Tempting the Crown(259)
She giggled. “Do we have any lines we don’t cross?”
He leaned forward and kissed her. “I’ll cross any line you ask me to cross.”
He sat back, and helped her to an upright position.
“Deacon, can I ask you something seriously?” She looked up at him.
“What is it?” He retrieved his pants from the floor. He felt as if he had taken a five-hour nap. He was completely sated and relaxed.
“We’re going back to Chicago in a couple of hours. Then what?”
He fastened his belt. “What do you mean?”
“I finished the project for Soar. I fulfilled Vegas. What happens when we get back?”
He wasn’t the one who usually had the serious conversations. He left the heavy shit to Cole. He was better at it anyway. It was one reason they worked so well together as a team.
“I hope you’re asking me if you can move into the bedroom between Cole’s and mine.”
She smiled shyly. “Can I?”
“I don’t want you to move out, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I don’t want to either. I never want to go back to the Mantelli compound. But I can stand on my own. I need you and Cole to know that.”
“Hey.” He wrapped a hand around her waist. “We know exactly how strong you are. We want you to live with us. To work with us. I think you should head Soar from now on.”
“What?”
He nodded. “Soar should be yours. It’s our baby together. Cole and I can’t trust it with anyone else.”
“Deac, I don’t know what to say.”
“Say yes, sweetheart. Say you’ll stay. Say you are ours.”
She nodded. A tear slid down her cheek. “Yes.” She kissed him. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”
29
Cole
There hadn’t been anytime during the Vegas trip to talk about Deacon’s deal with Cal Mantelli. But they were on the plane headed back to Chicago. Abby was asleep on the couch with a blanket wrapped around her. She looked like a beautiful angel. The sunlight fell across her cheek.
He poked Deacon. “Hey, I think we need to talk about Cal.”
He motioned to the back of the jet. There was a private suite they never used. They crammed work into every waking hour. There was no time for sleep on flights.
“Come on.”
Deacon followed him back. They closed the door.
“What’s going on?” Deac asked.
“What are you going to do about Mantelli?”
“What do you mean? You know where things are with Abby.”
Cole huffed. “He needs to know he can’t have Abby back. He can never have her back. I don’t give a shit about how you collect your gambling debts owed to you, but we need to take her out of the equation the minute we land in Chicago.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more.”
“Wait, what?” He was stunned. He looked at his friend. “You aren’t going to argue with me?”
“No way. I’m fucking insane about her. I know you are too. He isn’t getting anywhere near her again.”
Cole sat on the bed. “Wow. So, it’s actually happened?”
“What?”
“You’re in love, man.”
Deacon rolled his eyes. “Let’s not make a big fucking deal out of it, ok? Yes, I love her. How could I not? You do.”
Cole laughed. “Yeah, but I’m not the one who keeps my emotions locked in a prison. Mine are a lot more obvious.”
“I’ve been trying to think of a way to talk to Mantelli without tipping my hand. I don’t want her near that family of hers. She doesn’t want to go back. As far as I’m concerned she never has to.”
“Agreed.” Cole rubbed the back of his head. “We should ask her how she wants us to handle it. She’s been through a lot.”
“I want to protect her from all of it.”
“Me too, man. Me too.”
They looked up when they heard a knock on the door. Abby stood in front of them.
“You’re awake.” Cole smiled.
“I didn’t know where you guys were. It was lonely in the cabin.”
“Come here.” He opened his arms and she walked into them. Deacon rose to close the door. He turned the lock. “Everything ok?” he asked her.
She nodded. “I was dreaming about both of you.”
“Tell me it was something fucking hot,” Deacon prodded.
“Very.” She giggled.
Cole groaned. He had work to do. He usually booked every minute of his day, maximizing his time. Flight time was when he read reports and returned emails. The Vegas trip had piled up his workload.
But Abby was in front of him, talking about a hot dream she had. He wasn’t going anywhere. He had to admit, holding her made everything else seem second place.