Chapter Thirteen
Serena could see by the look on Lori’s face that she wanted to say something, that she had been wanting to since Serena had come home that night two weeks ago to find Tristen in Clifford’s side of the house with Lori screaming at him. She had been too tired and stressed to want to listen to Lori then. She’d had to sit down with all her family and talk about her relationship with Tristen. Lori was the only one who still seemed uncertain about the whole thing.
Now, Lori and Natasha both were helping her get ready for the official ceremony where the matriarch would step down. It was also when Milly would issue her official challenge of the situation. It felt like time was just zipping by.
Natasha cupped Serena’s face in her hands. Her aunt’s eyes shone as she looked down at her. “You’re so beautiful, Serena. I want you to always know that. You’re strong and brave and smart.”
Serena nodded the best she could while Lori curled her hair. Her stomach twisted, though. There were still members of the Sawyer group out there, and there was a possibility that they were going to come after them at this ceremony. Even though she knew Tristen was out there with Marcus, she couldn’t help but wish he was by her side.
“I’ll go check to see how the preparations are going,” Natasha said. She slipped from the room, and Serena let out a pent-up breath.
“We need to talk,” Lori said as soon as she was gone.
Serena had a feeling she knew what it was going to be about. “Tristen and I—”
“Yes, Tristen and you. Look, I know from experience that sometimes these things are… intense. Older men, younger women. In my experience, it’s never a healthy thing. From what I’ve seen with you and Tristen, it looks… well, it looks better than my experiences. But I want to know, honestly, has he pressured you to do anything?”
Serena sighed. She knew Lori was just looking out for her, but she couldn’t help but feel that Lori was putting more of herself in the situation than she realized. “No. Tristen hasn’t tried to get me to do anything I wasn’t comfortable with. Well, I suppose there was the time when he and Robert took me to the cabin, but that was because he panicked over my safety.”
Lori made an angry noise in her throat. “That’s— “
“Almost exactly what Uncle Clifford did with you.”
Lori closed her mouth. She looked a bit sour, but nodded. “I’ll give you that. I’m just worried about you, Serena. I know that you’re smart and brave and very mature for your age, but you’re still young. Are you certain you want to bind yourself to a man who is twice your age.”
Serena turned around, which resulted in her hair being pulled but she didn’t really care. “Lori, I know that you’re concerned and I love you for it. I want you to tell me what warning signs to look out for.”
She said it more to alleviate Lori’s fears than anything else. Serena had no doubts about Tristen. She could list dozens of reasons why he was the right one for her, but it all boiled down to how she felt, and how her bear felt, towards him. When she was with him, she was calm. Even when they argued about matters of security, she never felt riled when she was with him. He didn’t treat her like a kid, nor did he treat her like a fail-proof matriarch. He respected her and that was most important.
Lori sat down. “Well… first off if he tries to change you. If you can’t share certain things about yourself because of how he’ll react. If he refuses to participate in things you like, if he always insists on doing what he wants while ignoring what you want. If he puts you down, in public or private. And jealousy. Jealousy is huge. So is trust.”
Serena took her hands and smiled gently. “Thank you. I’ve never been afraid to tell him what I think. We share household tasks, and when we have downtime we talk about what to do and both agree on it. We don’t feel like we have to spend every second together; he understands that I need time alone to recharge. When we have disagreements, we talk it out. I love him.”
“Love?” Lori’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”
“Oh.” She hadn’t meant to say that out loud. She’d been working up to the right moment to tell Tristen. Not because she was afraid or nervous, but because she wanted it to be a perfect moment between them. A blush rose up in her cheeks, but she nodded. “I am. I’ve loved him for quite a while. It took me a little while to recognize it as love, but I do love him, Lori. He… He doesn’t ask me to change but just being with him makes me want to be the best version of Serena Boone there is. When I doubt myself, I know I can go to him and he’ll be there to support me. He doesn’t try to fix my problems, just helps me to see how to fix them and then gives me whatever help I need after that.”
Lori nodded seriously. “Okay. And have you told him that you love him?”
Serena shook her head.
“Why not?”
“I want it to be special. I haven’t had a moment where it felt like the right time to say it.”
Lori pulled up a chair and sat next to her. The troubled look that had been on her face was gone, smoothed out into a gentle smile. “There is no right time for that, Serena. The first time you say I love you to someone is a special moment whether it’s over a candlelit dinner or sitting on a toilet. The thing about the things we don’t say, there is always the possibility we might not be able to say them.”
Serena shivered.
“I’m not saying that you should rush things because you’re afraid you might die,” Lori added quickly. “What I mean is that when you love someone, you shouldn’t wait until some epic moment to say it.”
“So are you saying you approve of him?”
Lori paused for a moment, her face thoughtful. “I… I think so. I just keep thinking about when I was your age in relationships with men twice my age. They were selfish and if I had listened to my sister about them, I would have saved myself a lot of pain. But I don’t get a bad sense around Tristen. Clifford thinks that you’re both good. He’s not like the men I used to date.”
Serena laughed softly. “And here I thought that Uncle Clifford was going to be the one with the worst reaction.”
“Well, there is that knee-jerk reaction to the age difference. But I think you’re good. I think he’s good, too. Tristen, I mean. But,” Lori’s expression became very serious, “if he ever hurts you, just come to me. I know where to hide the body where nobody will find it.”
Serena laughed, but Lori didn’t.
“I’m not joking. He hurts you, I kill him.”
Serena rolled her eyes there. “That’s not going to make me want to tell you anything unless I want you to kill him.”
Lori frowned. “Good point… Well, whatever. I’m ride or die with you on this, Serena. If he ever hurts you, I will make him pay. Or I will just get you away from him and protect you,” she added quickly. “Whatever feels better for you.”
“Thank you. But it won’t be necessary.”
There was a knock on the door, and Lori went to answer it while Serena slipped her feet into the shoes she’d chosen for this. She had wanted to go with a pair of heels, because being short sucked, but in the end, she decided not to risk it. If there was an attack, which was a possibility, she didn’t want to end up trying to run on spikes. While Lori would probably be able to do so, Serena just didn’t have the practice.
It was Tristen at the door, and Serena quickly pulled him into the room and threw her arms around him. She kissed him hard. Tristen chuckled into her mouth and pulled back. His eyes sparkled as he shook his head.
“Insatiable little minx.” He laughed.
“Is everything ready?” Serena asked him.
Lori had slipped out when they started to kiss, but Tristen glanced at the door anyway. “Serena, there is something we need to talk about.”
His seriousness made her straighten up a little.
“We haven’t heard much from the Sawyer group since we made the last raid, but this would be the prime time for an attack. Especially considering all the politics of this exchange. I know that it’s important, I just… Could I possibly convince you to hold it somewhere more private, or postpone it?”
Serena gave him a hard look. “You already know the answer to that. I’m not going to back down. Not from the Sawyer group, not from Milly Terrance, not from anything. This is what I was born for and I am going to make sure that I do my duty.”
“I know.” He kissed her, long and deep. Heat swirled in her core as she stood on her tip-toes and pressed herself against him. His hand grasped her ass and she could feel that he was fighting the same desire she was. When he pulled back, he smiled at her. “That’s what I love about you.”
Serena’s eyes widened. Her breath caught in her throat and her fingers curled into Tristen’s shirt.
“I’ll be by your side the whole time, I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Serena hardly heard his promises. Her mind was too busy churning over what he had said. Love. He loved her. It wasn’t exactly what he had said, but close enough. She hadn’t been expecting the sweep of warmth and giddiness. After all, they had already agreed that they were mates. What was the big deal about the words when she already knew that they shared the feeling?
If it’s not a big deal, why haven’t you said it yet?
Tristen frowned at her. “Serena? Are you okay? You’re not having—”
“I love you, too,” she blurted, then bit her lip. She blushed a deep tomato red, watching him for his reaction.
Tristen’s eyes widened briefly. Then a smile blossomed over his face, so wide that it must have hurt. His arms wrapped around her tight and he pulled her close against himself. “You do, do you? I don’t recall saying I love you.”
“You said you loved my determination. And that’s me so that means you love me.”
“Can’t argue with that.” He brushed his mouth against hers. “You’re quite right. I do love you.”
“Good.” She wrapped her fingers into the hairs on the back of his neck. “That means we are one-hundred percent true mates and you aren’t allowed to doubt our relationship anymore. Got it?”
Tristen let out a laugh that shook them both. “You’re right. We are mates and I am not going to doubt it anymore. Mates don’t always follow logic, after all. Besides that, I’m pretty sure that Lori has a place to bury my body if I do something wrong when it comes to you.”
Serena giggled at that. “You heard her say that?”
“Heard her say what?”
“Never mind.” She kissed him again before stepping back. “What’s important here is that you and I are on the same page. And that’s that, then.”
Tristen brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. “Ready to become matriarch?”
“I think Lori wanted to do something more with my hair. But other than that, yeah. I am.” Serena smiled. And she was. She had never been more ready for anything in her life.