“There’s barely a clean bit of skin amongst us. Did you really think a reputable tattoo artist worth their salt wouldn’t recognise our logo? Especially one in Edinburgh, where we have one of the larger clubs? We had already been circling your photo around, and as soon as you made the enquiry to get it removed or covered, we were called straight away. The tattooist knew you were my old lady, and he said he’d detain you there so we could come and collect you. At this point, enough time had passed that I was more pissed than anything else. So we decided to have some fun with you instead. With half an hour, Hacksaw had everything. Your new name, your address, your job, your mobile number—the lot. Your tattoo was your downfall.”
“Goddamn it,” she laughed. “I knew I should have just lived with the fucking thing.”
“I’m glad you didn’t. Because now I get to take you for it done all over again.”
“I don’t fucking think so. I didn’t want it in the first place, I’m not getting it again,” but her words were accompanied bya playful slap to my arm, so I doubted she was serious. “What changed?”
“Hmm?”
“You said you were going to have fun with me. What did you mean by that, and what changed?”
“I was going to take a leaf out of those dark romance books you love so much and become your own masked stalker. I was going to drive you half mad until you were left with no choice but to come running back to me for protection.”
She scoffed at me. “I never would have run to you for protection.”
“You don’t know what I had planned,” I said softly, but there was no mistaking the warning in my tone.
“Noted. And I know the rest. You found out about Axel, and the rest is history.”
“It’s not history, Rachel. We’ll never be history. We’re the future, whether you’re ready to admit it or not.”
She grew silent before whispering, “I’m not sure if I can go back to what we were. So much has happened.”
“And there’s so much left to happen,” I said, pulling her closer and lifting one of her legs over mine so we were pressed together. “I don’t want to go back to where we were. We are not those people anymore. We’ve both changed. Going back to who we once were, would be like pretending shit hasn’t happened. I want to find out who we are now. We’ll figure out a way to make this work.”
“How?”
“The way we always do. In a way that fits us, and fuck what anyone else has to say. What were we doing before it all went to shit last time?”
“I… We were doing family days out. You, me, and Bee. We were trying to bond and form a family unit.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do again, with Axel included, obviously. Once a week, we make sure we have a day that’s just ours.”
“And that worked out so perfectly last time,” she muttered, rolling her eyes. “You were called away early on the very first outing, and we never repeated it.”
“This isn’t last time. We’re not in the middle of war, for one. And I’m the president for two. I will make sure I’m not called away, and I’ll make sure it’s not a one off.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” I laughed. “Just okay? As easy as that?”
“If you’re willing to put in the effort, the least I can do is meet you halfway.”
“Tomorrow,” I promised. “Whatever your plans are, cancel them. We’re going out tomorrow.”
“I—”
“No,” I said, interrupting her with a kiss. “Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” she whispered against my lips before kissing me back.
Chapter 54
Rachel
Dante stuck to his promise, waking us up bright and early to spend the day with him. He gave me five minutes to get ready, and when I went downstairs, both kids were dressed, and he had a feast prepared for breakfast. I knew he wouldn’t have made everything and would have recruited one of the prospects to help him out, but I appreciated the sentiment anyway, even if it was a bit overdone.
I didn’t want Dante in performance mode. I wanted the everyday Dante. Performance mode wouldn’t last. It was him trying to impress me.EverydayDante would be the man I had to live with day in, day out, and it was him I wanted to spend time with today. Or else how would we know any of this was real?
