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“You’re too good for me, Chlo.” His hand covers mine and I can see in the depths of his eyes he doesn’t believe that something so simple is all I need.
“It’s all I’ve ever needed,” I speak without thinking, without processing anything at all. “I wasn’t whole until I had you, and I don’t want to be anything but yours. I don’t care if you believe the truth or not, it’s still true.”
“It’s the truth that worries me.”
“The truth is you’re a good man who does bad, bad things.” As Bastian pulls my hand away from his jaw, I can hear him swallow. I can practically feel it myself—the hard, aching truth that I do think what he does is wrong. And I do. On some level. But there’s so much wrong in this world, I can’t be bothered to let it destroy what I value most of all. “And you’re mine. The only truth I just said that matters at all, is the last one.”
“You still love me?” he asks as if it’s a real question.
Letting a playful smile show, I tease him, staring at his lips as I say, “I love the way you kiss me.” For the first time in so long, my heartbeat slows when I look back up at Bastian; it pitter-patters, it dances, it’s desperately finding a new beat. It’s when his eyes glance at my own lips that I realize it’s been trying to beat in tandem with his.
The kiss he plants on my lips, with his hands barely holding on to mine, is soft and sweet. Everything turns to white noise and I know for a fact, this moment will last forever. To me, to anyone who ever steps foot here. They will feel it. They must. Because the world moves around us differently, refusing to let this moment go on as if it’s meant to blend in, or meant to be forgotten.
My eyes are still closed when he pulls away. With a deep breath in and then out, I finally open them.
“I love falling in love with you,” I whisper and barely notice how the world moves again around us.
I swear a blush colors my husband’s face. It looks good on him; for all his tough exterior, a hint of vulnerability looks damn good.
He reaches up for the beer on the bar, but doesn’t let go of my left hand and I don’t move my right from his lap.
With an asymmetric grin he asks me casually, “You weren’t already in love with me?” He can try to hide it all he wants, but I know there’s a hint of fear beneath his words. How could this man ever think I didn’t love him?
“I’ve loved you every day since that kiss,” I confess to him as he lifts up the beer. When my words hit his ears, he sets the glass back down onto the bar. Staring at it, and listening as I tell him, “I love you every day and in every moment, but falling in love is something you can do over and over again.”
“I want to fall in love with you every chance I get,” he tells me and his voice is deep and rough, laced with a sinful desire and something else. Something pure and good. The need to be loved and to feel worthy of being loved.
Even as I bite down on my bottom lip, I smile genuinely. Snaking my ankle behind his muscular leg, I lean into him and whisper, “Then let’s do it every day.”
He takes a swallow of his beer before kissing me again, teasing me and I love it. He tastes like wheat IPA and something dangerous, something too tempting to ever resist.
I don’t lean back as I catch a glimpse of Carter from the corner of my eye. Sebastian follows my gaze and we both watch him enter a locked door, guarded by two men who open it for him.
“I haven’t said hi to Carter yet,” I admit and wonder what that will be like. He’s changed. We all have.
“That’s his brother Jase,” Bastian corrects me and I huff out a breath. “They did all used to look alike,” I muster up the excuse, but Bastian doesn’t seem to care. He takes my hand and my attention with it.
“Just don’t stop loving me.”
“I’ll always love you.” I speak clearly, very aware of the moment and where we are. “But don’t hide anything from me. I can’t live like that again. And I don’t want to keep anything from you like I kept that secret.”
“I have a lot to tell you then.” He exhales the words. “Are you sure you want to know this?” he asks again and I just barely nod, giving him my consent to bring me into this place.
“It’s not an easy story to tell,” he admits to me and I already know he’s telling the truth. This world is cruel and unforgiving, just as lawless as it is tragic.
