Shut Up and Kiss Me (32 page)

“
Suck it up, buttercup,” Richard said. “This is nothing compared to Iraq.”

Nikki cut her eyes toward Richard and mumbled something incoherent, to which Richard snorted in response. The two of them couldn’t seem to be in the same room together without one of them becoming snarky.

“
Anna?” Will placed his hand on her thigh and squeezed. “You okay?”

She had barely spoken since the sentencing had ended, and as she glanced up, the bright sun reflecting radiantly in her green eyes, he saw the gathered moisture there. Her hair was considerably longer now, her loose waves hanging heavy down her back. She’d lost some weight in the past few months as well, her dress pants and top hanging a bit loose on her now, something he attributed to stress.

She shook her head. “I just…I just can’t believe it’s finally over.”

Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he pulled her close and sighed. “You did good, you know that? I’m really proud of you.”

“
You did phenomenal,” Nikki chimed in, grabbing Anna’s hand and holding it between both of hers. “We’re all proud of you.”

“
Can you believe he got the death penalty?” Richard muttered. Closing his eyes, he lifted his face to the sky and let out a sigh. “Tennessee hasn’t put a man to death in long time…”

Cuddled against him, Anna flinched, and Will shot Richard a look that went unnoticed, as the man’s eyes were still closed.

“
Tactless,” Nikki said, glaring daggers at Richard.

“
Obnoxious,” Richard continued to mutter, “Loud, meddling—”

“
Meddling?” Nikki hissed. “How about grumpy, pouty—”

“
Stop,” Anna said, pulling away from both Will and Nikki and sitting up straight. “Just stop, please. I’m fine, and I’m fine with the jury’s decision. Luke deserves exactly what’s happening to him. He did horrible things to so many people. I only wish that they could have found evidence tying him to Monica…” She trailed off as several tears fell from beneath her lashes. “She deserved justice. I couldn’t save her, but I at least wanted to feel as if I’d avenged her somehow.” Balling her hands into fists, Anna squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head. “She deserved better than this.”

Nikki reached for her and Will waved her off, quickly getting to his feet. “Come with me,” he said, wrapping his hands around Anna’s wrists and giving her a gentle tug.

Reluctance temporarily passed over her face, yet she quickly acquiesced, slipping her hands into his and allowing him to help her to standing. Glancing at Richard over his shoulder, he silently conveyed that he wished for him and Nikki to wait there until they’d returned. Richard made a face but gave him a nod, and Will started down the steps with Anna by his side.

They rounded the side of the courthouse and entered a small, nearby park littered with stone benches, with a vine-covered gazebo in the center. Hand in hand, they made their way to the gazebo.

Once inside, Anna pulled away from him. Her eyes still wet with tears, she shook her head sadly. “Have I told you lately how much I appreciate you? You didn’t have to stick with me through this mess, yet you did. I love you, Will. I love you so much.”

Will sighed. She just didn’t seem to get it. No matter how many times he told her that there wasn’t any other place he’d rather be than wherever she was, going through whatever she was going through, she’d yet to really believe him.

That wasn’t to say it had always been easy. No, of course it hadn’t been. It had been a nightmare: two high-profile court cases, both his and her business printed in papers and talked about on television for all the world to watch and judge. Other than his two brothers, his family hadn’t spoken to him in quite some time.

But it really hadn’t been all bad. There were moments in between, when it had been just the two of them, where Will had realized what it meant to truly love a woman. It really was the little things—a simple smile, a soft touch, or the way her eyes lit up when he entered a room. It was the way she still made love to him, fiery and full of passion, no matter what pain the day had brought about.

It was those moments that had made up for the hell they’d gone through, those moments that had surpassed any amount of stress, and emotional pain or anger that either of them had experienced throughout the whole ordeal.

And even now, now that circus had finally come to an end, now that there was nothing else to do but go back to living their everyday lives, he was still exactly where he wanted to be—where he always wanted to be: with her.

Fuck it
, he thought, reaching into his suit jacket. He’d wanted to wait until at least tomorrow when they were back at the hotel, not wanting Anna to associate the two events with one another, but maybe this was the right place and the right time. Maybe instead of thinking back to this day and shuddering, she’d remember it with a smile.

Pulling out the small black velvet box from his pocket, he dropped down on one knee and lifted it to Anna.

Her watery eyes went wide with shock as her hand clasped over her mouth. “Will,” she mumbled behind her hand, shaking her head to and fro. “Oh my God, Will…”

“
This is just the beginning,” he said, flipping open the box and revealing a cushion cut two-carat diamond ring.

It was nothing near as elaborate as he’d wanted to get her, but knowing Anna, knowing she preferred simplicity, he’d found a happy medium.

“
You’re free now,” he continued, smiling up at her. “Free to start your life on your terms, without anything holding you back. You can do whatever you want, be whoever you want…” He trailed off, his smile deepening into a grin. “And now I’m going to be selfish as hell and ask that you be free with me. That you start your life with me, and that you do whatever you want, be whoever you want, as my wife.”

“
Oh my God,” she sobbed, her hands falling to her sides. “Oh my God, Will…”

“
Anna,” he continued, “will you do me the incredible honor of being my wife?”

“
Y-y-yes,” she stammered through her tears. “God, yes.”

Grinning broadly, Will jumped to his feet and pulled the ring free from the box. Taking her left hand in his, he slid the diamond onto her ring finger. Then, lifting her hand, he pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “You’re free,” he murmured, wiping the falling tears from her cheek. “This is a good day.”

“
I’m free,” she whispered, smiling through her tears. “Thanks to you.”

“
Ohmygod!
”

They both turned, finding Nikki and Richard standing at the park entrance, Nikki jumping up and down excitedly and Richard grinning.

“
Oh my God!” Nikki continued to squeal, waving her hands around like a madwoman. “Let me see! Let me see!”

Anna flashed him another smile before running out of the gazebo and straight to Nikki. Shoving his hands in pockets, Will took his time walking back, quite enjoying the sight of Anna looking far happier than she had in a long time.

Meeting him halfway, Richard clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Congratulations, sir,” he said. “You ready to go home now? Because if I have to spend another day with that…that…” He trailed off, looking toward Nikki with a grimace.

“
She’s too loud,” he continued. “Good Christ is she loud.”

Laughing, Will shook his head. “I’m more than ready, Jeeves. I’m more than ready.”

About The Authors

Fantastical realm-dweller Madeline Sheehan is the
USA Today
bestselling author of the
Holy Trinity Trilogy
and
Undeniable Series
, and the
Thicker than Blood Series
, co-authored with Claire C. Riley.

A Social Distortion enthusiast, lover of mud and anything deemed socially inappropriate, Madeline was homegrown in Buffalo, New York, where she can be found engaging in food-fights and video game marathons with her husband and son.

Welcome to her world of fantastical romance,

full of unconventional love and unscripted emotions.

https://www.facebook.com/MadelineSheehanBooks

www.MadelineSheehan.com

Claire C. Riley
is a
bestselling British horror writer whose work is best described as the modernization of classic, old-school horror. Author of the bestselling
Odium The Dead Saga
series
, as well as
Limerence The Obsession Series
,
Thicker than Blood
series
co-authored with Madeline Sheehan, and much more.

Claire lives in the United Kingdom with her husband, three daughters, and one scruffy dog. She’s a lover of epic romances and an eater of cake!

She writes characters that are realistic and kills them without mercy.

https://www.facebook.com/ClaireCRileyAuthor

www.clairecriley.com

I should have killed it right off the bat. I shouldn’t have just stood there, letting it come at me over and over again, desperate to rip into me but without the strength to actually do so. But I couldn’t help it. The boy—the Rotter—was no more than seven years old, his features more preserved than most of the Rotters who had been outside and exposed to the elements. He’d been trapped inside his home all these years, the bones of his family scattered throughout the small, broken-down farmhouse while he continued to live on, pacing the floors and clawing at the walls, ravenous with an insatiable appetite for death.

The boy lurched forward again. He tripped over the broken leg of a chair and fell toward me, his jaw snapping furiously. I swung out with very little force, my gloved fist softly connecting with his emaciated chest, sending him stumbling backward again.

You didn’t see a lot of Rotters this young. The children had been the first to go, too small and too weak to fight off their attackers. Usually they were people the child had loved and trusted, his parents, friends, or neighbors. The children hadn’t understood, hadn’t realized until it was too late, and by then, there was nothing left of them.

But this one, this boy, he’d been bitten, a large chunk of grayish flesh was missing from his arm. His family, I guessed, had been unable to kill him, even after he’d attacked them.

“
E?”

Jimmy, one of my guys, the man who’d gutted my wildcat’s man and left him for dead, appeared on the opposite side of the living room. A mangy-looking motherfucker whose disgusting appearance was as filthy as his appetite for mayhem, he glanced between me and the Rotter, his expression curious. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“
Nothing,” I snarled in response. “What the fuck are you doing?”

The Rotter, having noticed new meat, had switched direction and begun shambling precariously toward Jimmy. Looking entirely unperturbed, Jimmy raised his crossbow and sent a handmade arrow slicing through the boy’s thigh. The leg folded and although tripping him, didn’t do much to deter the boy from reaching Jimmy. Laughing crudely, Jimmy raised his bow again, pointing an arrow at the boy’s other leg.

I pulled my trigger and the bullet speared through the boy’s right temple and flew out the other, killing him instantly. He fell backward, landing hard on the floor. His wide-open eyes, clouded over with infection, now trained lifelessly on the ceiling.

“
They aren’t fucking toys,” I ground out.

Jimmy’s eyes met mine, his pinched features wrinkled in confusion. “Everything okay with you, boss?”

Pulling my blade from my belt, I sent it soaring across the room, embedding it into the wall directly next to Jimmy’s head. Wide-eyed, Jimmy glanced at the blade and then back to me.

“
Don’t ever fucking ask me that again,” I growled.