Silent Scars (Surviving #4) (35 page)

I didn't recall being handcuffed.

I didn't recall busting up the kitchen.

I didn't recall Johan holding onto me like his life depended on it.

Somehow I’d ended up in Jo’s lap, clinging to him like the devil would drag me into hell if I let go. He was returning my grip just as tightly.

“Breathe, okay. Just keep doing that, and we’ll be good,” he muttered.

My body ached with an intensity I hadn’t felt before, my knuckles were sore, my head hurt, and my legs were shaking. I knew I must have blacked out at one point because I had no recollection of Jo even entering the house. Everything was a black hole.

“Ryan.”

That voice. I whined and buried my head. Was this to be my new hell, the torture I would endure? I couldn’t live with her voice in my head. Not when she was no longer breathing.

“Ryan.” Again. I covered my ears and groaned in agony.

“Johan, can you get your hands off of my man? No one touches him but me.”

Jo chuckled and patted my back. “Ry, your woman is staking claim.”

I shook my head not daring to believe it.

“He’s a scary mother fucker when he loses his shit,” a male voice called. I had no idea who it was.

“Who has the key to the cuffs?” that voice asked. I had to be dreaming.

My head was fuzzy, but the pain was intense. She’d disappeared again. I flinched when a small hand slid into my cocoon and cupped my face.

“I need you. Let me see my favourite blue eyes,” she crooned. I lifted my gaze, and there she was. Perfection. My breath was stolen when her lips met mine.

“Okay, this just got weird,” protested Jo as he pushed at my shoulders. I scrambled to hold onto Aloura. My bound hands allowed me to grasp the front of her shirt.

“You’re okay?” My voice cracked. She smiled against my lips, working to unlock the cuffs.

“How else did you think this would end? Baby, our story has only just begun,” she soothed. God I loved her.

“I love you,” I choked. I couldn’t take another breath without her knowing.

“I love you too.” It wasn’t a question. And I would. I wouldn’t ever let her go.

Nothing had changed in the last hour. I had sat in the dark staring up at the house. The desperation inside me to march up to the door and demand that I be allowed inside was ripping me apart. Will and Jo warned me not to drive over here, but I had to. I swore I would never leave her side, and I would honour that promise. But she was also inside preparing for our wedding tomorrow, and according to
everyone,
it was bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the big day. I’d had too much bad luck to last a fucking lifetime; she was the only luck I’d had. I wouldn’t jeopardise that. Didn’t mean I couldn’t spend the night in the car though.

The day she was kidnapped and brought back to me, Emily had gone into labour. I had gone insane and all but ripped Graham’s kitchen apart. Alec was currently serving a hefty sentence at her Majesty’s pleasure, and the cocky bastard? He still touched my woman far too much for my liking, but he’d saved her life, and I would always be in debt to him.

The lights were on downstairs, so I knew they were all still awake. I hoped she was having a good time and not forming doubts in her mind. She wouldn’t.

Would she?

My phone alerted to a text.

Jo: Has Lou kicked your ass yet?

Me: Bro, I'm in the process of stealing her from your lame ass.

Jo: Dick <==8

Me: Mature. And what’s with the small dick? Obviously size doesn’t run in the family.

Jo: Fuck off.

I grinned down at the screen. They say that in life you had a defining moment. Well, I believed this was mine. It wasn’t when I fumbled my way through my proposal to Aloura or the moment I held my new born nieces in my arms. It wasn’t the moment Dad and I signed the adoption papers. It was this, in the quiet of the car. Because this was the last day I would ever be alone. Tomorrow my life would begin. My life with Aloura by my side, as my wife, my partner, my love. She was my reason in life.

A knock at the passenger side window startled me. I jerked my head around to gaze into warm chocolate eyes. When she opened the door and slid into the seat, she had the most beautiful grin on her face.

“Apparently its bad luck,” she panted.

“Why did you come out here?” I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. She was breathtaking. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, she had those thick rimmed glassed on, and she was wearing my superman t-shirt and a pair of ratty sweat pants. She was utterly gorgeous.

“Because I missed you,” she breathed, leaning towards me. “I hate stupid superstitions when they keep me from you.”

“Me too.” I rested my forehead against hers. “How are my babies?” I asked. She grinned at me.

“Missing their daddy, but not so much that they aren’t curled up on Lou’s bed. I just hope Batman and Robin don’t pee.”

I groaned because she insisted on calling the furry little rats Batman and Robin. It was humiliating walking them in the park. I rested my head against the seat.

“What were you thinking about? Before I came out here.”

“You.”

She grinned, her eyes twinkling in the dark.

“What about me?”

I reached out, no longer unable to resist touching her, and pulled her over the centre console into my lap. She snuggled into me, wrapping her arms around my neck.

“I can’t wait to make you my wife.”

Her smile widened, and those plump ruby lips that captivated me  long ago mesmerised me all over again.

“I can’t wait to be Mrs Senior, either.”

“Only nine more hours until no one can keep us apart again,” I uttered, feeling like it was a lifetime away.

“Ugh, that’s too long,” she groaned. She tucked her arms between us and curled into my chest. Her legs were straddled over my legs. “I’m going to sleep here in your arms and then sneak into the house before they wake up.”

“Sweetheart, it’s too cold.” But my arms tightened, bringing her closer rather than pushing her away.

“You could always keep me warm,” she suggested, rocking her hips against me. “We could make your fantasy of car sex come true.”

“You remember that, huh?”

“You were the hottest guy at the table. Obviously I remember your fantasies.”

“Well, did I mention my fantasy was to have sex in a car with a hot as fuck brunette with devil red lips, sexy brown eyes, and a pussy made for my cock.”

She shivered in my arms.

“She has tits to fit my hands perfectly.” I cupped her breast, loving the weight in my hands. “And when she comes she screams my name and it’s like music.”

“Ryan?”

“Hmm,” I said, distracted by her stiffening nipples.

“You were getting laid anyway, no need for the poetry.” I squeezed the tips of her nipples as I plunged my tongue into her mouth. God, she was a mouthy little thing.

“I love you,” I whispered.

“Love you, Mr Senior.”

“Ryan, breathe. Jesus. Sorry,” Will uttered across to the vicar. “You’re going to pass out before she gets here. And stop staring at the cross like you’re atoning for sins. You’re making the vicar nervous.”

I cut my gaze from the crucifix hanging front and centre to the Reverend nervously glancing at his watch.

“Is she late?” I asked, panic surging through me.

“That’s normal,” Jo urged.

“Is she late? Really?” Christ, why hadn’t I worn a watch.

“No, chill out. Honestly, Em said everything is going smoothly. Aloura is as eager to get here as you are.” When Jo and I stared at him, he shrugged his shoulders.

“I may have called this morning a couple times to see if the girls were okay.” When we continued to stare at him, he fidgeted with his cuffs. “It’s the first time since the twins came home from the hospital that I’ve been away from them this long. I just wanted to check on the kids.”

Jo grinned at Will and slapped him on the arm. “Pussy whipped,” he muttered.

“Says the man who stopped by Aloura’s house this morning with an
important
message about the catering.”

“It’s true.”

“And what was the message?”Will asked.

“That the food would be prepared on time,” Jo stammered, completely full of shit.

“Wait a minute, you mean to tell me you gave me shit last night for wanting to see Aloura? And you two couldn’t go a few hours without seeing yours?”

“Before you go all high and mighty, brother. We weren’t the ones getting hot and heavy in a car in the early hours of this morning.”

“What?”

“Emily.”

“Lou.”

“Fuck me, those two are worse than the SAS for secret ops.”

“Yup,” they both said in unison, with proud grins on their ugly mugs.

“So you don’t deny...” Jo started with a cocky grin, only for it to fade. His face paled, and he looked like he’d seen a ghost. I didn’t dare turn around in case it was Aloura coming in the church. Lou warned me if she so much as caught me glancing back she would cut my balls off.

“Jo?”

“Christ,” Will muttered. I couldn’t bare it. I quickly snuck a glance over my shoulder to be frozen dead as I caught sight of the four men standing at the door to the church. Castor, one of the ushers, handed them an order of service. He regarded them with suspicion when they simply stared at us.

“Ry,” Jo whispered.

I cleared my throat, not believing this was happening.

“I think Aloura invited them,” Will offered.

My brothers.

Kyle, Tate, Gray and little, or not so little, Jace were standing in the church I was about to get married in. They were all dressed smartly in suits, except Jace. He was in his navy dress uniform. Fuck, my kid brother was in the Navy.

Kyle made the first move and headed down the aisle towards me.

“Ry.” He dipped his chin. He was shorter than I was but still a big mother fucker. He looked so much like Mom it was like staring into the eyes of a ghost.

“Congratulations.” He held out his hand for me to shake. We hadn’t spoken in
years
, Goddamn years, and he wanted to shake my hand. I thought he hated me.

He was my brother. I grasped his hand and pulled him into my chest, wrapping my other arm around him and patting his back. He had been one of my closest friends at one time.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered brokenly. Hugging me tighter. “I’m so sorry.”

After that, hugging my other brothers was easier. Jo was a little hesitant, but his smile for Jace was genuine, and I could see he had missed him.

“Ahem, I believe the bride has arrived,” the vicar interrupted. A moment of panic struck me.

“You guys are staying right?”

Kyle glanced at Will and nodded. “We have an apartment for a few weeks.”

I looked over to Will, knowing he’d arranged for them to stay in our old apartment. I nodded to Will, conveying my thanks.

The wedding march began. This was it. I glanced over at my best men. As always they were beside me through it all. They had my back and I loved them for it.

“She’s here,” Jo whispered.

I inhaled a deep breath. My life was about to begin.