Page 81 of Southpaw Slots
Leading my wife up to our room, I pause at the end of the hall. She glances up at me and seems to understand something I’m not quite sure how to put into words. “You want to go to the other wing now? Move our room over there?” she asks.
I stare at the doors to the room that wasours, thethreeof us, as I nod at her. “Yeah. I’m ready.”
She pulls me closer to her soft body and in the opposite direction of where we once slept. When we reach the other half of the mansion and she tosses open my parents’ bedroom doors, I prepare for the panic to hit, but instead my mouth drops with awe.
“When did…when did you do this?” Stumbling, I make my way across the threshold to a new room. Or what looks like a new one. The carpet is gone, replaced with some dark hardwood. All the wallpaper my mother had chosen has been swapped with plain, white-painted walls. A large glass chandelier lights the room with dazzling little sparkles everywhere, the center stage a giant platform bed like the one I had in my loft. Everything is modern, clean, and crisp. I do spot a pink fuzzy chaise lounge by the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the pool, but I like it. Because it'sher.
Arianna stands with her hands clasped in front of her, twisting her fingers repeatedly. “Cass knew the designer and they’ve been working over here for the last week. Do you hate it?”
“Empress, for real?” I take a spin around the room as I rub my chin. “I fuckingloveit.” Gathering her in my arms, I surround her lips with mine. “I love you. You did this for me. You knew I’d need a change.”
She hugs me and nods. “Yeah. I love you, and I didn’t want us to have bad memories. Not in our house if we stay.”
“You mean…if we don’t have to run away.”
When she lifts her brown eyes to me, I drift to that faraway place where we connect soul to soul. “I’m ready to go to a private island and raise your children already. But my brother is here. And your pack is here. If we don’t have to leave, then let’s make the best of it.”
Resting my chin on the top of her head, I tell her, “I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep us safe. You’re my person, and I think I fall in love with youmore every day, Arianna. I do. You rule my heart, queen. It’s yours.”
She looks at me again, and her little smile makes tears fall down her cheeks. “You’re everything I dreamed of in a husband. Except one thing.”
Tilting my head, I ask the question. “What’s that?”
“You’re better looking than I could imagine.”
“And my cock is bigger, too?”
Shutting her eyes, she shakes her head a little and giggles. “Somuch bigger.”
For once, all I want is to hold her all night without being inside her. My heart needs healing. When we snuggle under the new sheets and turn out the light, she asks, “Do you think we can save him?”
“I don’t know, empress. But I hope so.”
“Ace,man, you gotta come now. Sorry, sorry, Ari. But Ace. Wake up!”
Snorting awake, I immediately grab the gun on my nightstand and jump off the bed. It’s Cass. As I tug on my jeans, Ari slips on a robe and comes to my side. “What? What is it?” I ask.
“He’s flipping out. I don’t know why. Dash got here and told me something about Strauss, and Wyatt finally started talking. He’s asking for you.” Running down the stairs, he casts his voice over his shoulder. “He just started saying off-the-wall shit. Ari…I don’t think?—”
“Save it. I want to see him,” my wife snaps with the air of a queen.
I slide my gun into my holster before we enter where Wyatt is rocking back and forth, trying to loosen his chains. Or what’s left of Wyatt.
His face is bloodied and bruised. Cuts are gashed all over his chest, deeper ones in his arms until his skin is more red than white. Several teeth are missing, and as he spits one onto the floor, a crazed look forms in his eyes that gives him the appearance of a wild animal.
“Ace, please. Youhaveto kill me!Youhaveto,please!” The desperation in his scream is heart wrenching. Especially as I hear Arianna’s sniffles behind me. “You don’t understand. If you kill me, it will all be over.Please,someone. Anyone… Kill me!”
My spy, Dash, stands with his back against a wall, but every man in the room stares at the unhinged creature before us. Placing Arianna behind my back, I slide toward Dash. My wife’s little body shakes as she uses my arms as her shield. Her trembles match my own. “What happened?”
Wyatt lets out a tortured groan and sobs, his body wrangling against his binds. Part of me wants to rush over and release him but, especially in this state, I know we wouldn’t be safe.
Dash says, “I don’t know. I came to tell you that Strauss has taken a bride. Word just got out. She wasdelivered to him tonight. None of us knew about it. The girl is apparently seventeen, not yet of age, but her guardians gave consent for the marriage. The paperwork is signed, and that’s what alerted us.”
“Please, Ace, kill me! It will all be over!”
Confused, my brow furrows, and I turn my head toward my spy. “And you told Cass this?”
Dash nods. “And thenthisone overheard and freaked out.”