Page 95 of Twisted Gift

I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. “We got married,” I say, grinning.

He gazes down at me. “We did.”

“I have my own bookstore.”

His lips twitch. “You do.”

“Holy shit,” I breathe.

He chuckles, leaning down to kiss my hair. “You still with me, sweetheart?” he checks.

I pause, looking up at him to smile. “Of course.”

We spend the rest of the night and into the early morning celebrating the best day of our lives with the people we love.

After we say goodbye to our friends and family, we head back to the hotel. Once we’re alone in the penthouse, Tristan wraps his arms around me and breathes deeply.

“Where would you like to go, Mrs. Westbrook?”

I smile at him, my cheeks flushing at the sound of my new name. “We’re already here.”

He raises a brow. “Here?”

I nod. “It’s where we met. I think it’s fitting we spend our first night as husband and wife here.”

“You will never cease to amaze me, Rory.”

I kiss the corner of his mouth and kick off my heels. “Thank god.” I pat his chest. “Because you just signed up for a lifetime of this.”

His lips twitch as he catches my hand and draws me closer, his breath warm against my cheek. “A lifetime will never be enough. I’ll never have enough time with you.”

“I know,” I murmur. “Let’s just start with right now, okay?” My fingers trail across his cheek, running along the stubble shadowing his jaw.

“Right now,” he agrees.

We spend the next three days locked away in the penthouse. We barely leave the bedroom unless we’re eating or showering, and even then we spend most of that time attached to each other. Our friends don’t text, or call, or try to contact us. Everyone knows we’re here, but they’re giving us this time to enjoy being together.

Finally leaving the suite after the third day, Tristan takes me out to lunch. We stop by the bookstore—mybookstore—where we sit inside and plan an official launch. Excitement floods through me. I’m opening my own bookstore.

“There’s something else,” I say after we’ve finished with the business talk.

“I’m listening.”

“All of your stuff is at the hotel in the penthouse, and most of my stuff is in the apartment. We’re already living together, but we still have our separate spaces.”

“Tell me what you want, sweetheart.”

“I want a place that’s just ours. Not yours or mine. I want us to live away from the hotel and the apartment. Hell, I want us to get a house outside of the city with a wraparound porch and a huge bay window with a reading seat and a pond in the backyard.” I take a second to catch my breath. “Is that too much?”

He chuckles, brushing the hair away from my face and tucking it behind my ear. “That sounds perfect, Rory.”

“Perfect,” I echo, and that weight on my chest feels heavier. “It can’t be, not until we’re safe from The Experiment, Tris.”

He frowns. “I know,” he whispers. “We’ll find a way. I promise.”

We decide to stop at the pub for lunch, and when we pull into the parking lot, I’m surprised to find it empty of all but Nikolai’s car. When we walk inside and find our friends eating and chatting at the bar, I ask them where everyone is.

“We closed the pub for the afternoon.”

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