Henry stood, staring down at Grace with a ferocious look. “She was here to try to steal Sherri again, wasn’t she?”
“No…” she lied. “Maybe…” she confessed. The big man was scaring her.
“Cut it out, Henry. Go take Penni home before Jackal kills her,” Ice told him.
He walked away, tight-lipped.
“Wait, I was going to go with her. I need to get my dogs…” Grace tried to gracefully jump off the barstool to follow Henry, who didn’t slow down. She almost fell at Ice’s feet, but he managed to catch her.
“You’re not taking my dogs.”
“Those dogs are legally mine,” Grace reminded him.
“We’re getting married,” Ice told her. “Then I’ll have as much legal right as you. If we break up, a judge can decide.”
“What?” In her drunken stupor, she was imagining Ice proposing.
“I said, we’re getting married and you’re not taking my dogs.”
“Damn, woman thinks she’s going to take off with his dogs,” Grace heard Buzzard’s voice behind her back.
“He’ll show her. No woman is going to run over Ice,” Max said then cheered Ice on. “Tell her like it is.”
“I thought he hated those fucking dogs?” Fade asked.
“It’s the point of it. He’s showing her who’s boss,” Max said proudly.
Grace wondered if the barstool was too heavy to lift. She wanted to bang it over Max’s head. Ice’s hold on her wouldn’t let her find out, though.
“Ice…” She started to let him have it, lifting her wobbly head until she saw his face. She closed her mouth, thinking, which wasn’t easy with the tequila shots working their way through her bloodstream.
“Well?” Ice snapped, but the love in his eyes made her mind up for her.
“I guess we can get married, then. If you insist. You deserve a legal right to the dogs since you help feed and walk them,” Grace said with fake seriousness.
“Good. I’m glad we got that shit straightened out.”
Grace wanted to stick her tongue out at the men’s comments that followed them out the door.
Jackal, who was coming in, nearly knocked them all over.
“One day, that bitch and I are going to have it out!” he threatened.
“You leave her alone. I like Penni,” Grace jumped to her friend’s defense.
“I didn’t say I was going to kill the bitch. I plan to tame that wildcat.” Jackal’s lips gave a twisted smile which had her wanting to punch him.
“You do know she hates you, right?”
“That’s okay. I’m good at teaching women to purr.”
“You better have a whip handy because she’ll rip you to shreds.” With that, Ice jerked her outside before she could set Jackal off again.
“Are you too drunk to ride the motorcycle home?”
“No,” Grace said, watching him get on the bike, but didn’t make a move to get on behind him. “Did you propose to me inside?”
Ice sighed. “Yes, and you accepted. Now get on.”
She stayed still. “After we get married, are you still going to go to strip clubs?”
Ice’s face went cold at her question. He didn’t like ultimatums.
Yet, as her bottom lip trembled, he conceded, “I do business in there regularly, so I can’t stay out, but I’ll sit with my back to the stage.”
“You won’t go upstairs?” she pressed.
“I won’t go upstairs,” Ice promised.
Grace got on the back of Ice’s bike, winding her arms around his stomach.
“When I get home, I’m going to call my mother and tell her we’re getting married.”
“You better let me talk to your dad first.”
“That’s so sweet. You want to ask for his permission to marry me?”
“Fuck, no. I want to tell him to hide all his guns.”
Epilogue
“Adrienne.”
Grace turned around at the quiet voice. “Mrs. Deniau?” She was stepping off the dance floor after her and Ice’s wedding dance.
Simone’s mother took a step forward, gently taking Grace into her arms.
“Don’t cry.” Her accented French reminded Grace of her past. She had spent many nights at Simone’s home, and she could still remember that voice chastising them, telling them to go to sleep.
“How...? Why?” The last time Grace had seen Mrs. Deniau, she was shouting at her, blaming her for breaking her promise to keep Simone safe.
“Your mother called and told me you were getting married. I’ve called her a few times over the last few years, but she didn’t want to give me your number. She didn’t think you were ready to hear what I had to say. I asked her if I could come.”
Grace waited for the recriminations; instead, she received something she hadn’t known she needed—forgiveness.
“I wanted you to know, before you started your new life, that you were never to blame for Simone’s and Avril’s deaths. I’m sorry I placed that blame on your shoulders. I was wrong. I hurt so badly I wanted to hurt someone, and Leon Winston wasn’t within my reach, but you were. I just couldn’t understand why she was so willing to sacrifice for you. If she had just held out a few hours longer, she would have survived. It took a while for me to figure out why, but I did. She didn’t have the strength to survive in captivity. You… You had the strength. You would have died for Simone, but you wouldn’t have taken your own life. Leon Winston would have to. You didn’t give up… You survived. Don’t ever regret that.”