Page 66 of Entangled
“Hello, princess,” a very familiar, deep voice came from behind me, belonging to the grouchy man who had just filtered into my mind.
How the fuck?
My eyes flew open, and I sat up and turned slowly, sure that I had just imagined his voice behind me. Because there’s no way on the face of the planet that he was here right now. I had doneeverything in my power to fly under the radar and avoid him finding me, but it wasn't like I had expected him to show up anyway.
My eyes connected with a familiar pair of silver eyes, and I searched them, feeling like the air was zapped from my lungs. He looked absolutely delicious standing before me shirtless, and in a pair of swim trunks. He looked the most relaxed I'd ever seen him, and so incredibly out of his element.
Apparently, the lack of oxygen I was experiencing by seeing him made my brain slow to process the question of how he found me.
“Vanessa,” I grumbled, flopping back on my lounge chair. That little minx had spilled the beans on my location. I hated her but loved her at the same time, because while I felt dread at his presence, I also felt relieved to have him back at my side.
But I knew these feelings of happiness and relief were temporary. I’d walked away from that life, and I knew he didn’t have that capability.
“Glad to see you too,” he laughed, plopping down in the lounge chair next to me.
“What are you doing here, Kade?” I asked, avoiding the way his laugh made me feel.
“I came for you, love,” he said gently, and I felt like I was in a fever dream at the complete one eighty his personality had taken. I also felt like I was in that episode ofGrey’s Anatomywhere Izzy was sitting with her dead fiancé on a beach, after he said he had come for her.
She ended up being diagnosed with cancer. Was this the universe’s way of telling me I was dying?
The lack of oxygen was definitely getting to me now. I surprised both of us by laughing out loud, and I covered my mouth to try to stifle it.
His eyes turned to slits as he glared at me.
There’s the man I know and love.
“What’s so funny, princess?” He asked, his glare still going strong.
“I’d try to explain it to you, but it wouldn’t make sense,” I explained as my breathing slowed. “What do you mean that you came here for me?”
“I mean that I came here for you. I’ve come to take you home with me, where you belong.”
“Bold of you to assume I belong to you,” I scoffed.
“You do. There’s no question about it Soren. I love you, with everything I have. You were made for me. Your mind, body, and soul speaks to me. We’re forever intertwined. I don’t think I’d ever be able to get you out of my system. You are forever ingrained in my being, and I’m sorry it took me so long to tell you.”
I sat speechless because what do you say to that? What was I supposed to do? How does one process that love declaration?
I turned his words over in my mind, and I knew he meant every word he said. He was a man who felt things deeply and intensely.
But I couldn’t jump for joy and crawl into his arms yet. I had to remember why I’d walked away in the first place.
“Kade, you have no idea what that means to me, but I have to keep in mind that I walked away for myself. I walked away to escape the life that had kept me prisoner for so long. That life is all you know. It’s your family, and I can’t ask or expect you to walk away from your family. No matter how much my heart beats for you.”
The smirk that graced his features was full of mischief, and I couldn’t understand or tell what was going on in his mind.
“What’s so funny, Ace?” I asked, throwing his question and his glare right back at him.
“It’s funny that you think I wouldn’t give up anything and everything for you. I would burn the world down if you asked me to. I’d swim across the ocean if you needed me to. Which is why I’ve left the family business. My mother was actually the one who pulled me out of my emotional stupor,” he said with a laugh.
“But what about your family?” I asked, still not quite convinced.
“What kind of family would we be if we didn’t think about each other’s happiness and put it before all else?” He answered with a smile, and my heart cracked.
“I don’t know if I can put myself through heartache again, Kade. Your family is your life, and the Mafia is all you’ve ever known. How am I supposed to believe you’re willing to just give it all away for a girl you just met?”
“You’re not just some girl to me, Soren. You are everything I have been spending my entire life looking for without even realizing it. In the time that I’ve known you, you’ve healed what used to be broken inside of me. You’ve shown and proven to me that there’s more out there for me than blood and money, which I’ve been wanting to escape foryears.If you didn’t come along, with your smart ass comments, your love for books and coffee who would I be? You’ve proven there’s still good in this world when I’ve been surrounded by bad for so long.”
