Heartless Savage (Angels Halo MC Next Gen 7)

“Really?” The excitement in her voice made me smile. “Yay! Does this mean I can start helping her plan the wedding? The sooner, the better. November isn’t all that far away when you consider all the things that need to be sorted between now and then.”

Hearing Nova finishing up in the bathroom, I left the bedroom and walked into the kitchen. “I will have to let you know. Nova is being…stubborn. Apparently she wants to wait until she’s twenty before we get married.”

“That’s ridiculous,” she huffed, but I had to agree. “There’s no reason to wait. Put her on the phone, let me talk some sense into her.”

“As much as I would love and appreciate you doing that, Ciana, I know how long you two would be on the phone if I did. She has one more work engagement, and then we’re watching the ball drop together.”

“Oh,” she muttered. “Well, I’m going to be watching the ball drop too.”

“You mean, in your room, in your pajamas, while you drink an entire bottle of wine and eat your weight in Chinese food?”

“Hey!” she grumbled. “There is nothing wrong with having my own personal New Year’s Eve tradition. Just because I prefer to spend it alone, getting tipsy and gorging on the best egg rolls in the world…” She sighed. “Okay, I realize how pathetic that sounds. But I like my little tradition that I’ve started for myself.”

“It’s not pathetic,” I assured her soothingly. “I apologize if I hurt your feelings.”

“You did, but I forgive you because I know you didn’t mean to.” She was quiet for a moment. During the silence, I got the feeling she wanted to tell me something, but when she spoke again, it was to tell me goodnight. “I have to go. My food will be here soon, and I have to grab it from the guard at the gate, or Bennie and Vito will steal it and eat it all.”

“All right. But if you change your mind and decide you want to go out, you are more than welcome to join us,” I offered.

“Yeah, that will be a huge hell no. This is a special night for two of my favorite people. I’m not going to be a third wheel tonight. But I’m just warning you, next year might be a different story.” She laughed, then said goodnight again. “See you next year!”

Shaking my head at her, I pocketed my phone. Crossing to the fridge, I extracted a bottle of water and was about to take a drink when the door swung open. Dressed in a suit, long coat, and scarf, with his hair slicked back from his face, Garret looked like he was going out for his own New Year’s Eve celebration.

“Holy shit,” Nova exclaimed as she walked out behind her brother. “When did you learn to dress like a GQ model?”

The older Hannigan sibling straightened the collar of his coat, pulling it up to protect his neck before tying his scarf. Ignoring her question, he quickly took in her own outfit. The long-sleeved black dress had a shimmer to it from the diamonds threaded into it, making her look like a glittering star in the middle of the darkest night. She’d curled her hair and pulled the long tresses over one shoulder. Her makeup was a little more than I was used to seeing on her, but she looked gorgeous. The heels she was wearing to complete the look gave her six inches of added height, but her brother and I both still towered over her.

“You look beautiful,” he said as he took his gloves from the coat pocket and started pulling them on. “Ryan, man, you’re going to have your hands full trying to keep all those bastards off my sister tonight. Call me if you need help.”

“Where are you going?” she asked when he turned for the door. “Do you have a hot date or something?”

“Or something,” he said, his lips tilting up in a ghost of a smile. “It was good to see you, Nova. I figure we won’t see each other again before you head home, so give Mom a kiss for me.” He paused beside her then tapped her gently on the nose. “I’m sorry I’ve been a dick, sis. By now, you probably know I was just blowing smoke with what I said on your birthday. I have no excuse other than I was being an asshole, and I hope you can forgive me.”

Nova blinked up at him before touching her palm to his forehead. “Are you sick?” She gasped and dropped her voice dramatically. “Are you dying, Garret?”

Instead of laughing as I was sure she was going for, he grimaced and shook his head. “I guess I understand why you would think it would take something life-changing like a death sentence to make me be nice to you.” He gave her a tight hug. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

She stood there with her mouth still gaping open for a long moment after he left. “Did that just happen?” she finally asked me. “I mean, I didn’t dream that, did I? You saw it too, right?”

I shrugged. “He’s been different lately. After we got back from your birthday party, Pop and Zio had a conversation with him. I don’t know what they talked about or what went down, but he’s been acting more…” I hesitated, trying to find the right word to describe the change in my future brother-in-law. “…human ever since.”

“Huh, I thought it was a girl, but I guess Zio scaring the dickheadedness out of him makes sense too.” She crossed the few feet that separated us and took my bottle of water from my hand. Tipping it to her lips, she took a small sip before giving it back and then doing a slow full turn. “Well? What do you think?”

I had to peel my tongue off the roof of my mouth. “You are, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman who has ever walked this earth, my heart.”

Her eyes filled with pleasure while her cheeks pinkened as she skimmed her gaze over me from head to toe, taking in my black tux. “You look pretty good yourself.”

“If we want to make it on time, we should leave now,” I told her, tearing my gaze away before I picked her up and carried her back to bed. “You don’t want to disappoint your boss.”

Nova’s tongue peeked out, slowly licking over her lush bottom lip. “I want a kiss at midnight.”

“You can have a kiss anytime you want one,” I growled, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her into me. Pressing my forehead against hers, I inhaled deeply. “Except for right now. If I kiss you right this second, you will definitely be late.”

Her soft giggle touched that spot deep inside my chest that only she could ever brush against. “Fine,” she complained mockingly. “I’ll wait until midnight, then.”

I touched my lips to her forehead. “I vow to make the wait worthwhile, my heart.”

“I’m holding you to that, Mr. Vitucci,” she murmured, looking up at me through her thick lashes.