Page 71 of Beautiful Chaos

My lips twitch as I shrug. “Someone won’t allow us to go to the fights. Gotta work out our feelings somehow.”

She narrows her eyes at me, making me laugh. “How are your swollen lips and bruised ass, Ladybug?” A blush rises on her cheeks and we both laugh at the levity of the moment. We all have our ways of coping.

“Fuck off,” she says, but there’s no real heat behind it. I pull her into my arms and kiss her until we’re both breathless. Her small hands rest on my shoulders. She’s seemed so much smaller, so much more fragile ever since we got back from Black Hallows. It makes me want to cradle her in my arms and protect her from everything that hides in the shadows of our ugly world.

It’s an odd thought. One reminiscent of our time in foster care, though the woman in front of me has changed so much.

Maybe she’s finally letting some of Letty out after burying her deep down for so long.

Somehow, she seems so much softer now. Maybe she got a piece of her old self back when she watched the life drain from Romano’s eyes.

She sighs in my arms, resting her head against my shoulder. I scoop her up and fall to a seat on the couch, holding her against me tightly. She laughs, shaking her head. “Declan is looking for you.”

I arch a brow in surprise. “D is?”

She rolls her eyes. “That’s what I just said, isn’t it?”

I save my sassy comeback and just pinch her side instead. “Does this mean I get to leave this fucking house?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. You're the ones with a secret, not me.”

I freeze under her before cursing. Of course she would figure out we were hiding something from her. Did we really ever think we’d manage to keep her totally in the dark about her surprise?

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” I lie smoothly.

She pats my cheek condescendingly. “Whatever you say, big guy.” So smoothly.

Scar climbs out of my lap and stretches her arms over her head. “You can keep your secrets,” she teases. “If you guys are going to be gone, I have some work I need to get done.”

I sit up straighter, locked into her words. She hasn’t said much about work since we got back a few days ago. It took us all by surprise as she’s the type to usually throw herself into work instead of confronting her feelings. This is the first time she seems ready to tackle our next big problem.

“What are you going to work on?”

I recognize the coy smile that graces her face and know she’s going to be sassy before she even opens her mouth. “Maybe I want my secrets too.”

Darting off the couch, I wrap my arms around her and pull her back down into my lap, tickling her sides as I do. “Nope. Not allowed.”

She smacks my arms and curses me out, all while laughing. “Stop it, you big brute.” Of course I ignore her, continuing to tickle her until she finally relents. “Fine, fine, I’ll tell you!”

I stop tickling her but as she attempts to pull free from my hold, I grip her tighter. She can tell me from right where she is. “It’s nothing that surprising,” she finally says. “I’m going to do some shit for Steel Roses. I can’t go there yet, but I want to check in with the contractor about where we’re at in the renovations. Make some plans. Check in with the girls. See who’s planning to come back. All that shit.”

I perk up and loosen my hold. “Do you think we’ll be ready to reopen soon?”

She shrugs. “With Romano gone now, what’s holding us back? We shouldn’t have any more direct threats to us while we work out the last bit of revenge planning.” She says it nonchalantly, but she can’t hide her feelings behind a bravado. Not from me. Not anymore. But today is a good day. I’m not dragging her into her anxiety when she has finally managed to shake a bit of it off.

“That’s brilliant,” I exclaim, slapping a fat, wet kiss against her cheek, making her laugh again.

“I was wondering what the hold up was,” Declan drawls slowly from the doorway.

I grin, feeling lighter than I have in days after hearing Scar laugh and joke again. She’s really going to be okay. Even if this hurts, even if it’s hard, she needs this and she will come out stronger and better for it. “No offense, dude,” I joke, “I’d just rather kiss her.”

He flips me off and rolls his eyes. “Let’s go, there’s work to be done.”

I whine when Scar climbs off my lap again, even though that itch from earlier is finally turning into a shiver of excitement. “Don’t worry, pretty girl,” he says as he kisses her forehead. “We’re gonna take the tunnels.”

Fuck yeah we are. They’re an integral part of our plan after all. Let’s fucking do this.

We leave Scar with Noah and Luca and head to the office to leave through the tunnels. As soon as the door closes behind us, I turn my attention to Declan. Him and Luca have really been keeping this project of ours going with everything else that’s going on. “How’s it coming along?”

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