Page 103 of Corrupted Bride

“I agree with Lia.” Vince sits with his back straight. “You should have more tact.”

“And you should learn to enjoy life a bit.” Nico sloshes whisky into his glass. “But since you can’t, I’ll do it for you.”

“How generous,” I mutter.

We joke like that for a while as the sun dips low. Dinner will be soon. Marisol’s likely taking a shower and Mom’s in the kitchen getting everything ready. Soon the moment will pass and we’ll get back to our lives and what will be gained?

“Listen up,” I say, a strange itch scratching at my throat. “I brought you all here tonight to say something.”

“Here we go,” Nico comments, elbowing Lia. “Told you it was bad.”

I look to the sky for patience and back to my siblings. I glance at solid, dependable Vince, and at chaotic, wild Nico, and at my brilliant baby sister. “I’ve been thinking about Dario a lot lately,” I say and they quiet down. I doubt they’ve heard me talk about him in a very long time. Probably not since we were kids. “About how we handled losing him and how it all happened. And I’ve always hated the last words I said to him, and how if I couldn’t have saved his life that night, at least I wish I had gotten to tell him how much I loved him. It’s strange, how falling for Marisol and getting our family into this situation has brought this out of me, but here we are. I love you all. I’ve spent my life protecting each of you however I can, and I always will. But I haven’t said that enough, and I need you to hear it. I might never say those words again, but know they’re in me always.”

I wait for Nico to make a joke, for Lia to roll her eyes, for Vince to grunt about how unseemly all these emotions are.

Instead, my little sister smiles. “Love you too, big brother. Always have, always will.”

“Same here, bro.” Nico avoids my gaze. “Love you.”

“Pathetic.” Vince stands, glaring at me.

“Hey! Asshole!” Lia hisses at him.

But Vince walks over, grabs my hand, and pulls me into a rough hug. He pounds my back. “Like we didn’t already know that.”

I hug him back. I don’t think we’ve ever done this before. It’s strange, and I never want to do it again.

“Alright, enough,” I say, waving Vince back to his seat. “Don’t you dare tell Mother I said any of that.”

“God, and listen to her smugness? No way in hell.” Nico laughs, taking another long drink. “Here’s to family, you sick bastards. Here’s to winning.”

“Here’s to family and to winning,” I echo, touching his glass with mine.

Marisol hums to herself in the bathroom as she gets ready for bed. I listen quietly, pretending to look at my phone, but really focusing on her, on the noises she makes and the way she moves. I marvel at her, this woman, at her round ass and her long hair. She’s beautiful, but she’s also poised and strong. I don’t know how I ever found myself in thrall to something so perfect. It kills me, being trapped under her spell. It’s better than the alternative.

She slips in beside me wearing gray silky pajamas. She curls against my side, face on my chest. I run my fingers through her hair. We don’t speak and that feels good. I leave my phone on the covers, screen face down, and close my eyes, feeling her closeness, her warmth.

“I have something for you.” I break the silence only begrudgingly, mostly because tomorrow there will be a lot of risk.

“Oh yeah? Are you about to try to have sex with me?”

“I don’t really need to try.” I pat her ass lovingly. “But no, it’s something else.” I turn to the nightstand and open the top drawer. “Here, this is yours now.”

She accepts the small stack of folded documents with a curious frown. “What is this?” I watch her read through, the confusion only deepening. “Seriously, Bass, what’s going on?”

“I had some strings pulled by the county thanks to Vince’s connections and created a small parcel of land on our property. It’s legally separate from the rest of the ranch.”

“But I don’t understand.”

“Here, take a look.” I pull up my phone and open the maps. I zoom in to the plot and show her the satellite image.

She stares, looks at the papers, and laughs. “You’re kidding me.”

“Not at all. I wanted you to have it.”

“You gave me the swimming hole?!” She grins, eyes bright and shining. “Come on, that’s nuts.”

“It’s yours. I might’ve already forged your signature. Hope you don’t mind.”