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He drew back, his golden eyes bright and earnest in his face He obviously expectedthe lines of how ht back up where we’d left off But the detective was about to be seriously disappointed - in all sorts of ways

"Is that all you have to say?" I asked

His black eyebrows knit together in confusion "Isn’t that enough? I want you What ain, and I drove asped and stu one of the tables for support He looked at me with a surprised expression on his face, and I knew it had never occurred to him that I would turn hiotten over him But that had always been the probleht he was so much better than I was Maybe he was, but now I realized he didn’t have a right to look down onme for who and what I was - knives, blood, and all

"Gin?" Donovan asked in an uncertain voice

I stared at him with cold, dispassionate eyes "First of all, nobody, and I mean no damn body, touches ue down my throat without my consent and express invitation And second, what you’re feeling right now? The sharp ache in your chest? The trouble breathing? That’s exactly what I felt when you turned your back on me outside Dawson’s mine Do you remember that, Donovan? Because I certainly do I didn’t expect you to turn cartwheels that day, but it would have been nice if you hadn’t been so fucking disappointed that I was still alive and around to tempt you with my wicked, wicked wiles And then, to add insult to injury, you came to the Pork Pit later on and spelled out exactly how much you didn’t want to be with ive you a clue - not good Not good at all Now, instead of offering y for the shitty way that you treated rab-ass as you are, as though nothing bad ever happened between us"

Donovan rubbed his chest and slowly straightened up "You’re angry, and you have every right to be I was a fool to act the way I did toward you I’ht about calling you a dozen times after I left Ashland, but I just couldn’t I knew that if I heard your voice again, I’d be teo back to you Now I’o back"

I shooktoo Yes, you were a fool to walk away fro that ever happened to me because it let me find Owen"

Donovan frowned "Grayson? But you just took up with him because I left town We all know that"

I raised an eyebrow "And what? You think that I’et about Owen and happily fall back into your arh horse and decided that you want ain? Are you really that arrogant, Detective?"

He winced, but he stubbornly lifted his chin He wasn’t going to take back his words because we both knew they were partially true

"Tell ed "Tellwith Grayson just because he was there"

"Well, I do have slightly higher standards than that But yeah, maybe that’s how it started out withbecause of you and how shitty you made me feel about myself and what I do But I love Owen, and he loves me What we have is real - the forever kind of real More than that, Owen accepts me for who and what I a up on it like you alere Like you still are"

Donovan stared atwith just a touch of shame Yeah, he still wanted me, but he still wanted to keep his conscience clean too, and that just wasn’t going to happen Even if I wanted to, there was no way I could ever stop being the Spider - not now, not after killing Mab The Ashland underworld was in major turmoil, and probably would be for so to keep co after me Donovan would just never understand this need that I had to take them on and to try to help all the innocent people I could He would just never understand that sometimes my as the only way to help folks - folks like Callie who didn’t have the o toe-to-toe with the people threatening the of Donovan to believe in truth and justice and to want to follow the law and do things by the book But it wasn’t right of him to always condemn e to suit his ideals so he could feel better about being with er or rancor toward the detective Instead, I just felt sorry for hi with a bad girl It was up to hi for ood thing going with Callie," I said in a soft voice "She really does love you, Donovan You should try to make it ith her, but if you can’t love her wholeheartedly like she loves you, like she deserves to be loved, like everyone deserves to be loved, then you need to let her go That’s what good guys do, Donovan They think of people other than themselves and what they want So you need to man up and walk the walk that you always spout to others"

He didn’t say anything, but I could see the conflict, guilt, and shame in his face He cared about Callie,another wo just outside the door That wasn’t exactly the kind of good, upstanding, honorable guy Donovan wanted to be, but that was his problem now - not mine

Not anymore

"Whatever you decide about Callie, I hope that you have a good life, Donovan," I said "Because I certainly intend to - with Owen"

I stared at the detective a second longer, looking at the planes of his face, re everything he’d once s andthe last thread that had tied

I turned my back to Donovan the way he’d once done to me and walked away I didn’t look back I didn’t have to There was nothing foroutside - with Owen

Chapter 28

I opened the screen door, stepped outside, and rejoined the others Callie and Bria were standing in the lot, still talking about bridesht be able to co, while Finn and Oere sitting on top of one of the electric blue picnic tables, sunglasses on and faces turned up to enjoy the sun I walked over to the two of the at lasses "Did Donovan tearfully proclai like that," I said in asure that Callie couldn’t hear us

"And then what?" Finn asked, his green eyes gleaossip" I spoke to Finn, but I looked at Oho hadn’t said a word "And then I punched the s bastard in the stomach and told hirinned "That’s ed "You stick orks"

Owen got off the table and gently brushed a piece of hair back off my face "I’ll second that"

He leaned down and kissedwith Donovan - everything I’d always beenLove