Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 132498 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132498 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Her eyes shine, and then tears fall.
She doesn’t wipe them. She just stands there. Listening. Crying. Seeing what was right in front of her the whole time. My undying love.
“I didn’t have words,” I admit. “Back then . . . and not when I found you again, so I left evidence.”
Her lips tremble with a smile.
“It’s always been you. Since the first moment I saw you. And collected my first rock, and then well, I did it when I didn’t know how to ask you to stay.”
Her gaze locks onto mine. “And now?”
I swallow. “Now I’m asking,” I say quietly. “Stay.”
She leans in, deliberate. Her mouth meets mine, gentle at first, but then my hands slide around her waist, and the kiss deepens.
“You’re terrifying,” she whispers, voice muffled against me.
I let my mouth curve, kissing her hair. “Yet.”
“Yet,” she echoes, and her arms tighten around me like she’s anchoring herself.
For the first time in a long time, the violence inside me is quiet.
“Do you ever regret meeting me?”
The question lands clean and deep, like she’s been carrying it for a decade.
I don’t hesitate.
“Not for a second.”
Her breath stutters.
“Even when it ruined me,” I confess. “Even when it nearly killed me. Even when I thought you chose someone else and left me bleeding in hell.”
Her eyes glisten, but she doesn’t look away.
“Because in the end, I got you.”
I reach for her, hand sliding into her hair. She leans into my touch immediately, and I press my forehead to hers, breathing her in.
“You always had me.” She laughs.
Her palm settles over my chest, feeling the beat.
I close my eyes.
Finally secure that she will never leave me again.
63
Victoria
I stand barefoot outside Lorenzo’s office, hand mid-reach, when I hear his voice.
“We need to find Grant—”
My stomach tightens so fast it almost makes me dizzy.
Grant.
The name hits something inside me. A place I tried to pretend wasn’t there yesterday, but today, in the light of a new day, it’s there. Fear.
I’m afraid of him.
It’s not that I think he could get to me again because I know Lorenzo will protect me. It’s just that I’m still afraid of how unhinged he was yesterday.
How close I came to being taken from Lorenzo, maybe forever.
I don’t move at first. I just breathe, slow.
Then Lorenzo’s voice cuts through again . . .
“Bring Victoria in.”
He wants me in his office? He wants to involve me in this. If I needed more confirmation that things are different now, his next statement confirms it. “There are no secrets between us.”
My heart practically beats out of my chest at his words.
No secrets . . .
Coming from a man who built an entire life out of secrets.
Wow.
My hand hovers over the knob, and I finally turn it.
I don’t knock.
I should, probably. There are men in there, but Lorenzo said bring Victoria in, so ask and you shall receive.
I push the door open and step inside.
Lorenzo looks up from behind his desk, eyes flicking to me instantly.
Rafe stands off to the side with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall. Two other men who I recognize from the security room are there too.
Lorenzo’s mouth curves, slow and wicked.
“Were you just standing out there waiting?” he drawls, rolling a pen between his fingers.
I plant myself in the doorway and lift a brow. “Kind of.” I shrug. “I never got my invitation to the meeting.”
Rafe’s mouth twitches.
Lorenzo leans back in his chair, gaze dragging over me. If there weren’t men around, I’d think he would have his way with me right now.
“You’re my wife.” His lip lifts. “You don’t need an invite.”
My pulse jumps. I like this new version of Lorenzo.
Lorenzo taps the pen against the desk once, twice, then lets it go. “Sit.” He gestures toward the chair opposite him.
I don’t sit immediately. Instead, I lean my hip against the edge of the desk, folding my arms. “You were talking about Grant.”
Lorenzo’s jaw flexes once at his name. “I was.”
I push off the desk and finally slide into the chair because my legs suddenly don’t feel as sturdy.
Lorenzo watches me while I do. He then rests his forearms on the desk, fingers lacing together. “Tell me everything you remember about him,” he says quietly. He’s not ordering. He’s asking.
My brain short-circuits, completely caught off guard by the question.
My fingers curl on the chair arm. “He was careful. He didn’t say much.”
Lorenzo’s brow lifts slightly. “He was careless enough to show up and take you.”
“He didn’t technically take me,” I say automatically, then stop myself because he did.
Rafe’s mouth twitches again. “Fair.”
Lorenzo’s fingers tighten together, knuckles whitening. Then he relaxes.
“Start from the beginning.” He sighs. “Tell me everything you remember about him.”
I stare at my hands, trying to think of anything that could be relevant.
“Grant came into my life when I was young,” I say, forcing the words out. “He was just there. Polished. Approved by my parents.” I roll my eyes. “My parents liked that he was the kind of man you could take to a charity dinner without him setting something on fire.”