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Maxime stands in the door, a suitcase in his hand.
Panic rushes through me in a hot flush. “What are you doing?”
“Leclerc is dead. A jogger found his body in a park this morning. Alexis’s men got him eventually.”
The information boggles my mind, but my head is stuck on that suitcase. “What are you doing?”
“Telling you so you don’t have to be scared.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
He looks at the keys that he holds in his hand. “I was going to drop this off at your workshop, but it’s better like this.”
I advance a few careful steps, frightened he’ll flee if I corner him. “Where are you going?”
“It’s time to face the facts, Zoe.” He looks back at me. “This isn’t working.”
The panic turns into anger, hot and all-consuming. I walk until I stand in front of him. “You don’t get to make this decision on your own.”
He pushes me aside. “Don’t make this difficult.”
I move back, blocking his path, standing my ground and demanding my answers. My throat is so dry it hurts to speak. “Why?”
“You’re changing.”
I’m changing? The anger creeps up my neck and heats my cheeks. “You made me.” I push a finger on his chest. “You’ll live with me.”
His smile is tender, apologetic. “I’m afraid you’ll wake up one day and not know who you are any longer. I don’t want to be the reason you hate the person you’ve become.”
“Is it because of the hotel, of what I did?”
He puts down the suitcase. “It’s because of what I did.”
We both know what he’s referring to. He’s talking about stealing my life and cheating his way into my heart. He used every possible means of making sure I can’t escape, even forcing me into this marriage and holding my family’s lives over my head. After everything he’s done to keep me, he’s prepared to let me go?
I stare at him as the enormity of what he’s doing hits me. Because I’m changing, he’s willing to set me free. He cares enough. It’s nothing short of a declaration of love.
“Maxime,” I whisper.
He picks up the suitcase again. “You’ll be fine with money. The apartment is paid for, and you’re the one making the big bucks now.” His smile is wry. “You’ve taken care of me for long enough.”
He’s proud. I get that. “The business will recover now that…” Alexis is dead. I can’t bring myself to say it. It sounds too selfish.
“I know.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Not as much as I am.” He moves around me.
“I’m sorry for the hotel,” I say. “I was upset. I was trying to…”
He looks back. “Survive me.”
“Yes,” I say, biting my lip. “Yet…”
“Yet what?”
I inhale deeply, and admit the truth. “I want you to stay.”
His smile only turns sadder. “You jumped off a cliff and ran away to escape me. I think it’s also time to admit to myself you don’t want me.”
I lock my fingers around the wrist of his hand that’s holding the suitcase. “I do. I do want you. That’s what I realized tonight when I looked at my wedding dress. I made it for you. I wanted to have something you couldn’t give me so badly that I didn’t see what was right in front of me.”
“What?” he asks, intertwining our fingers.
I smile through the tears burning in my eyes. “You.”
Pain contorts his features. “I’m not a nice man, Zoe.”
“I know who you are.”
“I have nothing to offer you, no money and no love.”
“Today you’ve given me everything.”
His lips tilt. “Have I?”
“You’ve put my needs before yours.” I search his eyes and recognize the conflict. “That’s love, Maxime.”
Dropping the suitcase, he folds his arms around me and crushes me to his body. The pain I saw in his face reflects in his voice. “You can teach me to be the man you want me to be.”
“No.” I burrow into the safety of his arms. “Don’t change. I’ve always loved you just as you are.”
He rests his chin on my head. “I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve you.”
I pull away and take his hand. “Come back inside?”
He scoops me up in his arms, making me squeal. “I think I’m supposed to carry you over the threshold.”
“I’m not sure how it’s supposed to work, but we’ll figure it out together.”
“Starting with this,” he says, lowering his head to catch my lips.
The suitcase remains forgotten in the hallway like the baggage I’ve carried for too long when he carries me inside. The door closes on our past as we make our first decision together, to love with all we’re capable of.
Love.
He doesn’t say it, but it seems fitting. This is who he is. His actions speak louder.
It’s the first moment of a new beginning.
Eat, sleep, love, and repeat.
With him, I can do this forever.
Epilogue (Zoe)
Zoe
The bells toll in the tower. Their music rings out over the harbor city of Marseille, their message one of joy. As if the angels are playing along, it’s a warm autumn day with a clear blue sky. I’m standing in the nursery, facing my reflection in the mirror. The girl looking back at me is hardly the girl from a few months ago. This one’s eyes are sparkling, and her cheeks have a blush. This one believes in love.
