“Those charges included four counts of rape, manslaughter, and numerous counts of grievous bodily harm. The trouble was, and as you know, he was an intimidating man who instilled enough fear into his victims that they often retracted their statements in court, so he avoided the prison time he so richly deserved. In saying that, I know Borelli was repeating his crimes on the Carter family who were… his last victims. I also know that what happened to Borelli was purely out of self-defense and self-preservation. Sometimes, people get what’s coming to them, and he was no exception. Mason, on the other hand, was also a victim of Borelli.”
Beside me Lucas swallowed hard, his grip around my waist, tightening.
“Gemma, I know Mason traumatized you in so many ways, and if we both hadn’t shown up that night, we wouldn’t be here talking. There’s no doubt about it. Mason wasn’t planning on leaving without killing someone. We were only seconds away from losing you. Lucas, you and Mason shared a tumultuous relationship courtesy of Borelli. I may even be inclined to think the experience he put you boys through was enough to trigger some brain damage in your brother, enough to turn him into a monster.”
Kinross exhaled heavily, a weight suddenly lifted off his shoulders. “So as of now, the case of the murdered Anthony Borelli is firmly closed, as is the case of Mason Carter.”
We stood in momentary silence, letting the words sink in.
Was this really happening?
It all started to make sense.
Kinross pulled some strings that perhaps didn’t sit entirely well with Walsh. We had no idea what those strings were, but Kinross could acknowledge our fight for survival and had so generously given us our lives back.
Lucas stepped forward and shook hands with the detective. Kinross turned to me, and we embraced, me sharing a sob on his shoulder. “Thank you,” I barely managed.
He nodded awkwardly, his job now done. “I’ll let you two get back to… talking.” When he went to leave, he paused, throwing a look over his shoulder. “Oh, and B says hi.”
I half choked, half laughed. “B says hi? When did he become so chatty?”
Kinross half smirked. “I guess he’s bored. The hospital won’t release him for a few more days.”
Poor B had suffered a serious stab wound narrowly missing his left lung. He was also beaten around the head with a hefty stone that had knocked him out cold, and with both injuries, he’d lost a bucket load of blood. But, he was on the road to recovery.
I smiled at Kinross. “Tell B I said hi.”
He nodded before striding out the door, somewhat relieved the Delaware murder and the deadly cat and mouse chase were over.
We both waited for the car to pull away back down the drive before Lucas spun me toward him.
“You’re a free man,” I said, biting my bottom lip to stop the tremble of happy tears. “What’s a free man to do now?”
Lucas’s eyes grew mischievous. “Keep biting that lip of yours, and he’ll show you.”
I raised my brow in challenge while flicking the dress straps off my shoulders. The soft fabric fell low enough to reveal my cleavage.
Lucas’s eyes grew hooded with desire, his lips meeting mine with an explosive passion I’d so happily become accustomed to. When he pulled away, he lowered his lips and kissed below my collarbone, a place I once tried in vain to cover. Lucas’s name in Italian meant ‘shining’ and Gemma was ‘jewel.’ The carelessly engraved ‘Mine’ was now covered in a beautiful cursive font in two words I simply adored staring at.
Shining Jewel.
Pushing the dress lower, I let it slip to the floor, pooling at my feet. Before I could respond, his hands gripped my ass and lifted me high on his waist. Wrapping my legs around him, we kissed to our new-found freedom, quickly overcome with a heady lust for each other. Trailing small delightful bites down my neck, Lucas carried me up the stairs to the bedroom. Kicking the door closed to the outside world, we made the next four hours of lovemaking all about us.
This was how it was always meant to be.
Lucas Carter.
Gemma Sinclair.
Together, forever.
THE END