Page 85 of Keeping Collette

“Of course not! Why would you think that?”

He smiled at her indignation. “I didn’t think you did, but I had to ask anyway.”

“No. Hound and his brother are two different people. One is not responsible for the other’s actions.”

“This is one of the reasons why I love you. No one would be surprised if you didn’t hold a little resentment toward Hound because of what his brother did to you and Courtney. But because you’re you, you know how to separate the two issues.”

“It’s not hard. Jim is a sick person. I don’t want to talk about him anymore. He doesn’t deserve our time and energy.”

There would come a time when she would have to talk about him because there would be a court case, but that wasn’t happening right now. “Then we won’t.”

“I love you, too, by the way, so much.”

Warmth stole through Deal. “I think we should go away when you get out of here. Take some time and go somewhere where it’s sunny and we can laze by a pool.”

“I like that idea a lot.” She sighed and her eyes drifted shut.

“Sleep, baby. I’ll be here when you wake up. I’ll always be here.” That was a vow Deal planned to uphold for the rest of his life.

“I know.”

Epilogue

Deal walked into the restaurant where it all started. This time he wasn’t alone. This time he had Collette by his side. They’d just returned from a week in Hawaii, where they’d done exactly what he said they should—relax by the pool. Or as it turned out, the ocean.

The trip had accomplished what he hoped it would. It had cemented their relationship and given Collette a chance to recover and reset. Swimming had been a challenge with her cast and stitches, but she’d been happy to only dip her feet in the water.

Now they were celebrating another birthday, this time it was Teresa’s. They were welcomed with warm smiles and hugs, and Astrid had dragged Collette to the table so they could catch up.

“You look relaxed and very happy,” Jag commented, his arm slung around Steff’s shoulders.

“I am.” He couldn’t deny it. Life was pretty damn good now that he had Collette to share it with.

“I’m glad. You know, you gave me such shit when I fell in love with Steff.”

Deal groaned inwardly. “Yeah, I remember. I’m happy to be wrong about how much better things are when you’ve got someone you love beside you.”

“That is the truth.” Jag planted a kiss on Steff’s lips. Not long ago, Deal would’ve rolled his eyes at the PDA, but now he wanted to go find Collette so he could give her a toe-curling kiss.

“What’s been happening?” Deal asked Jag, once Steff excused herself and joined Astrid and Collette at the table. He glanced around the room, noting that Hound wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity, and neither was Fox.

“Fox is off on the Zadie tour,” Jag said with a wry smile.

“He’ll have his work cut out keeping Zadie at arm’s length. That girl can’t take no for an answer. It’s how he ended up doing more than he wanted.”

“I think he’ll hold his own, but yeah, she is pushy when she wants to be.”

“Did he manage to get the guys from the New York office to help him out?” Deal hadn’t met any of them, as they tended to operate as separate entities, but he doubted they wouldn’t help out if necessary.

“Yep. I think one guy is going to join Fox in Atlanta, and between them they’ll split the duties.”

“And Hound? How’s he doing? Is he coming?” Before they’d left on their trip, Collette had insisted on seeing Hound and reiterating to him that she held no ill will toward him because of his brother’s actions. Hound had assured he was good, and thanked her, but Deal was still worried that he was saying one thing to appease Collette, while thinking another way.

“Yeah, he’ll be here later. He was just finishing something up at the office. As for how he’s doing? He’s okay.”

“But?” The word hung in the air between them.

“Jim and Mal got taken out in a fight in the yard. It was a takedown from either the cartel or one of Viktor’s contacts. They got to them before we could question them more. It happened while you were away.”