“Yes.”
* * *
ImarriedValentin Carrera thirty days later on the grounds of our heavily-guarded estate. There was no fanfare or extensive guest list befitting the head of one of the most powerful drug cartels in the world. Just like us, it was private and discreet, with only Mateo and Val’s secretary Janine standing by our side.
After an impressive full cartel gun salute, he slung me over his shoulder, dismissed everyone with a wave of his hand, and threw me onto our bed. His hands trailed my sleek, white dress up the length of my legs, and he paused at the apex of my thighs as his hands brushed against my white elastic thigh holster. He lifted a sleek eyebrow as he traced his fingers over the metal fastened within its confines.
“Is this your old, new, or borrowed?”
I winked. “It was a wedding gift from Mateo.”
“Remind me to kick his ass later.”
I ran my hands through his thick, midnight black hair. He’d slicked it back for the ceremony, but I loved it when it was wild and dangerous—just like him. “Be nice. You know as well as I do, anything could’ve happened today. You’re telling me you weren’t armed?” His lip twitched in a half smile. “That’s what I thought. Mateo just wanted me to have protection too.”
Val’s hand tightened around my thigh. “Speaking of which, now that we’re married, there will be no more birth control, Eden. What happens, happens. I want to feel every inch of you with nothing separating us.”
Releasing the garters from my elastic thigh holster, Val slid it down my leg and tossed it and my gun to the floor. I groaned impatiently as he chased his fingers back up the length of my leg with his lips. The minute he passed my knee, I meant to moan something enticing and dirty.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t what came out.
“About that heir thing…” He froze, with his mouth on my inner thigh. Glancing up through thick eyelashes, he waited for me to continue. Swallowing the lump growing in my throat by the minute, I took a deep breath and smiled. “Well, with Nash being gone, and neither of us having any family left, I decided to listen to you and stop putting everything in a box.”
“Oh?” He smiled.
“Except for one thing. I left this in there.”
Digging under the pillow, I handed him the rectangular box and held my breath. It rattled as he shook it and I smiled nervously. “So, how would you feel about a daughter running the empire someday?” The horrified look blanketing his face first scared me, then irritated the hell out of me. Narrowing my eyes, I peered at him through tiny slits. “Really?”
Full chested laughter overtook him as he rolled over and took me with him. “If she’s anything like you, she’ll run more than this empire. She’ll run the world.”
Holding my head between his hands he kissed me long and hard, glancing from the box to my face. “Really?”
“Really.”
“We’re going to fuck this up,Cereza.”
“Probably,” I agreed. Frowning, I ran a hand down his chest. “I don’t think I’ve ever really thanked you.”
“For what?”
“For kidnapping me. You most likely saved my life, and I repaid you by stabbing you with a fork. It’s a wonder you didn’t kill me yourself.”
“The night’s still young.”
“We’re bringing a kid into this, Danger. Are we doing the right thing here?” Panic seized me at the thought of our child enduring the life Val grew up with.
Eyeing me closely, Val brushed a piece of hair from my face. “Do you regret being here, Eden?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Not a moment.”
“Then neither will he or she. Family isn’t what’s around you. It’s what surrounds you. My mother showed me that every day of her life. I think you’d agree—so did your brother.”
“I miss him, Val.”
“And you always will, baby. Just like I’ll always miss my mother and the person my sister used to be. Maybe someday she’ll remember where she came from, maybe not. What’s important is we don’t stop living just because they did.”
Pulling his face down to mine, I dusted my lips across his. “How’d you get so smart?”
