Page 30 of Mic Drop

The pain to come.

She takes a step forward and faces me. “You’re absolutely right,Bennett. The person I’m mad at is my mother for not seeking medical intervention sooner. Not you. You didn’t deserve what I said.”

“Thank you, Sweetheart.” I can’t resist any longer and drag her into my arms. With my nose buried in her hair, I add, “You’re wrong, though. Your mother is fighting very hard in the only way she knows how. She’s fighting to be with you, fully with you, for as long as she can.” I kiss her lips, salty from her tears.

Jenna comes undone in my arms. I let her cry out her pain, holding her trembling body to mine. When her breathing returns to normal, she says, “I hate this. I hate the gods that gave her cancer. I hate everything about her situation.” In my arms, she shakes. “But you’re right. She gets to live out her life the way she wants.”

“I’ll be here for you as much as possible. If I can’t be here in person, I’m only a phone call away. You’re not alone. You’ll never be alone.”

She hugs me tight, “I love you.”

Her sweet words sink into my bones. “Love you too.” Because I got her mother’s blessing, I ask, “Will you marry me?”

In my arms, Jenna goes rigid. She pulls back. “What did you say?”

“I know there are a million reasons why now is probably the worst possible time for me to ask this, but I love you so much. I want the world to stop calling you Black Widow.” I take a breath. “I want your mother to be at our wedding.”

Her mouth flies open.

Now I’ve made this decision, I barrel forward. “I’m sorry I don’t have a ring. But I’ll get you one. You can pick out the prettiest one at Tiffany’s.”

Her head bounces. “I don’t know what to say.”

I whisper, “Do this for us. For your mother.” My hands cup her cheeks. “Say yes.” I kiss her. “Marry me.” My tongue joins the kiss. “Let me be your partner for today and tomorrow and forever.”

“Bennett, I have so many other things to concentrate on—my mother, my businesses. Oh, and this new interview with theRecordNews. I can’t bother my mother to help me plan our wedding.” She steps backward. “Ma! I can’t imagine how she’ll react to this.”

I grin. “She already gave me her blessing.”

She blinks several times. “What?”

“Told me she’d be honored to have me as her son.”

Her head shakes. “After we went out to dinner, Ma was singing a different tune.”

My eyebrows rise. “Really? I thought she loved me back then.”

“She was being polite.” She tucks her hair behind her ear, which springs from its confines almost a second later.

“Well, I talked with her today and she was all too happy to dump you in my lap,” I tease. Her face still registers disbelief, so I add, “Once she confirmed I loved you, of course.”

“You want to marry me? After how awful I was to you?”

“I’ve been an ass too. We’re even.”

“My head is swimming.” She swipes her forehead as if to prove her point. “You really want to get married? When?”

“Whenever you want. We can do it next week so your mother can be with us. Or next month. Or we can wait for a year. I don’t care so long as you agree to be mine.”

Her hands connect behind my neck. “I came down here to apologize for being awful to you, and you proposed?”

“Seems that way.”

She straightens. “I also came here to tell you about the interview I just watched on TV. It was Lissa. She told quite the tale about how you sang a song to hera capelladuring your fake junior prom. The one you and she took on your own because neither of you could afford to buy the proper attire. Where you took each other’s virginity.”

“First of all, I never sing without music since Mom put her hand over my mouth when I was rehearsing a song for Father’s Day, saying my voice could make my sister roll over in her grave. I was five.” I huff. “As to Lissa, she was still a virgin when I got out of town, at least by me. So was I until a nice groupie relieved me of the nuisance.”

Her face scrunches up. “A groupie?”

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