“I won’t betray you. My men won’t either. We’re not stupid, we know how to make money.”
“Good.” Hedeon released him and clapped his hands. “Let’s untie our guest and have some tea, okay?”
I laughed again then pulled out a knife from my belt and cut Clifton’s bonds. The rope fell away and Clifton rubbed his wrists, staring daggers up at me—until his expression softened.
“We never should’ve fought,” he said, his voice soft. “Even if I had managed to win, it wouldn’t have been worth it.”
I smiled and shoved the knife back into my belt. “No need to fight anymore. Now we’re partners.” I extended a hand and Clifton took it, getting to his feet.
I still hated the rat fuck and I always would, but I was a pragmatic man. I knew that keeping him around would be profitable, and I wanted money above all else. I had my Leigh and now I had a future empire.
Hedeon lead everyone into the kitchen, made some tea, and we sat around the table drinking and discussing specifics of the upcoming arrangement. Leigh mostly listened as we hammered out the details. Part of me wondered if I’d snap at some point and murder Clifton, even though we had a deal—but I doubted it would happen.
I’m not sure it mattered though.
When we finished, Clifton left on his own and promised he’d bring the men to a meeting the following week. I followed Leigh out, but instead of getting into the car, I took her hand and we walked down the block together toward a field on the other side of Nineteenth. I stood at the corner and looked out at a group of kids practicing baseball on the diamond before turning to her.
“I don’t know how this would’ve played out if it weren’t for you.”
She grinned, got on her toes, and kissed me. “You would’ve been okay. I’m sure there’d be a few more dead guys, but you’d be okay.”
I smiled and held her against me. “I love you, you know that, right?”
“I love you too.”
“That’s why I didn’t want to let you go—why I was afraid that second time to use you in that plan.”
“I know.” She chewed her lip. “But we’re past that now, right?”
“You’re in this, little diamond. You’re in it for a long run.”
“Looks that way.” She laughed and kissed me one more time.
We stood there together watching the kids play baseball, not speaking, not needing to.
The future looked so different than I ever imagined. I never pictured a woman in my life like this, never thought I’d want to have a future with her, wanted to marry her, wanted to get her pregnant and make a family with her—but there I was, standing with her on the sidewalk and feeling like everything was beginning in earnest, like my life had been leading up to this point. From here on out, I couldn’t imagine being without her, couldn’t imagine taking a single step into the future without her by my side.
And I never would.
“Come on.” I squeezed her head. “Let’s go home.”
We walked back to the car together.26LeighTwo Years Later“Thanks for coming!” I smiled and waved at the young hipster couple as they left the shop. The door swung shut behind them and I walked over to flip the Open sign to Closed. I locked the top bolt and sighed as I cracked my back and looked around.
The shop was the same as it always was—at least the same as it had been for the past two years. Business had been surprisingly good, and although I made far more money selling pills. I cleaned up and straightened some of the shirt piles before heading down the short back hall and into the room that acted as both an office and storage for excess stock.
I sat down at the computer desk and stretched my legs before logging in and updating the sales data. I was exhausted and wanted to get home to Owain—but I had to make this business seem legit.
Since it wasn’t. Not exactly. I let my gaze drift over to the big cardboard boxes up against the wall. They were filled with black t-shirts wrapped around pill bottles, the best shirts in the world, and they were the reason I wore designer clothes and had way too many shoes.
As I turned back to the computer, someone knocked on the back door. I hesitated then got up and peered out through the peephole. Owain’s face looked back at me.
I pulled it open. “What are you doing here?”
He held up a brown paper bag. “I thought I’d bring you dinner.’
“You didn’t have to do that. I was coming home.”
“I wanted to.” He came inside and unloaded Thai food. It smelled amazing, and I pulled up a chair despite myself as he opened up a few containers. I accepted a pair of chopsticks and tucked into some incredible noodles.