Page 115 of Beneath The Truth
It was easier said than done,obviously.
Forgiveness was a process, or so I was told, and I was still workingonit.
Two hours later,we were finally home again.It wasn’t technically “home” yet,though.
“Who did you say owns the house?”Rhett asked when I got off the phone with the leasingagency.
“Some guy named Lachlan Mount.”The name rang a bell, but I couldn’trememberwhy.
Rhett spun around in the kitchen and stared at me.“You’re fucking kidding merightnow.”
I shook my head.“No.That’s what they said.They said he’d consider selling for the right price.They told me to make anoffer.”
“No.Not a chance.We’re packing our shit and leaving.”His tone wasimplacable.
“Excuseme?”
“This guy is fucking everywhere.Has his hands in everything.He’s Carver’s fucking boss.Owns the security agency you used, and at least half the city.We are not living in a house he’s probably still got wired with his ownsurveillance.”
I raised an eyebrow.“Then we rip it all out and start over.This is where I fell in love with the real Rhett Hennessy, and I wanttostay.”
Rhett froze.“What didyousay?”
“I want to stay.”I felt strongly about it, and I wasn’t going to let whoever owned this house runusoff.
“Before that.You said this is where you fell in lovewithme...”
“Yeah, I did.So there.If you’ve got a problem with living here, thenwehave aproblem.”
His face softened.“Youloveme.”
“You’re just figuringthisout?”
“You’ve never said itbefore.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but then I realized he was right.I hadn’t.To me, it was a given, something that went without saying.An irrefutable fact that was simply accepted as being true.It never occurred to me that I had to put it into wordsforhim.
“Neitherhaveyou.”
“I thought it wasobvious.”
“Then I guesswe’reeven.”
He closed the distance between us and pulled me against him.“I fucking love you, ArielSampson.”
“I loveyoutoo.”
A voice came from the entryway.“Then I suspect you should probably marry the girl before she changeshermind.”
We both spun around.No alarms had sounded.The hinges hadn’t even squeaked, and yet somehow a man in a dark suit exuding power laced with menace stoodthere.
“What the fuck are you doing here,Mount?”
He barely gave me a lazy shrug before crossing the floor.“Came to give the place another look before I decide whether I want to letitgo.”
So, this wastheguy.
“You weren’t invited,” I said, pleased my voice wassteady.
