Atlas slowly rose and pulled out of me. Staring down at my face, he pushed the hair out of my eyes.
"I can't let you go."
"You don't need to. I'm yours to keep."
XXXII
Atlas
I was still awake when the sun came up. After taking Stella hard, I gave it to her slow to make up for the marks she would show in the morning. Even in my frustration, anger, and built up hate, Stella was able to handle me. She could always take me at my worst and was probably the only person that ever could. She finally passed out after we showered and I carried her back to the bed.
I stared up at her ceiling as sunlight stared to fill her room. It was a dark blue with silver balls scattered. The paint was thick and wasn't there when I checked the place before she moved in. I finally realized it was the night sky with the stars. I recognized the pattern of the stars placed in the sky. It was the constellation of Atlas.
"When did you paint that?" I asked her when I felt her waking. She rolled on her back and looked up at the ceiling with me.
"A few nights after we moved in," she said. "This way, you are always watching over me."
"I was always watching over you, Stella," I told her, rolling over to look at her.
"I needed you with me," she whispered.
"I thought you were safer away from me. Everything you went through was because of me. You've seen too much spilled blood and that's my fault."
"Why did you come back then?"
I sighed and pushed myself up in the bed. Stella looked up at me, waiting for me to explain why I kept hurting her.
"I wanted to leave you alone. I thought I could get rid of you easily and move on with my life. I watched you to make sure you were safe and it killed me not to go to you. I realized I might never be okay with letting you go, but I was going to for your sake. For once, I didn't want my selfish actions to hurt you."
Stella sat up ready to argue and I placed a finger over her lips, silencing her.
"You didn't look happy though. I had this image of you moving out here and becoming someone different, but you still looked lost. Like you were missing something."
"I was."
"I waited for the day you would find it. I told myself that I would walk away then and never look back. But then I saw you and Liddy go to that club. It reminded me of the night I took you. I couldn't help it."
"That was you on the dance floor." It wasn't a question because she knew.
"You didn't react the way you should have. I expected fear or for you to run, reminding me of what I did to you. But you melted into me like you had been waiting for that moment."
"I was. You never hurt me, Atlas. You hurt me when you left me," Stella said.
"I have hurt you, Stella. You are just too strong to see it but I am prepared to make it up to you."
"How?"
"Every tear," I said pulling her face to mine, "I will kiss away." I kissed her cheek and moved to her neck.
"Every bite, I will soothe. Every bruise, I will cover up with pleasure. For every moment you spent alone and hurt, I will make you happy."
I lowered her back to the bed and took her lips. I hoped she believed me, trusted me, and wanted me enough. I took my time with the kiss because for the first time, there wasn't a deadline. The ticking clock that had always hung over my head with her was gone. We weren't going anywhere. I was done being without her. Neither one of us were happy like that. And if you couldn't be happy, what was the point? Why fight a war when you had nothing to fight for?
A bang in the kitchen broke us both apart and Stella jumped from the bed. I grabbed her just before she pulled open her door.
"Stay," I said, pushing her back a few steps.
Silently, I walked down the short hall and heard a scream. I came around the corner quickly to find Liddy with a pan in her hand, looking ready to swing. Ace leaned against the counter with his hands up in surrender.
"What the fuck?" I growled at him. Liddy jumped when she heard my voice.
"I just touched her hand," he explained as he slowly removed the pan from her shaking hands.
"Ace?" Stella asked from behind me. "What are you doing here?"
"Came to check on my girls and to make sure the boss here behaved himself," he said as put the pan on the stove. "By the looks of your hair, he didn't."
Stella blushed and ran her fingers quickly through the mess until Ace swept her up in a tight hug. I stepped aside and joined Liddy in the kitchen.
"So, you're back?" Liddy asked me. "Finally pulled decided to put her out of her misery?"
"I'm not here to hurt her," I snapped.
"I meant by coming back for her," Liddy said, stepping away from my outburst.
"Right. Sorry," I told her. "I came back for you both."
"What?" Stella asked, looking between her brother and me.
"I'm not taking you away. We can go where ever the fuck you want to go," I told her. "You aren't leaving behind your best friend either. I have casinos and homes in almost every major city. Wherever you want. I'm not tying you down."
"But I like the ropes," Stella blurted.
I ignored Ace's glare and rounded the counter, pulling her little body flush against mine. Her eyes widened when I poked her in the stomach with the proof of what her words do to me.
"Don't you worry, Little Star. They will go wherever we go."
The war within the family was far from over. There were still enemies hiding and women missing. In the last month, Ace and I had managed to take down three other holding spots for the girls. Ace hadn't found his girl yet. Every time we would think we were close, he'd come up empty-handed. After everything he had gone through, it couldn't all be for nothing.
Ace grew concerned with his sister and Liddy living alone in San Francisco. Neither one looked happy or well. Stella held her head high, but her eyes were dull like before I took her to the lake house. Liddy wasn't healing or dealing with what had happened to her either. That angered Ace even more, and he fought harder to find every man who was to blame for the way she cried herself to sleep at night. I promised her the best help we could get her. And revenge.
"Anywhere?" Stella asked, her eyes clouded over and barely focused.
"Anywhere. You won't get away from me again."
EPILOGUE
Stella
Six Months Later…
Paris was beautiful in the spring. The fog of the winter had finally lifted. The trees sprouted into full bloom, covering the land in flowers. The air smelled sweet with the cherry blossoms decorating the sky. The warmer air wrapped around me as I stood on our balcony, watching families board their sailboats for the first time this year. It was perfect, calming, and inspiring. I never wanted to leave.
"You ready, Little Star?" Atlas asked.
He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my stomach gently. The large bump made it hard to fit his thick arms around me. I never thought I could see him as gentle as he was with me in the last few months. Atlas touched me like I might break or he would hurt the tiny life growing inside me.