Beyond These Walls (The Walls Duet #2)(6)

“Are you coming up?” I asked, opening the car door to hop out.

He shook his head, smiling. “This car is paid up until morning. Might as well use it to my advantage.”

“I’m sure you will.”

I shut the car door, leaving Roman to his vices for the evening, and I focused on everything waiting for me upstairs—a home, a fiancée, and a future.

Lailah was my beacon. No matter how bleak life might get, how rough the waters might seem, I knew she’d always be there to safely guide me back home.

I quickly made my way through the entrance, taking the elevator to the thirtieth floor. This apartment had been my home since I left Santa Monica. When I used to walk through the front door, I’d seen nothing but a prison, a place keeping me from where I wanted to be—with Lailah.

But I’d made a decision. I’d paid a price.

Wanting to save Lailah and pay for the transplant she’d so desperately needed, I’d known I would have to return to the life I’d left behind. I still remember the way my hand had shaken as I wrote my good-bye to her, wishing I could tell her everything I had bottled up in my heart, but I’d known if I did, she would never have gone through with the surgery.

In the painful months that had followed, I’d discovered what it was to lose myself all over again.

I never wanted to feel that again.

Lailah was my everything, and I’d continue to move mountains to make her happy every day of her life.

Exiting the elevator, I made my way down the long hallway toward our door. Turning the handle, I found the apartment aglow with candlelight.

“Lailah?” I called out, my eyes darting around the expansive living room and kitchen.

“In here. Come find me,” she hollered back, her voice coming from the bedroom.

I’d thought I would be returning to a houseful of guests, assuming Grace and Zander would spend the evening with us. Candlelight and a summon to the bedroom were a welcome surprise.

My hand hovered over the tops of the candles, sending the flames into a frenzied dance. The ghostly shadows moved across the walls as I stalked down the hallway. Pushing the door open, I slowly stepped inside the room and found Lailah lounging in a sofa chair by the bed, in nothing more than a light-blue satin bra and matching panties.

“Is that new?” I asked, attempting to keep the pitch of my voice from reaching the next octave.

She smirked and slowly crossed her legs, one foot over the other. “Do you like it?”

“Very much.”

“One of the many things I picked up on my shopping adventure with Grace today.”

I nodded, walking forward and dropping my suit jacket on the floor. “Remind me to tell Grace how fond I am of her.”

“I will.” She laughed.

Stepping closer until I was hovering over her, I asked, “Will we be seeing her and Zander tonight?” I bent forward, tracing my fingers over the delicate skin of her shoulder.

“No,” she answered softly. “She thought we could use a night to explore my new . . . wardrobe. We’re meeting them for brunch in the morning.”

“Good.”

I offered my hand to her and watched as she rose from the chair to stand before me. With beautiful platinum-blonde hair and baby-blue eyes, she was almost ethereal-looking. Since leaving the hospital with her new heart, she’d gained some much-needed weight, giving her feminine curves and strength. Not a single ounce of frailty seemed to exist in her now.

She was my fierce survivor.

“You are the most beautiful woman on the planet, Lailah Buchanan.”

“Soon-to-be Lailah Cavanaugh,” she corrected.

I pulled her into my arms. Her bare skin sent fire zinging through my fingertips with every touch.

“How many days?”

“Forty-three,” she replied.

“Why did we decide to get married right before Christmas?” I asked, dipping my head toward the crook of her neck.

A low moan escaped her lips as I kissed a path down to her breasts.

“Because I love snow and the color red. Plus it’s in between semesters.”

“You’re entirely too practical,” I whispered before placing a single kiss on the light-pink scar running down her chest from her many surgeries.

“That’s why you love me.” She laughed.

Reaching my hand behind her back, I made quick work of the closure on her bra. I slid the straps slowly down her arms, and the bra fell to the floor.

“I love you, Lailah, for many reasons. Let me show you one right now,” I purred in her ear.

“Yes.”

I carried her to the bed and made good on my promise for the rest of the night.

I LOVED BRUNCH.

Two meals seamlessly blended together meant I could eat whatever I wanted, and I didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn to do it.

It was one of the best ideas ever—besides introducing chocolate to breakfast foods. Whoever had devised that genius idea deserved a Nobel Peace Prize.

As I happily stuffed another bite of chocolate-chip pancakes into my mouth, I turned to see Zander closely watching me from his high chair. His bright blue eyes followed the movements of my fork as it moved to my plate to scoop up another piece of pancake. A tiny pink tongue darted out and made a wide sweep across his top lip.

“You’re cute,” I said, “but these are mine, buddy.”