“Sunshine,” I breathe. “You came back.”
She smiles, her eyes glistening. “I did. I couldn’t get on that plane. I couldn’t leave you.”
I blink. And she’s still here. Warm and real. “Why?”
She climbs onto my lap and wraps her arms around my neck. “Because I realized something. A truth I’ve been fighting against ever since I was a kid. I’ve spent my life putting people into two boxes—good or bad—and it wasn’t until you that I realized people aren’t that simple. No one is. Not even me.”
I brush her golden hair away from her face. “That’s true, there’s nothing simple about you. Trying to fit you into a box would be like trying to contain all the beauty of the universe inside a single glass jar.”
Her teeth dig into her bottom lip. “Let me finish before you make me cry.”
A smile tugs on my lips. “I’m sorry. I’ll shut up.”
She takes a deep breath. “I never told you this, but I forgave you for what happened in Darkwater Hollow a while ago. I’ve learned to trust you again. And I’ve fallen for you. Again.”
For a moment, I just stare at her, unable to speak.
Fallen for me.Could that be true?
I swallow hard. “You know who I am…”
“Yes,” she says, her fingertips brushing softly over my cheek. “I do. I seeallof you—the light and the dark—and I love both.”
My heart feels like it’s about to break out of my chest.
“I realized it when you took me to your beach house. I spent so long judging you for who you were, but all that judgment just melted away there. All that was left was the man I love. The man who knows me better than I know myself. The man who’d do anything for me.”
My throat tightens. “If you felt that way at the beach house, why did you leave?”
“Because I had to come to terms with my own darkness. My own sins.” She sighs, her voice trembling slightly. “I was scared, Nero. So scared of losing myself completely. When I killed Ekaterina, I didn’t feel guilty, and it felt like I lost my humanity. In the end, it wasn’t your darkness I was fighting, it was my own. Somehow, it was easier for me to love you than to love myself.”
I cradle the back of her head with my hand. “I understand now. And I’m sorry I didn’t give you the space you needed to process all that. I dismissed your concerns, pretending you could stay the same when everything around you had changed. You were right. That’s impossible. But, baby, while you change and grow based on your experiences here, I’ll be right there by your side, supporting you through it all. You never have to feel ashamed or afraid to show me any new part of you. I love it all—the dark, the light, the gray.”
A tear escapes and slides down her cheek. “I know.”
I wipe the tear away, a grin tugging on my lips. “Pinch me, will you? I need to know this isn’t an illusion. Men like me don’t get everything they could possibly want, do they?”
She doesn’t pinch me. Instead, she leans forward and presses her lips to mine.
Electricity surges through me, just like that very first time we kissed, back when we were both different people. I was Rowan, the man who’d lost himself, and she was Blake, the woman who would never fall for a criminal.
So much has changed.
But not this. Not our connection. It's something that defies reason and logic and justis.
I slide my fingers into her hair and deepen the kiss with a groan. She moves closer, digging her nails into my shoulders.
I’m instantly hard. Having my wife back in my arms is all it fucking takes.
She breaks the kiss and presses her forehead against mine, panting against my lips. “God, I missed you. Just a few hours, and I missed you like crazy.”
“When you left, you took a piece of me with you,” I whisper. “The most vital one.”
“I know. And now I’m here to give it back.” She folds her hands over my heart.
A cocktail of emotions shoots up through my veins.
Exhilaration. Desire.Love.
