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I let out a breath. “But you didn’t tell me.”
His lips curled into a smile. “That would have ruined your surprise.”
What surprise? I shook my head, confused and almost afraid this was a dream. I’d wake up, and she’d still be alive. This meant no more running. Worrying. Looking over our shoulders.
“I don’t …” I shook my head, trying to get my thoughts straight. Too many were firing off at once. Mostly that, holy shit, Netta was dead. “What surprise?” I finally blurted out.
Storm grabbed my chin. “Your birthday surprise.”
My birthday. He knew about my birthday.
“How—who—my birthday?” I wasn’t forming sentences. I couldn’t seem to manage it.
His eyes were a deep amber as he leaned in close to me. “You think I wouldn’t make it my business to know when your birthday is? Come on now, Briar. You should know me better by now.”
Okay, so he was a champion stalker. I guessed I should have assumed he knew the details about me. There was a good chance he knew my bra size too.
“This is one hell of a gift,” I said, not sure if I should be looking at someone’s death as a gift, but it sure felt like one.
“That’s not your gift, baby.”
I blinked up at him. “But you said …” I paused, trying to figure out what I had missed.
“Your gift is that inside the house is all the paperwork and custody papers. As of today, Dovie belongs to you. One Briar Landry is legally her guardian.”
The folder in my hand slipped free and fluttered to the ground around our feet as I stared at Storm. My vision got blurry, and I sucked in air just before a sob broke free.
“You’re serious,” I breathed, already knowing the answer.
My chest swelled as tears began to roll down my face. Something between a laugh and another sob escaped me, and I looked up at the ceiling in complete shock and let it out again before throwing my arms around Storm.
Oh my God, Dovie was mine. Oh my God!
Storm’s arms wrapped around me and pulled me against his chest. He cupped the back of my head, and I continued the strangled-laugh-and-cry thing as joy surged through me the more it sank in. He’d worked a miracle. I’d ask how he’d managed to do it so quickly, but I figured if these people could keep a murderer out of prison, they could pull anything off. I hadn’t even had to go through interviews or admit to having Dovie all these years.
“I can’t believe you did this,” I told him, emotion clogging my throat. “Thank you aren’t strong enough words. I don’t know that anything is.”
“Do you love me?” he asked.
“Yes,” I replied.
He knew that. I’d told him many times. Yet he always asked me.
“That’s all I need.”
He might have lied to me. And, yes, he might do things that make me nervous, and he might manipulate situations to get what he wanted. But he gave me Dovie. I wanted to believe that his other lies were for a greater cause, just like his keeping her new identity from me had been.
Pulling back from his chest, I grabbed his face and kissed him. The taste of cigarette on his breath and the smell of leather, combined with the circus of emotions going on inside me right now, had me grabbing fistfuls of his shirt as our tongues tangled in a wild rhythm.
He tore his mouth from mine. We were both breathing heavy.
“You keep this up, and I’m gonna have to fuck you out here. I’m trying not to because I know you want to go share the news with Dovie. But, baby, you can’t lick at me like that, or I’m gonna fuck you.”
Laughter bubbled out of me, and I looked at the closed door, then back at Storm. I wasn’t even sure how I was going to tell Dovie yet. I had to think of the way to do it. Netta had been a shitty mom, but she was still her mother. I didn’t know how much her death was going to affect Dovie. I had to think this through.
I grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head.
Storm’s eyes dropped to my chest. “Thank fuck,” he groaned, taking off his hat and throwing it over onto the desk before he yanked his shirt tail from his waist and unsnapped the front with one pull.
I was smiling. The giddy kind as I stripped off the rest of my clothing. Storm’s eyes continued to devour me as if he’d never seen me naked while he got naked himself.
“Go sit your ass on the edge of my desk.”
I hurried over to it and climbed up as he moved between my legs, stroking his erection. I loved the sight of his big, tanned hand moving up and down his length. He ran a finger between my folds, and he let out a deep, pleased rumble in his chest.
