Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Gaeton

I’ve never had a homecoming. Over the years, missions and errands might take me away from Carver City, but I’d return with as little fanfare as when I left. When Isabelle and I were together before, I didn’t want to worry her, so most of the time I didn’t tell her what my orders were.

We take the back door into the house, and I follow Isabelle down the hall and up the stairs to the family wing. She steps through a door to a small living room and that’s where we find Beast. He’s pacing, his phone in his hand, and the look on his face when he turns around and sees us …

Fuck.

Yeah, I love this guy.

I can’t doubt that he loves us, too. Not anymore.

He crosses to us and pulls Isabelle into his arms and then snags the back of my neck and tows me down for a quick, thorough kiss. “Problems?”

“No. It went off without a hitch.”

He exhales and some of the tension leaves his body. “Good.” Beast leans back and looks down at Isabelle. “You okay?”

Her smile wobbles a little. “I will be.”

“Hard call to make.”

“I didn’t think it’d be that hard.” She gives him a hard hug. “Let’s go to bed. I’m exhausted.”

No question that we’re joining her. We follow her though the halls to her room. The family suites are situated in such a way that each has their own hall to give an illusion of privacy. Walking into Isabelle’s room after so long apart from her is a trip. It looks exactly the same.

That stops me short.

It’s not the huge bed that she bought when we started spending the night together. Or even the complete lack of change in the other furniture. It’s the photos that are scattered across every available surface. Those photographs used to aggravate the hell out of me. There were pictures of me and her next to ones of her and Beast, a mixture that never failed to remind me that I wasn’t enough for her.

Now? Now, they feel right as fuck.

I would have thought they’d change after we broke up, that she’d put away any evidence of us. I glance at her. “You didn’t take the photos down.”

“I did.” She tugs at her dress, staring at the pictures. “I put them back up this afternoon while I was waiting for dinner.” She lifts her hands and lets them drop. “I missed you two so much when I put them away. But even without the pictures serving as a constant reminder, I still had the memories.”

“You have more than memories now,” I say

Her smile is still a little wobbly. “It’s going to take some time for that to really sink it. It still feels too good to be true.”

Beast sits on the edge of the bed, his blue eyes watchful. “We should probably iron out some logistics before moving forward.”

“We sleep together.” I don’t mean to say it aloud, but the certainty settles in my chest. “Wherever we sleep, we do it together.”

He nods. “I’m good with that.”

“I …” Isabelle moves to sit next to Beast on the bed and looks at me. “I’ll always have my family suite, but I don’t have a strong preference to where we end up.”

As tempting as it is to put forth another option, there’s something to be said for staying here. I look around the room. Even with all Isabelle’s stuff, there’s plenty of space for more. “Things are going to be touch and go for a little bit. Staying here for the time being isn’t a bad idea.”

“Agreed.” Beast nods. “But keep your place. If we need some space, can’t hurt to have that as backup.”

I look at both of them and grin. “Look at us, communicating.”

“What a novel thought.” Isabelle shakes her head. “I guess we’ll just … talk through every issue as it arises?”

“That is what relationships entail.” I walk to the edge of the bed and lean down to kiss her and then over to kiss Beast as well. “Let’s go to bed.”

We strip slowly. I don’t know about them, but the events of the last few days are catching up with me. We haven’t exactly had much in the way of sleep since this started, and I’m fucking exhausted. We end up in Isabelle’s bed with her between us, my leg hitched over both her and Beast, his hands alternating between caressing her side and mine.

For the first time in a very long time, I don’t question this. We’ve barely passed the first hurdle, but we have passed it. Isabelle’s family. Ursa. The world will throw more challenges our way, but we’ve met these two together and come through the other side. We’ll meet the rest that way as well.

I move Isabelle’s hair off her neck and press a kiss to her throat. “Marry me.” I look up and meet Beast’s intent gaze. “Both of you.”

Isabelle gives a hiccupping little laugh. “That’s not legal.”

“I don’t give a fuck about legal. I give a fuck about what we want.”

Beast smooths his hand down my side and transfers his attention to her. “I don’t need a wedding. I never did. Gaeton does. What do you need?”

She’s so still, I have to concentrate to feel her breathing. Finally, she says, “I … At one point marriage felt like something that was just another kind of trap, but not too long ago I thought about walking down the aisle to both of you. I liked the idea of it. A lot.”

Beast smiles. A real smile, not his cold little tease of one. The motherfucker grins like he can’t contain his happiness. “I have a few ideas about rings.”

I narrow my eyes. “You just said you don’t need a wedding.”

“Need has nothing to do with want. I’m not a fool, Gaeton. I want you two locked down in every way you’ll allow. That includes a wedding, and it sure as fuck includes my ring on both of your fingers.”

“You sneaky bastard.”

He shrugs, completely unrepentant. “I want what I want.” Something he’s said before, but I’m yet again amazed by his willingness to line up the dominoes and tip them over to accomplish the goal he has in mind. He grins at me. “Yes, Gaeton. I’ll marry you.”

Isabelle turns in my arms until she can lean back and see my face. I know I’m moving too fast, but is it really too fast? I’ve been in love with this woman for years. My feelings for Beast are newer, but I’ve trusted him with my life for as long as I’ve loved Isabelle. Longer, even. We have the foundation. We’ve always had the foundation. We just required the right inciting event to get us there.

She runs her hands up my chest. “Last time you proposed, I didn’t have the answer you needed.”

The memory feels so much fainter now, like something out of a dream. It doesn’t sting like it used to. “We weren’t whole then.” I grab Beast’s hand and press a kiss to his scarred knuckles. “We are now.”

She nibbles on her bottom lip. “I want us forever. All three of us. I want … I want the wedding. I want to say yes to both of you.” Her eyes shine and her smile trembles. “So … Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.” She twists to look at Beast. “And yes, I’ll marry you. We might be missing the marriage license, but I don’t care about that.”

“Me, either.” I grin. “How about tomorrow?”

This earns me a little gasp that I want to eat right up. Isabelle raises her brows. “If you think for a second that my sisters wouldn’t hunt us down, hog-tie us, and then build a dungeon to throw us in if we snuck off to get married—”

“Good point.” We just got back to the territory. Plenty of time to aggravate our new sisters-in-law later.

Isabelle gives a soft smile. “But I think I’d really like a spring wedding. This spring. You’re right. We’ve come this far. I don’t want anything holding us back from our happily ever after.”

I kiss her temple and share a look with Beast. He laughs in response. “I pity the circumstance or person who thinks to get between us and our forever. You’re ours, Isabelle Belmonte. And we’re yours. Always.”

Thank you so much for reading Geaton, Beast, and Isabelle’s story! They’re very special to me, and I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them. If you did, please consider leaving a review!

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The Wicked Villains series continues in THE SEA WITCH, which begins with Zurielle arriving to ask Ursa for help. The only bargaining tool she has is herself, which leads to her agreeing to a virginity auction to raise the money to buy Alaric’s freedom. Except nothing is as it seems…Including Alaric.

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