Chapter 25

"Houston sounds wonderful. Any place besides New Hampshire, I'm good with." She snuggled against him, sliding her fingers through his hair and felt his forehead rest against hers, pecking his nose. "And as much as I did like that house from Mr. Bearer, I think we need something a bit bigger. Maybe a ranch or something along those lines. A garage big enough to fit your bike and any other toys you have along with your truck and a car for me." The shock in his eyes spoke volumes and Luciana merely kissed him, letting Mark know, without a shadow of a doubt, what she wanted. "What do you think, big guy? Does that sound good to you? Some place out in the country where we can have bonfires and enjoy some peace together? Or do you want to stay city bound and just have the house from Mr. Bearer renovated?"

"Whoa woman, slow the fuck down." Now Mark was the one being taken for a spin, his head felt dizzy as it struggled to process everything. "You JUST woke up and you're-"

"Planning his future, the man is overwhelmed as fuck." Jon finished with a grin, having cleared up his 'allergy' issue, though his eyes were still rimmed in red.

"Just… focus on being awake, you two have plenty of time to sort this all out."

"We're moving to Florida." Jon deadpanned.

"Oh, shut up. We'll need room too, you know."

"I already told you before everything went down what I wanted, Mark. Did you think I'd change my mind simply because I was asleep for 3 months? I love you. I want to be with you in Houston. Whether it's a small one-bedroom apartment or the house we rented from Mr. Bearer, it doesn't matter where we live. And I feel like I haven't been living for the past year and a half. It's time to live…" This was the real her without the Prozac and drugs to help her sleep, teal eyes sparkling. "First thing I'm doing as soon as I'm out of here is dying my hair back to normal. I'm over the black."

"I would go back to brown, but…" Thea eyeballed Jon, wondering what he would think if she did change her platinum blonde pixie cut to murky brown. "I'm not sure my hubby could handle that kind of change. I'll dye your hair for you, if you want."

"Not if you move to Florida."

"We're not, we're going to Houston with you and Marky boy."

"Good."

"Just marry the broad, if they're going to insist on remaining up each other's asses, you might- ACK!" Jon groaned when he got Thea's elbow in his gut, frowning. "Luci, I'm sorry, you're not a broad, you're a-" He got another elbow and sighed. "I'm glad you're awake."

"He really is, he's just an ass about it."

"So, is your hair going back to brown?" Jon had known she was no blonde the first time they'd had sex.

Were they really discussing hair color?

Thea laughed softly, shaking her head. "Nah, I like the platinum blonde. It works for me."

Sooner or later, Mark would end up marrying her sister and she was 100% supportive of it. Any man who would willingly protect her sister and take a bullet was alright in her book. She'd be proud to have Mark Calaway as a brother-in-law, but she wanted it to happen organically, not because Jon couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"He is an ass, but he protected you, even against the big guy here, so he'll do." Luciana winked at her brother-in-law and accepted a kiss being dropped on her forehead. "Thank you." She squeezed his hand momentarily and released it, letting out a loud yawn. "How am I still tired after sleeping for 3 months straight?"

"Fatigue, and your body has to readjust now that you're awake. Just rest, it'll all adjust in time." Thea watched her sister's eyes close and nodded at Mark, who hadn't left Luciana's side since she was brought in.

As soon as Thea and Jon left, Luciana popped one eye open to look at Mark and scooted over on the bed, patting it with her hand. "Hold me please?" Luciana wanted nothing more than to feel his arm around her since his other one was in a sling.

That was a request he would never deny, and Mark was secretly glad Jon and Thea had vacated because he knew he'd do it in front of Jon and take a lot of flak in the process. When she first had been brought in and the nurses caught him on her tiny hospital bed with her, whispering in her ear, they had scolded him and sent him packing. The next day, Luciana had been upgraded to a lot larger bed and nobody had said a word. Mark moved onto his left side, unable to lay on the right with the sling and raised his arm up, feeling Luciana slowly snuggling into his side. He curled his fingers around her arm, letting out a sigh of pure relief and pleasure, having missed this.

"I was afraid you'd never wake up, darlin'." He confessed in a shaky whisper.

"I know…sorry it took me so long, but I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere." Luciana assured him, snuggling against him as close as she could without hurting him and let out a sigh of contentment.

It was a miracle she would have no long-lasting injuries or any kind of reminder of what happened to her. What Glenn Jacobs had put her through. Feeling Mark's body heat soaking into her skin, Luciana closed her eyes and fell asleep.

"Love you, Mark." She murmured before letting the darkness pull her in again, her chest rising and falling steadily and soon he joined her.

2 weeks later, Luciana was finally released from the hospital on a strict regimen to help her get back on her feet completely. She'd begged the doctor to let her go back to Houston with Mark and family; he finally caved on the promise she would take care of herself and continue with physical therapy to strengthen her muscles. They took a redeye flight from New Hampshire to Houston, everything already set up and waiting for them. Mark and Luciana talked about everything and decided on a 4-bedroom ranch out in the country. It was something they both wanted, and Jon and Thea wouldn't be far from them, though they stuck to the city.

Thea was going back to school to resume her medical degree and Jon helped Mark run the repair shop while doing the bounty hunting on the side. Luciana and Thea didn't like the fact they wanted to keep doing the bounty hunter job, but they didn't voice their opinion on it either. The men were not allowed to bring their work home, for any reason and both agreed, so there were times they'd be gone on the road for several weeks. That left the sisters alone to do schooling, which Luciana was doing online while Thea actually wanted to have the college experience, just not a dorm room. Her and Jon had taken over Paul Bearer's home, renovated it to their liking and bought it from him, after getting approval to do said renovations.

Before long, 6 months had passed since coming back to Houston to restart their lives. Luciana glanced at the clock, seeing it was just past 7 AM and sighed, knowing she wouldn't be getting anymore sleep. Mark and Jon were on the road again, tracking down another bounty somewhere in Austin, which wasn't too far away from Houston. They called at least once a day to check in, letting the sisters know they were alright and would be home soon. Not soon enough. Slipping from bed, Luciana stretched her arms in the air and pulled her robe on since it was a little chilly outside, not believing Christmas was in a few days. Hopefully, Mark would be home for the holidays at least, but Luciana doubted it and left the bedroom to start her day.

Thea wasn't overly amused either, but… she got it. Mark and Jon had explained that bounty hunting was not only good money, when taking on the right bounties, but they wanted to make sure that the people who actually were bad served their penance and those who were innocent, like the sisters had been, were given a fair shake. She admired it, sure, but after her own run-in with that kind of life, she knew it was dangerous and preferred her husband a bit closer to home.

Towel-drying her honey blonde hair, Luciana smiled at the reflection staring back at her in the bathroom vanity, another towel wrapped around her body. It was so nice having her natural hair color back, though it'd taken some getting used to with Mark. He admitted to missing the black, but Luciana refused to keep it dark. This was a new beginning and black reminded her too much of the scared, anxiety-filled woman she'd been during running.

The trial for their parents was coming up in another month; the courts kept continuing it, trying to prolong the inevitable because of lawyers and whatnot. The trial for Glenn Jacobs was also coming up, so both sisters would be making a trip to New Hampshire to see him put where he belonged as well as their parents. Thankfully, it was after the holidays. After dressing in black soft thin pants and a short-sleeved red top, Luciana headed downstairs to start the task of the day. She froze at the sight of Mark sitting in the kitchen, with newspaper in hand and a cup of coffee in front of him, teal eyes wide in both shock and elation.

"Oh my god, when did you get home?!" She exclaimed, seeing the devilish smile cross his face and ran to him as soon as he stood from the table, jumping into his arms.

That meant Jon was home too; Thea would be ecstatic.

"Not too long ago," He laughed, holding her tightly against him, feeling her legs wrapping around his waist and planted a kiss on her smiling mouth. "You really think I'm going to miss our first Christmas together?" Mark was a bit of a workaholic, but there was no way he'd leave her alone for this holiday, even Jon knew better. "Austin didn't take us very long." That had been a cut and dry case and the chase just as much so. But holiday working meant they could charge a holiday fee, so… they had spent an additional day looking for presents for their women. "Miss me, darlin'?"

"You know I did."

Luciana rested her forehead against his, rolling it slowly and caressed his broad shoulders and neck, always taking a moment every time he came home from a hunt to show him how much she did miss him. She appreciated him, respected his decision on what he did for a living and hoped he never fell in love with another one of his captives. That possibility could always happen, and Thea had the same worry regarding Jon. Their men were drop dead gorgeous and they were lucky to have them in their lives. Thea was married, so she had her hooks a little deeper in Jon and it seemed the man was completely crazy about her.

"I'll make us breakfast and then you're helping me decorate the tree."

Everything from the mansion had been shipped here the sisters wanted to keep, refusing to destroy their childhood belongings just because their parents were psychotic bastards. The house was mostly done as far as decorating went, but the tree still had to be done and that had been Luciana's plan before Mark surprised her by coming home early. Thea was supposed to come help her, but now that Jon was home, she didn't expect to see little sister and brother-in-law for at least 3 days.

"Yeah, about that tree…"

He hadn't liked it, at all, and tossed it out the minute he walked through the door, replacing it with the blue fir he had brought home with him. The blue fir was huge, full, and begging for some shiny accessories to adorn it. She had done some fake tree and Mark was pretty sure it was because she was concerned with the heat. Texas didn't get much in the way of winter, so he got her concern. They'd just have to put a humidifier up to keep the area…. moist.

"How much did you like your fake one?"

Eyeballing him, Luciana felt her feet touch the kitchen floor and folded her arms in front of her chest, already knowing he'd done something with her tree. It was fake for a very good reason. Luciana didn't want the ranch burning down during the night because the lights on the tree caught the damn thing on fire!

"You didn't…" She groaned, walking out of the kitchen down the hallway and into the living room, groaning in even louder. "Damn it, Mark!" He'd voiced his extreme dislike over fake trees and she'd argued this was the safest route to go. "Seriously?" She wanted to be mad at him and berate him for doing this, for getting rid of her fake tree, but he'd just gotten home. "If this ranch burns down, I'm holding you personally responsible." Luciana grumbled, caving in and felt his arms wrap around her from behind, both looking at the tree with smiles. "It's beautiful, I'll give you that much credit."

"Now darlin', I already put it in a giant ass bucket of water and trimmed the trunk down to keep resin from forming." He informed her, this wasn't his first rodeo with a real tree. His parents had done it this way as well, because fire was a real issue, so this tended to make it safe. "And you got all them humidifiers… so we'll just put one out here and it'll be fine." Mark preferred the look and scent of real to fake and the honey blonde was also growing on him as he ran his fingers through her silky hair, planting a kiss against the side of her head. "Now, we going to decorate this beast or what?"

"Yeah…after breakfast." She was starving, her appetite back to where it used to be prior to watching her godfather take a bullet. Some nights, she was plagued with nightmares from that horrific incident, but for the most part, Luciana's life had been peaceful with Mark. "Something quick, I'll make a bigger dinner."

Eggs, hash browns and English muffins were on the menu, what she'd originally planned on making for herself. While she cooked, Mark talked to her about his last hunt and what he'd been doing, always keeping her informed on what he and Jon did. He felt the need to do it for some reason and it did Luciana's heart good. They were completely honest with each other, no more secrets and lies between them. While she was cooking and not paying him any attention, outside of listening, Mark began setting the table, watching her intently.

He was going to buy his little Suzy homemaker an apron, smirking at the thought of Luciana flitting around in nothing but said apron. It would definitely have to be a half-apron, he'd prefer those luscious bouncing breasts of hers in full view. When Luciana finally turned to start laying out the food, she was greeted to a black velvet box on her plate, because he was an ass that way.