The Carver (Fifth Republic #2)

by Penelope Sky

“I’m very fucking dangerous, sweetheart. But I’m not dangerous to you.” “You just said you would kill someone if I fucked them.” “Yeah, I would.” He doubled down, didn’t backpedal, didn’t gaslight me. “So, I would get someone killed…and I would have to carry that guilt.” “Don’t fuck anyone else, and you’ll save lives. You’re a superhero.” I didn’t find this one bit funny. “I’m being serious.”

“—I would never let anything happen to you. I would die for you. I would let my body be pumped with a hundred bullets before you got a single scratch. I would slice my own fucking throat to spare you any discomfort.”

“Are you sure? Because I’m a dangerous man in a dangerous business, and that’s never going to change. I am who I am, and if you want me, you need to accept me. You need to accept that I want all of you to myself, that I don’t want to share you or be shared, that I want more than just something casual and easy. I want you to be my woman, I want commitment, I want something more than a week or a month or a year. Maybe forever. Don’t forget you aren’t the only one who’s got a heart on the line. Don’t forget you aren’t the only one who’s risking something. I’ve never done this before, but I know I want to do it with you. Those are my terms. So, if any of that is disagreeable to you, then get out now and don’t waste my fucking time.”

“So, she’s already been divorced, and she’s not even thirty?” “Mom, I love you, but you better park that judgment bus.”

“You have something in mind for dinner or chef’s choice?” “I’m fine with McDonald’s.” “Chef’s choice, it is.” I texted him again. She gave a slight chuckle. “Have you ever had McDonald’s?” “No.” “Never?” she asked incredulously. “So, you were just born a snob?” I chuckled. “Pretty much.” “We’re going there one of these days.” “Not a chance.” “You can’t criticize something you’ve never had.” “Yes, I can. American garbage.”

It was like a safe I had to crack over and over again, a code she changed every few hours. But when that door unlocked, it was worth all the effort—to take another piece of her treasure. “I already fell for you, sweetheart.”

“Trust takes months to earn among friends, years among strangers. It takes nothing among brothers. Don’t ever forget that.”

“You sound so busy, I don’t know how you have time for me.” “I don’t have time for you,” he said. “I make time for you.” I looked into those confident eyes and felt myself float. “You’re my priority, and it’s my job to make you feel like a priority.” “You know, for a man who’s never been in a relationship, you’re awfully good at it.” He gave a slight smirk. “Because there’s only one relationship I’ve ever wanted to be in.”

“Why are you smiling like that?” “Because I’m happy, asshole.” When times got tough, she’d stuck beside me. Any reasonable person would advise her to leave me, but she chose to be unreasonable and stay. Chose me the way I chose her from the moment I saw her. “I’m gonna marry her.”

“I’m okay… I had this dream… I don’t know why I called you.” “You called me because I’m your man and you’re scared. I’ll be there in ten minutes.” “It’s okay. You don’t need to do that⁠—” “I want to do that, sweetheart.”

“I almost died⁠—” “And I’m going to kill the assholes who are responsible for that.” She finally understood and didn’t ask again. “Turn on the news when you’re done in the shower.” “Why?” “Because I want you to see what I did to them.”