CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

Dante

I EXPECTED TO at least be given a warning.

I expected to spend the next few nights in her arms, convincing her, convincing myself that I was a good enough man for her when I knew in my soul — I wasn’t.

Nixon didn’t give either of us the luxury of getting used to the idea.

Would she hate me?

Would she resent me?

When all I ever wanted was to take care of her?

El suddenly stood, and faced me.

I expected tears, confusion, anger, a hell of a lot of anger.

Instead she unraveled the bandage still covering her arm and dropped it to the floor, then grabbed my hand and placed it over the almost healed wound.

“Cut me.”

“El, what are—”

“He marked me, put his initial on me, right here. When you spilled my blood, you missed.”

“What the hell do you mean when he spilled your blood?” Nixon roared.

“I may have left out some pertinent details from you,” I snapped. “Chase knew.”

“Oh well that makes everything better,” Tex said sarcastically.

“Please,” El pleaded, her eyes filled with tears. “Take your knife, cover the X, make it go away, give me a new scar—” She swayed toward me. “Give me you.”

“You don’t have to do this, El. We can get you a new tattoo.”

“I’m not getting into a new marriage with his name still on my skin!” She yelled. “It has to be you!”

The last time I cut her she thought I was trying to hurt her, to ask me to do it again, in front of others, to give her pain instead of pleasure right before we said our vows.

I didn’t want to be humbled.

It felt wrong to be honored.

And yet, I was.

I pulled out my knife.

Nixon moved toward me.

Tex stopped him, while Phoenix shook his head.

The X was small, in the middle of her forearm, it looked like he’d etched his initial in her skin with a knife, the cut was jagged, deep.

“He did this to you.” My hands shook.

“Until the scar stayed,” she revealed.

I didn’t warn her.

Tensing wasn’t going to help any of us.

Instead I ran the knife along the edge of the X letting it dig deep enough for her to start bleeding, and then I quickly curved the knife creating a half circle.

When I pulled back, the X looked like a bloody D.

And I wondered if that would be my legacy, if she would look down at her arm and hate me just like she hated him.

Blood rolled down her arm, slowly dripping onto the hardwood floor.

Tex stepped forward and placed the bible beneath our hands, but not before taking my knife and sliding it across my forearm and pushing our hands together, our blood mixed and slid drop by drop onto the Bible.

He wiped it off, then opened it and began to speak.

I couldn’t hear anything except for the own hammering of my heart as El watched me watch her.

She barely blinked.

Her lips trembled.

I just wanted to kiss her pain away — soak up all the fear.

And then it was over.

Five minutes.

That should have lasted a beautiful woman hours, days of celebration, picking out dresses and shoes, inviting friends and family — tasting cakes.

It was done.

I hung my head.

Chris was right.

She was marrying the wrong man.

But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to spend a lifetime trying to be the right one. Even if that meant I kept my blood-filled hands to myself.

“You can kiss now,” Tex said.

We leaned in at the same time, she sighed against my mouth. It should have been a sad kiss.

A chaste kiss.

It wasn’t.

I couldn’t help myself.

Holding her — knowing she was mine, knowing that mouth would never touch anyone else’s, I groaned, dipping my hands into her messy hair, only to have someone jerk me away.

“Kind of how you got in this predicament, Dante.” Nixon cleared his throat.

“Got carried away.” I cleared my throat.

Tex winked over at me. “Happens to the best of us, trust me whenever I kiss Nixon’s sister I get a mini orgasm right near my d—”

Nixon punched him in the stomach.

Tex doubled over and coughed. “Worth it.”

The guys walked out one by one, Phoenix stayed.

Licking his lips, he looked between the two of us, then handed me an envelope. “I’m glad I was right.”

I frowned down at the envelope. “What’s this?”

“Take it.” He shrugged. “Think of it as a wedding present from the Nicolasi family — from your father. Go, have fun, I can buy you one day away from this Hell. And then, you’re back on Mil tracking, and you,” He nodded to El. “Are back at classes as if nothing ever happened.”

“Something big’s going down this weekend.” I sighed and handed the envelope back. “I don’t think it’s smart to miss one day of school. Andrei may suspect something.”

Phoenix seemed to think about this then shrugged. “I’ll force the professors to go on strike tomorrow, easy, they’ll have miraculously recovered by Friday. Anything else?”

“You can do that?” El gasped.

Phoenix snorted, a small smile played at his lips. “Sweetheart, I can do whatever the hell I want.”

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Tex poked his head back in. “And since I was eavesdropping, this means I get to help, right? It’s been too long since I’ve shot something.”

“It was yesterday.” Phoenix stated slowly. “But yes, you can help.”

I was uneasy about the entire thing. And maybe a little nervous not having anything else occupying my mind but El. Shit what if after being with just me, and not needing me for protection or my gun — what if she hated what she saw?

“I don’t know, Phoenix.”

“You’ll go.” His eyes flashed and then softened. “Shit, you’re going to make me say it, fine I’ll say it. You take that day together because I can’t promise you more, all right? I can’t control everyone and everything, and while I know something big is coming this weekend, none of us knows how big. So you’re going to take that fucking day, and you’re going to enjoy it, because it may be your last. Got it?”

I jerked the envelope back. “Got it.”

El let out a shaky breath.

“Sorry,” Phoenix grumbled. “I’ve been working on my bed side manner.”

“It shows,” I lied.

He snorted out a laugh. “Yeah right. Go, enjoy, and take full advantage. Oh and, take his.”

“His?” I repeated.

“Your dad’s Rolls Royce, drove it over earlier, take it.”

My jaw dropped.

El squeezed my hand tighter.

“There’s no bombs in it right?”

“Course not,” Phoenix rolled his eyes. “Checked it myself.”

“That’s not exactly comforting.”

“Go,” he said again.

This time I listened.