, moving into a penthouse together.”

He stifles a smile. “I didn’t say I planned on taking things slow, just that we should get to know each other again. Whatever that looks like for us. I’ve always been sure about you, even when I was pissed at you for hiding who you were from me.”

“Then why didn’t you ever come back?”

“Because I’m an idiot. And I would’ve come back for you at some point. I was getting tired of wallowing in self-pity and thinking about how I lost the best person in my life.”

“I always knew you were a romantic at heart.”

He scoffs, his eyes rolling. “Please. I don’t think that after what we just did, you can call me romantic.”

“Maybe you’re right about that.” Smirking, I lean into his shoulder and kiss his neck. “So, this getting to know each other thing.”

“Mainly revolves around getting to know every inch of your body again,” he says as he rolls over, pulling me down the mattress and hovering above me. “And after that, we have the rest of our lives to learn everything else about each other.”

“You mean that?”

“As soon as I find the ring I think you’re going to love, it’s going on your finger and never coming off.”

And just like that, I fall deeper in love with him.

EPILOGUE

ROYCE

Royce

A Few MonthsLater

“Are you sure about this?” Skyla flips up my collar before reaching for the tie and looping it around my neck. “Because if you so much as think about hurting Gia again, it’s going to be me you have to answer to.”

I swat her hands away, ripping the tie off and tossing it to the side. “I’m not going to hurt her. I want to spend the rest of my life with her, and that’s not going to change. It hasn’t in the years that I’ve known her.”

“You know, I didn’t peg you as the romantic type. I always thought I would get married before you.”

Skyla grabs the tie off the bed, slipping it back around my collar and knotting it into place. She pats it down against my shirt and grins. As she steps back to admire her handiwork, I roll my eyes.

“You could’ve gotten married before me if there was one man you wouldn’t bite the head off of.”

She snorts and grabs her clutch, tucking it beneath her arm. “I’m running a money laundering empire. I don’t have time for men and their need to be the dominant ones in the relationship. You and Aiden sport enough testosterone to have to deal with for a lifetime. I don’t need to go through any more of that bullshit.”

Ellie scoffs as she walks into the room with a little green velvet box in her hand. “Here.”

I take the box from her, pulling out the ring and slipping it into the pocket of my slacks. “Thank you.”

She nods and eyes Skyla. “You know, you’re going to be singing a different tune when you finally meet the man of your dreams.”

“Says the woman who had to be forced down the aisle.” Skyla sticks out her tongue at Ellie before striding out of the room. She stops, looking at me over her shoulder. “I mean it. You hurt Gia and I’ll kill you and hide the body somewhere nobody is going to find it.”

Ellie pats me on the shoulder before following Skyla out of the room. “You’re going to have to beat me to it.”

Their laughter echoes down the hall as I look in the mirror one last time.

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