Page 128 of Lucian

After him?

What the hell?

“I might love you, Lucian, but I will not be your doll. Not something pretty for you take out and play with when it’s suitable for you to do so. I won’t sit at home while you wander around doing whatever the fuck it is you want to do, calling me whenever it feels convenient to call and let me know, well, you won’t be home tonight.”

After him?

Lucian wasn’t quite getting past those words.

“Jordyn—”

“No, I’m not finished.” Jordyn tipped her chin to the side, disappointment tugging her lips down into a frown. “We’re good, you and me. But I won’t be good only occasionally, Lucian. That means if the kind of thing you did the other night happens again, and on a weekday no less, I will walk myself right out of this condo regardless of how much I love you and I will not be coming back. You want a loving, committed relationship, well here it is. It’s give and take. It’s not unconditional, there’s boundaries. You have to respect them, just like I respect yours.

“And being in love doesn’t give you a free pass to screw up when you should know better. Truthfully, that’s not the kind of love I want, anyway. I want the kind of love from a man who knows and notices everything about me. From the silly little things, to the big things, and all the in-betweens. That man would know acting like you did hurts me, and it wouldn’t have happened at all,” Jordyn finished sharply.

Others might have thought Jordyn was making a big deal out of nothing. Not Lucian. Her past with her mother made her particularly sensitive to issues like these. She didn’t mind his occasional smoke, or his beer with dinner. She didn’t care if he went out and had a good time, so long as he didn’t stumble home like a cafone leaving her to deal with the aftermath.

What she was asking for wasn’t unreasonable.

“I’m sorry,” Lucian said, hoping it’d be the last time. “I am. It won’t happen again.”

“Good. I just need you to act on that, not only say it.” Jordyn rubbed at her forehead, sighing. “I’m going to change into something more comfortable and then we can go to your parents if you want for dinner. Okay?”

Dumbly, Lucian could only nod and watch her go.

With Jordyn out of sight, the little box in his pants pocket was making its presence known. The damn thing might as well have been burning into his thigh for Christ’s sake. He’d been carrying it around for a couple of weeks, just waiting for the right time to slip itself into one of their days.

Funny how Lucian was thinking about it now.

Now, when they were fighting and she was angry with him. Now, when Jordyn was showing how strong of a woman she could be. Unafraid to tell him it didn’t matter how fiercely she loved him, if he couldn’t be the supportive, loving other half of their relationship she needed him to be, she would leave.

Yeah, he figured out what the after him meant.

There wouldn’t be an after him, Lucian decided.

Hell, he decided that a long time ago.

Sitting down on the couch, Lucian pulled that black box from his pocket and opened up the velvet top. The white gold band was encrusted in tiny white diamonds all the way around. The two-carat oval cut gem at the top would suit her hand perfectly. On the inside of the band, Ti Amo, Bella Mia was inscribed in script. It had been designed by him for her, not simply picked out of a shelf because it sparkled and looked pretty under glass.

No, he wanted her to love it. Like he loved her.

Plucking the ring out of the box, he stared at it for a long while, waiting for Jordyn to finish changing. Sometimes life was all about the wait.

“Lucian?”

Jordyn was standing in front of him, and Lucian didn’t have a clue how she got there. Those blue eyes of hers were watching the ring dangling between his fingers with a mixture of curiosity and maybe fright.

Lucian didn’t blame her there.

It was a big thing.

“Lucian?” Jordyn asked again.

Lucian smiled, shrugging. He didn’t kneel, he wouldn’t. She probably wouldn’t want him to. That wasn’t ever how he thought he would propose to her, anyway. Honestly, he assumed the time would come when they were in bed, laughing into sheets that smelled like them and love.

This was okay, too.

“I know you’re angry,” he started to say.