“I thought…” I stop to take a breath. “I was buying that bowl”—I gesture to it—“while your mom went to get a pretzel, but when I tried to find her after, she was gone. And then I couldn’t find her. And I tried to find you.” My voice hitches, and I feel so stupid, but I can’t help it. “You said there were so many of your people here, but I couldn’t spot anyone.” His thumbs rub circles on my hips. “I thought you left me.”
“Angel.” Dom shifts closer, carefully nudging my hurt knee aside. “I’m not going to leave you.”
My shoulders lift in the smallest shrug. “I know.”
“Valentine.” He waits for my gaze to meet his. “I’d choose you. You know that, right?”
I move my head from side to side, not understanding him.
Dom cups my cheek with his warm palm. “If there was no Alliance—never was—I’d still choose you.”
Those words…
My eyes close, then open, and he’s still there. Still before me.
“You make me feel special,” I tell him, my voice so full of emotion it spills between us.
He glides his thumb across my cheek. “Good.”
Someone carrying a bag of jingle bells walks past, the noise high and light. And I inhale, needing to tell him this one last thing. “My mom killed herself on Christmas Day.”
CHAPTER 62
Dom
I rise, scooping Valentine into my arms, then I sit on the bench where she just was.
“You should’ve told me,” I say with my lips against her soft hat. “We didn’t need to come here. You should’ve told me.”
“I want to like Christmas.” Her words are so quiet they make me hold her tighter.
My wife… The shit she’s been through. All by herself.
“You’ll never be alone, Angel. Not on holidays. Not ever,” I swear to her.
“I’m okay,” she says with her head against my chest.
“We’ll get the bowl fixed,” I promise.
“It’s okay.”
I pull a pair of dirty white mittens out of my pocket and hand them to her. “And we’ll get these cleaned.”
She lifts her hands to take them, and I’m not sure if she even realized she dropped them.
When I found her mittens on the gravel, my first instinct was to burn the whole market to the ground. But then I spotted her, the white of her hat calling to me.
It’s my fault.
This is all my fault.
I didn’t realize I’d kept her phone until it was too late.
I didn’t put together the dates of her story on my own. I should have. Her nineteenth birthday. Waiting to visit until classes were done. I should’ve figured it out. And I should’ve known her bitch of a mother would choose fucking Christmas Day.
I should have done better.
I owe Valentine better.
Val tries to sit up, but I keep her secured to me.
“I really am okay.” She gently puts her mitten-covered hand against my chest. “It was just a stupid panic attack.”
“There’s nothing stupid about it.” I kiss the top of her head. “I’ll do better.”
“No, Dom, this isn’t something you did.”
“I’ll do better,” I tell her again. “And we’ll make our own traditions.”
I feel her exhale. “Okay.”
“Uh, Boss.” A male voice cuts into our space.
I lift my head to find Ben standing a few feet away from us. “What?”
His eyes don’t drop below mine, making sure he doesn’t look at my wife. Good man. “We have a location.”
I sit up straighter. “Local?”
He nods. “Rob is getting the cars ready. Told me to come get you.”
Val presses against my chest to sit up, and I finally let her.
“I’ll be right there,” I tell Ben, dismissing him.
Her eyes are full of worry as she blinks up at me. “The bad guys?”
Jesus, this woman.
The edge of my mouth quirks. “Yeah, Shorty. I gotta go get the bad guys.” She said it as though I’m not also a bad guy. But I’m not an idiot, so I’m not going to remind her that I’m one, too. “I’ll have a group of my men bring you home. Same rules as always.” I know she doesn’t need the reminder, but I want to say it anyway.
“Okay,” Val agrees, and when I loosen my arms, she climbs off my lap.
I carefully take her hand in mine, and we walk around the edge of the market toward my row of waiting vehicles.