I laughed, the sound harsh with relief and tears. “Best decision I ever made.”
She pulled back just enough to smile beautifully at me, face tear-stained and flushed. Her hand cupped my scarred cheek, her thumb tracing the rough line of it. “I think you mean the best mistake you ever made.”
When I chuckled, she ate the laughter off my tongue with her own.
20
TIERNAN
Carter followed us back to Lion Court to make sure we were settled.
I had handed Bianca off to Ezra who carried her gentle as a babe up to the stairs to my bathroom where Walcott was already drawing her a bath and now I stuffed my hands in my pockets as I lingered with my brother.
“You didn’t have to come,” I started, as if that was thanks enough.
Carter snorted.
I glared at my little brother, but a fond smile twitched my lips. I’d always remembered Carter as a fucking rogue, and it was good to see that hadn’t changed with time.
“If you ever need me,” I tried again, clearing my throat of the dust I dredged up with the gratitude. “I’ll be there for you. Whatever. Whenever. You need a weapon, well, I think my skillset speaks for itself.”
“We don’t need a weapon,” Carter said. “We need a brother. Leo’s getting married to Haley Constantine next month, and you should be there.”
“Brothers.” I grinned, shaking my head. “I never thought I fit in, but the Morelli men seem to have a thing for Constantine women.”
“Not me,” Carter quipped happily. “I’m glad to escape that drama.”
“I’m sure you’ll have your own,” I warned with dark delight.
To my shock, he slung an arm around my shoulders to put me into a mock headlock.
I let him.
Because this casual, playful embrace meant everything about over a decade of stony silence.
“Come over here,” I offered, swallowing a momentary fear that he would ice me out again. “We’re opening presents in the morning, but we still have to talk about Bryant. He’s been too quiet and I want to strike before he does.”
“All work and no play,” Carter said, clucking his tongue. “I can drop by for a bit. Bryant expects me for dinner, but I could swing by around four.” He lingered for a moment, staring at me as if waiting for something to happen.
“What?”
“I missed you,” he said simply, as if he wasn’t sticking my knife in my chest. “I always wanted this for us. A brotherhood.”
“Yeah,” I said, the word all rasp. “Come here.”
He came, stepping into my open arms for a tight, quick hug. When we broke apart, we both avoided eye contact, mildly embarrassed by the show of affection.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he muttered, turning to leave. “Enjoy having your woman back. She’ll need you after today.”
“She needs me every day,” I countered arrogantly.
He rolled his eyes, closing the door on his murmured laughter.
As soon as he was gone, I turned and jogged up the stairs.
Bianca sat on the edge of my large free-standing bronze bathtub with Henrik knelt before her like a knight before his queen. He was gently cleaning the blood from her neck and chest with a washcloth. They didn’t notice me right away, so I watched with my heart thumping away in my throat as Bianca reached up to plant her hand on Henrik’s bald head. As if she needed to touch him to make sure he was real.
“I knew Tiernan and my Gentlemen would come,” she whispered hoarsely, her lids low with exhaustion.
Walcott emerged from the walk-in closet with a towel and one of my old boxing hoodies for her to change into. When Bianca swayed suddenly, he dropped both to the floor to catch her from falling back into the tub.
I knew without clarification that Ezra wasn’t there because Bianca had asked him to check on Brando.
Now that Bianca had started to teach me the language of love, I could see it so clearly when before, I’d been utterly blind. There was love in the way they touched each other, the tangible weight of it in the air like odorless smoke, the look of it on their faces as they interacted.
I felt all of it mirrored in me, reflecting back at them.
It made me feel both good and like a good man.
It didn’t eradicate the bad things I’d done, the cruel things I had no doubt I would still do because it was in my nature to be cruel, but it softened me in profound ways I was only just discovering. And softening, I knew, wasn’t bad because Bianca had the softest heart of anyone I’d ever known.
As if she could sense my gaze, her beautiful eyes opened and fixed on me. I watched with a kind of awe as slowly, she smiled. It was the same smile she had looking at a beautiful piece of art, or at Brandon. A smile like a sunbeam shot straight from her soul.