Even at Your Darkest
Page 23
I look to Layton, wrapping my arm around her and leading her back toward the car.
She killed her monster that night. And it scared the ever-loving shit out of me.
I expected a meltdown from her after, prepared myself to carry her through it, but it never came. She was calm, even as she watched the bodies be bundled into the back of the van. She just sat, right there on the floor and waited while the building was cleared. Then, as planned, we torched the fucker and disappeared. I don’t know what Trev and his men did with the bodies, and I don’t think I want to know, but I owe each and every fucking one of them a debt I’ll never be able to pay.
Even now, Layton refuses to break over what happened. She’s pieced herself back together and is working toward being the girl I fell in love with all over again.
She forced me here today after a somewhat heated discussion. I try not to think about Tommy, and she says that isn’t right. That he was my brother before anything else he turned out to be. And she’s right. He did this, to me, to Ma, but he wasn’t alone. Tommy was a victim too, in a fucked up way. Compromised by a man that should have been shielding him from the very things that ruined him. So, I came, and I said what I needed to say. It’s time to put it to bed and get back to normality now, not that Layton and I have ever had the chance to create our own normal.
I drive us back to town with her head resting on mine and pull up at the shop. Aiden, Nolan, and I, have worked our asses off to get the store back up to scratch for her, because I know she’s desperate to be back in there. Jackson has helped too, keeping everything running while we both got our shit back together. In all the chaos, I’d forgotten to tell Layton that I’d found us a new place, and so I finally showed her the house yesterday. We officially signed off on it, and we’ll be moving in this weekend.
We both go our separate ways when we climb from the truck, her to do the thing she loves, and me to do mine.
It’s later than planned when we make it back to our apartment. My feet are dragging with the long day. The trip to my hometown lost me a couple of hours, so I had to work late to catch up. Layton was still at it on her machine when I went for her, and I had to physically carry her out. I study her now as she climbs the stairs, watch the curve of her ass move with each step. I feel my dick stir, the usual whenever I’m looking at her.
She turns as we reach the top, smirking. “Are you looking at my ass?”
I smirk back. “I might be.”
She laughs, unlocking the door. “Pervert.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” I follow her in, then push her against the wall. “You have no idea.”
Layton
One Year Later
He’s laughing at me.
My little world of calm is currently in crisis, and this asshole is splitting his sides at the whole thing. Does he not realize how much of a big deal this is?
Annoyed, I shut the door of the freezer with more force than is probably necessary. He comes around the kitchen island and approaches, wrapping his big mammoth arms around me. He kisses my neck, sending little waves of what we never get to have anymore, shooting though me.
“Babe, chill,” he says. “It’s just ice.”
“I just wanted everything to be perfect. This is the first time my folks have been up here to see us.”
“And they’re outside now falling in love with Lettie. They don’t give a shit about ice.”
I huff a breath but let him lead me out to the yard where our family and friends are gathered. I look over to where my mom and dad are playing with my daughter and smile, but seeing as she’s the cutest kid on earth, how could I not?
We had a hard go of it getting to this point, especially considering we were under the impression that little Lettie-Mae, named for my grandma, was actually supposed to be a little Tommy, for Kane’s brother. So, our tiny miracle had a blue nursery for a bit, which I may have overreacted about for like half a second. Though, Kane would say it was more like an eternity. Still, we adjusted, and she’s molded into our lives perfectly.
I step down from the patio and onto the grass, taking in the atmosphere. We’ve a mixture of friends, which is mostly made up of half a motorcycle club, but they’re ours. I spot my sister at the edge of the garden and move to go talk with her, wanting her opinion on some things I’m working on for the store, but halt my steps when I see her eyes light up. I follow their direction, internally groaning when I see Aiden offer her a grin. Just as I’m about to go over there and kick his ass, Kane blocks my path, Lettie-Mae in his arms.
“Leave them be,” he says, shaking his head.
“But she’s my baby sister.”
“And she’s going home tomorrow. How much trouble can they really get in?”
“You don’t know seventeen-year-old girls,” I snort.
He laughs, handing our girl over. I position her on my hip and rub my nose with hers until she giggles. “Come on,” Kane says, pushing me in the opposite direction. “Let’s do what we need to do and then get them the hell out of here.”
And we do.
We eat, drink, and just enjoy being in the good. And when the dark tries to creep back in, we let our love be the light, and see only us.
THE END
All of the smooches and thanks in the world for reading! I cannot even begin to tell you how grateful I am that you took a chance on little ol’ me.
I hope you enjoyed it, hope you were able to lose yourself into the world I created for each and every one of you. Even if just for a little bit.
I would love to hear your thoughts, love to know what made you happy and what made you sad.
You can email me on authorajlove@gmail.com or you can always find me on Facebook or Twitter.
Breaking Free: Una Familia Segura
Breaking Free: Learning to Fly
The Sound of You
The Sound of Us
Beyond Repair
Beyond Bruised
Family Tied