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“If he thinks you’re alive, he must still be looking for you…unless he thinks you’re—”
“Dead. He thinks I’m dead,” I state. “I made my parents bury a coffin that I wasn’t in. I let everyone in my life believe that I died so I could get away from him and keep them safe. He had no reason to hurt them when he couldn’t hurt me anymore.” Images of him at dinner with my parents tighten my fists. “Do you know he takes them out for dinner, like they’re a happy family? Like he isn’t the reason why their daughter is dead.”
“Nikk—I’m sorry.”
“My real name is Morgan Dove,” I tell him as I rub my finger over the tattoo on my wrist.
He whispers, “Little Dove.”
“It was the one piece of myself that I kept—a reminder of who I am and why I’m here. If I stayed hidden, everyone in my life was safe, including you.” The stream of tears continues to pour down my cheeks. “But now, he knows how to find me. I don’t know for a fact if he’s seen the article or your interview. But he will. And when he realizes I’m alive, he won’t stop.”
“I won’t let him hurt you,” Cam says. “I understand. I understand why you did what you did. But if you think for one second that I’m going to walk away and leave you to fend for yourself, you don’t know me at all. Ask me what else I told that interviewer.”
“What?” I ask, confused. “It doesn’t matter what else you said, Cam. It’s not your fault. I should have told you the truth sooner.”
He stands, walks over to me, and grabs my hand, pulling me back to the couch with him.
He sits down and pulls me forward until I’m standing between his legs. “Morgan, ask me.”
Morgan.
He said Morgan. Not Nikki, but my real name. I didn’t think there would ever come a day that someone would call me that again. It’s like waking up from years of dreaming and playing pretend.
What he said in the interview doesn’t matter anymore. The damage is already done. None of it is his fault, of course. But there’s nothing else I need to hear.
I expected him to be a little more upset that I’d been lying to him this whole time. But instead, he grabbed my hand and pulled me closer.
His hands hook behind my thighs, his thumbs stroking the fabric of my jeans, and I decide to let him tell me anyway. Nothing he could say would make me angry or sad or change what’s already coming.
I whisper, “What else did you tell them?”
Looking deep into his eyes, I look for any hint of resentment or regret. But I find the complete opposite.
“That I love you, Little Dove,” Cam blurts out.
My heart tumbles. “That you…what?”
He releases my thighs and grabs my face, pulling me closer to him. “That I love you. No matter what your name is, no matter where you came from or where you’re going, I love you. I love you. I fucking love you. I don’t care about any lies you had to tell me to survive. Only that you tell me the truth from now on. I’m here, I’m yours, and I’m not going anywhere.”
I become weightless as I fall into his lap, straddling his legs, on a high of what he just said. He doesn’t release my face as I cup his jaw and caress the stubble on his cheeks.
“I love you,” I whisper. “I’ve wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t until you knew who I really was. But I love you so much, Cam. Every moment with you is what I have always wanted. I didn’t know that I could be loved like this, that I deserved a love like yours.” My lip quivers. “Trey…he broke me. He controlled my body and eventually my thoughts. He made me think that I wasn’t even good enough for him, that I wasn’t good enough to make my own decisions, that I just wasn’t enough. But I know that’s not true.”
“You are more than enough, Morgan. You always have been,” Cam whispers as his lips brush against mine.
Is this what I’ve been missing out on my entire life? A love like this?
Trey has taken enough from me. He’s not taking this. He can’t. Our love is the one thing he can’t break.
“I trust you,” I say against his mouth. “I trust you fearlessly.”
Sealing our lips together, I kiss him, long and slow, cherishing it.
His hands drift to my neck before skimming down to my shoulders and sliding onto my waist. Without breaking our kiss, he stands and lifts me up. I wrap my legs around his waist, and he carries me out of the office and to the stairwell to my loft.
His lips pull away from mine and find my jaw. With gentle and sweet kisses, he leaves a trail down my neck to my collarbone, following the path back up as he ascends the stairs with me in his arms.
Grabbing the door handle, I throw it open. Cam kicks it shut with his foot and carries me over to the bed, his mouth and tongue never leaving mine.
