“Just… together?”
“Together.”
She smiles, but there’s worry in her eyes. “When we tell Maverick about us—”
“Let me worry about Maverick.”
“He’s protective.”
“I know. But I’m not going anywhere, Clover. Not unless you want me to.”
“I don’t want you to.” The sincerity in her eyes makes my chest squeeze in the best possible way.
I tighten my grip on her hand. “Then… we’re good.”
We finish lunch in comfortable silence, both aware that this is our last stop before Vegas.
Before everything changes.
When we finally head back to the truck, Dracula greets us with indignant meows and accusatory stares, like we’ve personally betrayed him by leaving him alone for ninety minutes.
“Yeah, yeah, we missed you too,” I tell him, scratching behind his ears, and slyly handing the little bastard a scrap from my burger that I kept for him. The little asshole actually purrs in delight, making me half smile at him.
“See?” Clover says, grinning. “You love him.”
“Maybe the cat isn’tso bad,” I admit begrudgingly.
We slide into the truck, Dracula’s breath hot over my shoulder as we pull out of Pioneer Saloon and back onto the highway toward Vegas, and I catch Clover’s hand, bringing it to my lips, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles.
“Whatever happens next,” I say. “We’ll figure it out.”
“We got this shit,” she agrees.
Vegas glitters on the horizon ahead of us, all promise and possibility. But for the first time since this journey started, I’m not thinking about the destination. I’m thinking about the woman sitting next to me, the cat purring in the back seat, and the fact that somewhere between LA and here, I stopped protecting Clover and started living.
Maybe that’s what unfinished business really is. It’s not something that holds you back, but something that propels you forward.
Something worth staying for.
Something worth fighting for.
Something worth everything.
The desert highway stretches out ahead of us, leading toward whatever comes next.
And the uncertainty of that is both electrifying and terrifying. Because I know my life is with Clover.
That is a certainty.
The uncertainty is whether we will be permanently in Las Vegas because our family back in Los Angeles has been completely and utterly annihilated.
And that thought isterrifying.
Chapter Fourteen
LOKI
The blue glow from my monitors is starting to burn my fucking retinas.
