A hard glint came and went in his dark eyes so quickly that I almost missed it. “That’s exactly why, angel. You don’t have to worry about your stepdad anymore. He’s never going to be able to hurt you again.”
My relief was almost overwhelming, but I wasn’t out of the woods yet. “What about the Ukrainians? Will they come after me if they’re not the reason my stepdad disappeared? I can’t imagine they’d be too happy about being out however much he owed them.”
“The mob won’t be a problem. One of Mac’s friends reached out, and they agreed to take what your stepdad owed them and forget all about you. I already sent them the money, so it’s done.”
“What? No,” I cried, shaking my head. “I don’t want you to lose all your money because of the dumb decisions Chad made. That’s not fair.”
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s more than a fair deal since I got you out of it.” He rolled until I was beneath him and stretched his arm out to pull open the top drawer of the bedside table. I gasped when I felt him slide a ring onto my finger. “What’s mine is yours, which makes it our money.”
I moved my hand closer and stared at the diamond, tears streaming down my cheeks. “We’re getting married?”
“Of course we are, angel.” He pushed back some haphazard curls that had fallen onto my face. “If you’re not pregnant yet, then you will be soon, and I want you to have my last name before that happens. How about you plan the wedding, and I’ll figure out where we’re gonna build a house big enough to hold all the babies I’m gonna give you?”
Between what he’d done to keep me safe and the size of the ring he’d put on my finger, I felt a little guilty. “I don’t need a fancy wedding or new house. We can wait for that stuff.”
“We’re not waiting to start our life together, Rylee,” he growled, a muscle jumping in his jaw.
I never wanted him to think that I had cold feet about marrying him, so I rushed to explain, “But you just sent the Ukrainians all the money Chad owed them. I don’t want us to be broke before we even begin, and that stuff really doesn’t matter as long as I have you.”
“Didn’t you notice how much I charge for my ink?” he asked with a grin. “Between the shop and what comes in from the club, I’m not hurting for money. I have more than enough for us to build our life together.”
Not having to worry about money would be a welcome change, but it made me think about what Chad had done before he left town. “My mom really messed up over the past year and a half, but I hate that she’s going to be left penniless. My dad worked so hard to make sure we never went without, even when he died. And it was all for nothing.”
“It’s gonna take a fuck of a lot of work for your mom to earn her place back in your life, as far as I’m concerned.” His eyes softened as he cupped my cheek. “But you’re going to get paid for your apprenticeship and can do whatever you want with that money. Send it to your mom. Put it in the bank for our kids. Spend it all on sexy lingerie that I can rip off your perfect body. I’m cool with whatever you decide.”
There he went again, showing how well he knew me and the lengths he’d go to make me happy. “I hate Chad for what he did, but I’m also thankful because that whole mess led me to you, and you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“I’ll be sure to pass on your gratitude if I ever see the motherfucker,” Nova promised before he kissed his way down my body to kick off our engagement celebration with the first of many orgasms.
Epilogue
Nova
I pulled up to the specified address and parked around the back of the large warehouse. The nondescript building got lost in the sea of other warehouses around it that looked exactly the same.
After pocketing my keys, I climbed off my hog and quietly let myself in through an old, rusted metal door. It took a couple of seconds for my eyes to adjust to the lack of lighting, but I knew instantly that I wasn’t alone.
A tall, well-built man in a black T-shirt and jeans stepped out of the shadows.
“Merrick?”
He nodded. “This way,” he said in a low, raspy tone.
I followed him down a hallway barely lit by the few working industrial sconces high on the walls. Eventually, he stopped and pushed open a door, then gestured for me to enter first.
The room was a little brighter than the rest of the place, but it was dull due to the heavy black fabric hung on all the walls.
“Noise-reducing curtains. There’s no one around to hear anything, but I take every precaution,” Merrick explained, seeming to read my thoughts. Which was creepy as fuck.
I forgot all about how spooky the hired killer was when I spotted the sorry excuse for a man standing in the center of the room, his arms suspended in the air by chains attached to the ceiling. His body and clothes were as dirty and greasy as his soul. At the sound of Merrick’s voice, Chad’s head lifted, and I smiled at the look of complete terror on his face.
Then his eyes swung to me, and he studied me, probably trying to decide if I was there to save him or assist Merrick. Finally, he asked, “Who are you?”
“Let’s just say, I bought your debt from the Ukrainians.”
“I don’t have any money,” he whined pathetically.
“Oh, I know,” I assured him as I took off my cut and handed it to Merrick. I’d ditch my clothes after this, but
