I pulled back and studied his face, seeing nothing but love, a sentiment mirrored through our bond. “You asked Lucifer for permission to marry me? The same guy who suggested I sex you away the day before he planned to go kill you?”
A smile tilted his lips. “I asked for his blessing, not his permission. If he had said no, I wouldn’t have mentioned it.”
I blinked at him for a moment. That was a lot to unpack. “You asked Lucifer, the man that was going to kill you—”
“That seems to be a sticking point with you.”
“And he said yes?”
His smile was flawless and my heart was going too quickly.
“He did. He also refused my plans to furnish you with a bank account solely in your name that you can manage yourself. Instead, he thought it fitting that you should have the stones he stole from the path leading to the elf castle. He’d planned to give them to you anyway. He was laughing when he said it. He thought this was a good occasion, whether you said yes or no to me.”
“Perfect,” I said, laughing. Maybe still crying. Today was starting to be too much.
“Yes. As soon as he said it, I knew that it was the perfect solution.” He took my hands. “I want you to be independent of me. If you need to leave at a moment’s notice, or if something should happen to me, I want you to have enough assets to help you disappear. I do not want you to rely on me for money. I don’t want anyone to be able to corner you into taking a job, or something else you don’t want to do. I will help you set up that gold to ensure it is so. In addition, once we are married, I’ll put your name on my solid assets—the ones that are sure bets. The less…solid issues will come when you are either up to speed with them or they stop being risky.”
“What kind of risky?”
“‘Someone showing up and wanting compensation for a deal gone wrong’ kind of risky. Or ‘the government putting a lien on your assets’ kind of risky. I am not always…by the book in my endeavors.”
“Heard. Just the gold is fine.”
“No.” His eyes took on a severe cast. “I want you to be a part of me in every definition of the word. You will take half of my assets or more. You will be the mistress of all my holdings and estates, provided they won’t come back and bite you on the ass.”
I just nodded. We could fight about that later.
“I probably don’t have to tell you so, but with that gold, you can buy this house from the bank. You can do with it as you wish.”
I nodded again, needing to process that and wanting to store it away for later.
He nodded back, as though catching that thought, before standing. “Would you like to see what comes next?”
“There’s more?” I asked, a little afraid to stand with him.
“Yes.”
We entered the Underworld at a different place than before, this section actually quite orderly. No walls separated the creatures from one another, and the stalls for trading and commerce were open, the energy calm. I was a little disappointed.
The steps lit up as we started down, and Darius stopped a few steps in, looking back at me.
“What?” I asked.
“You aren’t skulking this time. You aren’t hiding. You’re coming home.”
I scanned his expectant face and felt a grin bud.
I dug into the magic around us, deciding to have a bit of fun. The area strobed, disco-style, a couple of times before the stairs lit in flame. I ensured the flame was low heat but high volume, just to look cool.
Darius and I descended hand in hand, like royalty, and I felt like a douche. Still, appearances were important. I needed to put on some sort of show to get a buzz going about my arrival. Or at least to let them know that I had enough arrogance to match Darius. Nearly.
At the bottom, the various creatures gawked before bending. If they didn’t bend? I made them. Because I could.
The smile grew on my face.
I knew this. I was comfortable with this. Forcing my hand. Being an ass. I could do this in my sleep and, moreover, it was damn fun. Way more fun than chasing shifters.
Well… Okay, it was fun in a different way. I missed chasing shifters. I wanted another go at Cole. That were-yeti was so fun to infuriate.
The beach before the river was mostly the same, just newer. A few embellishments from when Lucifer or whoever had had to rebuild after our crew’s last visit. One exception, though: rose petals littered the ground in a path leading away right.
“Please.” Darius gestured me that way, taking my hand again.