Page 191 of Healed

The club was sombre, but also alive. They were drinking, talking, and simply spending time together, strengthening their bond. And I’d spent time with them, too. I thanked them, hugged the old ladies, and even poured some pints behind the bar.

But eventually I returned to my room to wait for Vienna.

And as he entered, looking like a horror movie come to life, I simply scrambled from the bed and threw myself at him. I didn’t care that he was covered in dried blood. I didn’t care that he stunk to the high heavens or that there was a dangerous, almost feral look in his eyes.

I just cared that he was here. That he was home.

He held me tight, his body shaking as he buried his head in my neck and inhaled deeply.

“I missed you,” he breathed, almost breaking my ribs with how hard he held me.

I barely even noticed.

I wrapped my arms just as tightly around him, almost strangling him. He grabbed my ass and hauled me into his arms, lowering us to the floor.

My knees were on either side of his hips, my body pressed against his, his arms wrapped around me so tightly.

And there we remained—for how long? I couldn’t say. But he kept me snug against him, rocking us gently, stroking my hair and saying everything that words simply couldn’t.

“Is it over?” I asked, not moving my head from his neck, my words muffled against his skin.

“It’s over,” he assured me.

No jokes. No humour.

Just facts.

I breathed the biggest sigh of relief.

Only to frown as he pulled away from me and rested his forehead against mine. “But we do need to talk, Gabriella,” he said.

My heart lurched.

Immediately my mind went to the worst possible of scenarios.

Was this it? Was he done with me now?

Now that he knew Nico was no longer a threat, had he stopped thinking of us as endgame and was now wanting me to make a life on my own?

“Be my old lady,” he whispered against my lips, stopping my spiral in its tracks.

“Wh-what?” I stumbled over my words.

“I want you to be my old lady. I need you to say the words. I need to hear you agree. I need to—”

“Vienna,” I laughed. Maybe even sobbed. I cut his words off with a kiss. “I’ve been yours since the moment I laid eyes on you.”

He kissed me back then, his hands sliding up my face and burying into my hair, shaking and unsteady. He kissed me with decades of pent-up emotion and longing. He kissed me for all we had lost and a promise of all we were to gain.

And I kissed him back just as hard.

“I have a present for you,” he mumbled against my lips before his tongue slipped into my mouth once more.

“Hmm?” I asked, sucking on his tongue and then massaging it with my own.

He reached into his pocket, pulling back from me, and pulled out two tiny metal items.

“What…”