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He kisses the top of my head. “Of course. Just one last thing.”
Before I can even ask what, he slices his arm through the air. The knife bursts from his hand, spinning hilt over blade, until it hits its target.
Johnny falls backward, chair and all. I cry out and try to look away, but Gavin holds my head in place, forcing me to see the blood spurting from Johnny’s neck as he squirms like a dying worm. It might only be seconds, but it seems like it takes him an eternity to die. Even after he settles, I can still hear his gurgled breaths.
When it’s finally over, Gavin releases me.
I turn to him, horrified over what he’s made me witness. “Why?”
“Because I realized that there is nothing I can do to erase him from your memory. You will never forget what he did to you.” He looks at Johnny’s body. “But you won’t forget the way he died either.”
26
ANDIE
Once upon a time, the penthouse on the forty-fourth floor of The Red Hotel and Casino was a quiet place. A lone man stared out the floor to ceiling windows, watching his bustling domain, so full of life, and yet his was completely devoid of it all.
Until now.
Now… The television in the living room has been playing Bluey for the last hour, while Josh colors on the once pristine coffee table. Jazz fills the kitchen as our cook, Sue, teaches Miri a new dish and Lola is on the floor watching her kitten swat at the pieces on the new chess set Gavin gifted her earlier today.
As for the lone man himself… Well, he’s not lonely anymore. And as he stands opposite me, leaning against the doorway, his face filled with contentment, something inside me tightens.
His gaze catches mine and he smiles. Then, pushing himself off, he comes to take me in his arms.
“Is this okay, Gavin? Us taking over your life like this?”
He looks around. “I never wanted a family. It seemed like a weakness. But then you and Lola happened.” He looks toward where she’s playing. “I saw what you had, and I wanted it for myself.”
“And you always get what you want,” I laugh, recalling the conversation we had that day when he sat me in his office.
Chuckling, he bends down and kisses me. “Always.”
“Bet you didn’t think you’d end up with Miri and Josh too.”
He shrugs. “It’s a whole package, right? She’s your family. That makes her mine too. There’s no better way to do that than to have everyone close. I have to be to protect what belongs to me.”
I wrap my arms around his waist, my heart filled with so much emotion it’s hard to breathe. “We belong to you?”
“Of course you do. Don’t you remember? I told you that the moment you walked into my house, you were choosing to give yourself to me.”
“For a week,” I say with a chuckle.
“Is that what you thought?” He laughs, then he crushes my mouth with his, kissing me the way he did that first night. When he’s left me breathless, he pulls away and clarifies, “I meant forever.”
“So, I steal a measly one thousand dollars and it cost me a lifetime?” I mock.
“Ah, but there’s the problem.” His eyes sparkle deviously in the sunlight and he leans in for another kiss. “You stole more than that. You stole my heart. You are a thief, Miss Burrows, and for that you must pay.”
“Only bad men blackmail a woman that way.”
“I never claimed to be anything but.”
“You are.” I smile and drop my head onto his chest, relishing the warmth of his embrace. “Then I guess I have no choice but to be happy. Forever.”
EPILOGUE
GUNN
