Page 108 of Savagely Yours
“She’d stay if I asked her to. Stay here with me.”
“Would you?”
I tipped the chair up on two legs.
She lightly swatted my thigh, and I set it back down.
“No, I wouldn’t. Larke’s not safe here. Even if things eased up, she and Neal have history, which makes her a target.”
“Romantic history?”
“No, it’s something different. Something less ‘sexual power’ and more ‘intellectual power.’ She’s amazing. I could brag about my wife all day. So I wouldn’t be surprised if he was intimidated by that. Imagine thinking you’re the shit your entire life, and then you meet someone who’s flawlessly better than you are.”
She lightly swatted me again.
Grinning, I scratched the back of my head. If there was one habit she’d likely never get me to break, it was what she’d often referred to as my “vulgar” vocabulary. However, she’d done a fantastic job with manners, dressing, and grooming.
“So you understand why you have to leave, then,” she insisted. “You have to keep my daughter-in-law safe, and once you’re safe, love each other openly and freely. I’ve heard about your arrangement, and that worked in here. It helped you see each other, express your love, and make love to one another.”
I leaned forward until my forehead bumped the tabletop, and she eased me back up using a tender grip on my shoulder.
“But just like I’m sure you never thought you’d meet Larke, good things are waiting for you, Dezzie. Things you deserve. Out there.”
I looked at the window.
Soon, I would have to leave, and Larke waiting for me was the only reason I’d get my feet to move.
“Just don’t hurt her.”
I snorted. “Never.”
“You promise?”
I cleared my throat and adjusted in my seat. “As crazy as this might sound, sometimes, I see me and Larke in some alternate universe. We have a daughter. They both have me wrapped around their fingers. Our daughter knows who her parents are, when her birthday is, and whatever they want, whatever they need, I’m there for my family. Even if I’m dead, I’ve made it so that they’ll never know any starving, cold, sleepless nights, lying on some backstreet or in some alley, praying nobody finds them in a vulnerable moment. Honestly, Mom, I don’t even know how this shit happens. How a person can go from being a stranger to somebody you’d remove your own heart for if theirs stopped beating. The way I love that woman? It scares the shit out of me sometimes. She’s everything, Mae.Everything.”
Mae leaned against my arm. “That’s that rare love. The one where it’s prewritten somewhere. Where, in every universe, you’re Dez, and she’s Larke, and you two end up together.”
“Have you ever had that?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“What about with Edward?”
“Edward is a booty call.”
“Mae…”
She leaned back, looked up at me, and fixed my hair. Once she was done, she continued to stare at me, tears in her eyes and a small, almost knowing smile on her face.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing. Now, come give Mom a kiss. Be good, and be safe. Please, be safe. I love you, baby. And tell my daughter-in-law that I love her too.”
“You’re shooing me?”
“Yes. I have work waiting for me in the bedroom.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
