branded (phantoms mc #2)

thirty-seven: in which she closes a chapter

"There's no reason to be alone" - Oscuro, No Reason to be Alone

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The days and weeks flew by in a haze of tangled limbs beneath sweat-drenched bedsheets, and the farm work I'd quickly grown to love. There was a domestic simplicity in waking up at the sound of the first crow, enclosed in Ghost's arms. There were days when neither of us left the property, and, aside for feeding the animals, didn't leave the bedroom. On our farm, we were Marlon and Catalina, and the outside world was nothing but a distant memory.

Today was one of the rare days when Ghost had to go be Ghost.

I made him breakfast before he left for the Phantoms' clubhouse. I no longer worried about any retaliation from the Cursed. It turned out that Ghost's time away from me had been spent in Isla de Nueva, working the beginnings of a complete eradication of the Cursed's prostitution den of horrors. I still remembered the dread that had engulfed me at the thought of him going back to that place again. That he'd done it, and I had been none the wiser.

"Why wouldn't you just tell me?" I asked him, trying and failing to untangle our legs. The asshole had, quite literally, locked me down.

"Because you would've wanted to come," he replied, pinning me down with his brutish hands. His gaze softened. "And I didn't want you to see."

I chewed on my lower lip. It was one of the things I'd been afraid of: Ghost treating me like a fragile flower the moment we truly got together. But it was also one of the things that made me love him all the more... The realization that he had honestly and unapologetically loved me, and would do anything in his power to protect me.

I stared up at him, residual defiance vibrating in every cell of my body. "You know I've seen worse."

"Not the death," he'd clarified, releasing me. His gaze softened. "The women."

"Oh."

And that was that. We didn't speak about it again, but sometimes, when I looked at him, I wondered how he was able to compartmentalize so well. I'd seen horrific things – done horrific things – but Ghost had years of that on me. It felt like this farm and everything that came with it was his salvation.

"Cindy! Cindy!" I yelled, marching out the open door that led into the backyard. I shielded my eyes from the midday sun as I scanned the grassy expanse. "Stop fucking running away from me!"

"Oh, wow," Eve's voice called behind me. "Who's Cindy, and why are you cussing her out so early in the morning?"

I turned abruptly, finding her standing on the patio, a few feet away from me. "Hell, Eve. Did you teleport here, or something?"

"I got an Uber," she said, digging around in the tote bag that was slung over a shoulder. She pulled out a candy bar as she plopped down onto one of the wooden deck chairs. "An electric car. They're so much better for the environment. You guys should really shouldn't be leaving the door open, by the way. All the way out in the middle of nowhere. Psychos exist, you know."

"Yeah, I'm looking at one right now," I muttered, pulling up the chair beside her. I eyed her as she munched on the chocolate. "How have your teeth not fallen out by now?" I muttered to her.

"I balance all the sugar with some really nasty veggie smoothies. Nasty for me, but great for Baby Boy in here," was her reply as she patted her swollen belly. "Plus, it's not my fault. I think he's a sugar demon. I even dream of candy at night."

I shook my head, my lips twitching. "Didn't I tell you I was picking you up?"

"I wanted to see the farm. Maybe catch Ghost in some dungarees, chewing on an ear of corn."