Chapter 55: : Chapter 55

I can see Eli’s temple pulse as Hawke curses at the game that Billie seems to be destroying him at.

Ford, Hope, and Ivy appear to be playing some kind of card game as I sit on Eli’s lap in his mansion. It’s only two days until the wedding, and I’m still reeling at the thought that only days ago, I thought I’d never be a part of this again. I don’t know them well yet but I already know that this is my family and that I belong here.

Eli’s thumb strokes up and down my outer leg. He’s irritated that I invited them all here. But I’ve come to discover that there’s very little Eli will deny me. The others have seemed to clue in on that as well.

But I wanted to be here, together, before the chaos of the wedding. The thought of marriage no longer grips me like a vise. I’m actually getting excited about it.

The doorbell rings, and Eli makes a move to get up and answer it.

“I’ll get it,” I tell him because there’s one more person I invited who is as equally important to this family. Besides Eli’s parents, who will always have his back no matter what—even against me. Especially against me.

Eli looks at me skeptically but releases me.

When I open the door, Dutton looks down at me. I inhale and square up to him.

“You have a lot of nerve inviting me over here as if I’m only a guest in this house,” he says.

The truth is, I like Dutton. Despite how terrifying he might be, I know the lengths he would go to protect his family. And I respect that.

“This will always be your home more than it will be mine,” I say honestly. “But I’d like us to at least tolerate each other for everyone else’s sake.”

He raises an eyebrow. “You think I barely tolerate you?”

“Clearly,” I sass back.

He kicks up a smile then as he pushes past me. “Would you believe, Jewel, that I actually like you? I just don’t like how annoying my cousin has become after falling in love with you. It’s unbefitting of him.”

I’m shocked, my jaw open as I stare at him. “Wait. You like me?”

He frowns. “You’re not dead, are you?”

“You’d kill me even if Eli would come after you?”

“Even then. Whether my family hates me for it or not, I’ll remove anyone and anything that threatens us.”

I realized then that, although I’d gotten used to one monster, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the other. So I smile and point in the direction where everyone else is. And it’s not my place to figure out his monstrous ways. One day that will be some other poor woman’s responsibility.