by T Steele
His eyes bore into mine once more, scanning every inch of my face, his eyes narrowing the harder he observes me; then he licks his lips and closes his eyes before dropping on one knee.
I gasp, my hand comes up to clutch my chest—feeling the storm that is my heart as it beats against my palm.
He opens his hands to reveal a golden ring with a large red diamond in the center. Tears immediately spring to my eyes.
“It was my mother’s,” John whispers. “It was the only nice thing she ever owned. The color matches my Ruby. How could I not give you something so fitting of your namesake?”
His voice is so low and raspy and my eyes are blurring with tears.It’s like I’m frozen in time, staring slack-jawed at my big, muscular and powerful John down on one knee baring his soul.
“I want you to be mine. Forever. No holds barred. Nothing between us. I want you more than anything. Absolutely fucking anything. Please, make me the luckiest son of a bitch alive and marry me?”
I drop onto my knees with him and wrap my arms around his neck. “Yes! Oh my God, yes! I’d be honored.” My voice is choked and muffled against his shoulder and I look up and run my fingers through his hair, using it to bring his face to mine. I kiss him. Hard.
He pulls away and grabs my hand reverently, his own hand trembling as he puts the ring on my finger. And then he stares at my finger before bringing it to his lips. His hands smooth up my arms to cup my face. “Thank you,” he murmurs and then places the softest kiss on my lips and I melt.
“Shit,” he says against my lips.
“What?”
“We’ve got to tell your dad.”
I throw my head back in laughter. “He won’t care.” At John’s look, I snicker some more. “If he does, I’ll protect you. Just like you do for me.”
John’s face relaxes in a soft smile that nearly steals my breath. John and I have been through more than most couples have been through in a lifetime, but I’d go through it all again if it meant we’d end up here, me in his lap, sitting on the floor of his closet, laughing. Happy.
John’s thumbs roam over my cheeks. “I can’t wait until I get to call you Mrs. Ruby Russo.”
Thank you
Thank you so much for reading my story! Please consider leaving a review! Good or bad, I would appreciate it! :)
Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank my family for always supporting me no matter what kind of crazy story I come up with!
This book never would’ve happened without so many awesome people, and here are a few:
Payton Salmons, AKA my soul mate, parabatai, best friend, other half of my one brain cell that we both share. We’ve already worked together and even written some books together, so this book felt lonely at times not having her as a coauthor, but she was still there for me! Supporting me every step of the way! From hysterically laughing over my characters because of how dramatic they are, but we still love them anyway, to editing and helping nitpick those little details! Thank you so much!
Waverly Alexander, thank you so much for putting up with my chaotic brain. I could seriously call waverly at 3am and she’d answer just to help me figure out all my millions of plot holes and to hash out all my other thousands of book ideas. I’m so grateful for you and your support!
C. Standing (Cat), thank you so much for supporting me and keeping me organized! God knows I need that!
My beta readers, Kate DellaVecchia, Nicole Shaker, Adrina, Hope, and Alannah—THANK YOU ALL FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!
My amazing street team—Trope Chicks’—YOU GUYS KICK ASS AND I LOVE YOU! THANK YOU!
And bloggers, readers, whoever shared my book on their social media—HUGE, HUGE thank you to you all!! I will forever be grateful to you and all I can hope is that my books are always worth it and that you’ll continue to read them and enjoy them enough to share! I wish I could personally thank each and everyone of you or bake you cookies, or a dessert of your choosing, basically anything to show my gratitude! :)
I know I’m probably forgetting some of you, but please know if you’ve ever reached out to me or encouraged me with my writing in any way, it was appreciated!!
Most of all, though, I’d like to thank whoever is reading this sentence because that means you’ve made it through the entire book! Thanks for reading and if you could, please leave a review, good or bad, they’re appreciated!
Until next time, I leave you with love, hugs, or high fives if you’re not a hugger, and maybe an awkward joke from me because I am the Chaos Queen. So, if anyone’s going to leave you with a heartwarming, but inappropriate goodbye, it’s gonna be me! Whooop!
Love, TayTay, TDawg, Tmoney, Tater salad, The Chaos Queen, T. Steele.
XOXO
About the Author
T. Steele works hard at writing un-put-down-able romance novels with gritty and flawed characters. She's also always drinking coffee to help her keep up with the chatty characters in her brain. Her nicknames are Taytay, Tdawg, Tmoney, and The Chaos Queen. Feel free to follow her on all social media platforms!
https://www.instagram.com/t.steele_author/
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https://twitter.com/TSteeleauthor
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She also writes fantasy novels with co-author Payton Black under the pen name Payton Taylor.
Books by T. Steele
The Corvinus Chronicles Series
Crown of Sunlight
Palace of Moonlight