Page 105 of Ruthless Contract
“I want to meet someone, to take her on dates, to laugh with someone special. First, I need to make sure whoever stalked me isn’t still out there watching me, waiting, ready to drag me back into that darkness again. If I had someone special, and she got hurt because of me, I’d never forgive myself. I want to start living again. I just... hate not knowing if it’s safe to live again."
The room fell quiet. I wished I knew what to say. I wished I had the words that would ease his fears. I didn’t. Instead, I walked over and sat down beside him. I placed my hand on his shoulder.
"Thank you for not giving up," I told him, tears blurring my vision. “Thank you for holding strong despite your fears. Give me some more time. I’m going to help you get rid of these fears.”
Wiping his eyes, Marcel nodded slowly. Then, after a moment, he cleared his throat.
“I think those flowers got onions in them,” he joked.
I chuckled. “I agree. I may need to get a refund.”
That made him laugh.
“Hey,” he said. “You hungry? I can cook something. Mom always brings me tons of food. More than I can eat alone.”
"Yeah, I’m hungry,” I lied.
He smiled. "All right. I’ve been up for hours, so I ate breakfast around three a.m. This will be my lunch.”
"Lunch for breakfast is always good. Come on. I’ll help you cook. Let’s see which one of us is better at it."
That awakened his competitive spirit. We got so caught up in our competition that by the time lunch really rolled around, we had a table full of food at our disposal.
“We need to call in reinforcements to help finish this off,” I told him. “Do you want me to call over Raz and Cas?”
“Yeah. We may even need Julian and Bryceson, too. Just call all the cousins over,” he said, smiling.
I grinned as I watched him stare at the food, arms folded over his chest, a look of pride on his face. He may not realize it yet, but he was going to be just fine. No one would rush him.
He could heal at his own pace. In time, Marcel Cattaneo would step back into the light. In time, he’d be able to meet someone special, take her on nice dates, and show off his fortress to her.
I had a feeling one day soon, he’d be asking us to meet him in our private bar at the casino to talk about his girl troubles. I mean, that seemed to be something we all ended up doing at some point.
I just hoped he didn’t take the same path as the rest of us and continue the family tradition of kidnapping the woman he loved. With this fortress, the poor girl had no chance of escaping.
But that was the future. First, we had to take care of his present. And that meant getting rid of his fears. As soon as I had Blossom in my home where I could keep her with me, I’d be able to focus solely on taking down the people responsible for hurting Marcel.
Blossom first.
Then the intel providers.
That was the plan to ensure everyone got what they wanted.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
BLOSSOM
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Today, the shop was quiet. Just the way I liked it. Sitting behind the register, I stared down at my phone, reviewing the order I was about to submit for next week's event.
Hydrangeas. Peonies. Ranunculus.
I frowned, making a few adjustments before adding more things to the order. The wedding season always kept us busy, and I didn't want to come up short in case a bride changed her order.
The bell above the front door chimed. Plastering a smile onto my face, I looked up, ready to greet a customer. I froze.
He was back.
