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Oh god.
He had known she was there? All that time. She had never thought that he could have seen her there. He hadn’t let on. Of course, he hadn’t let on. He was Parker Knight.
“I knew you were there, Everleigh.”
“I…” She blushed.
“I waited for you.”
“What?” she whispered. “Why? I don’t understand. I’m nobody.”
“You’re not nobody, Everleigh. You’re someone who turned my fucking world upside down. I couldn’t think of any other woman but you.”
“What?” Her shock was making her stupid. “But why did you wait so long?”
“Because you were too young. Nineteen? And I wanted to give you … a reprieve. Because once I made you mine, it was going to be forever.”
“It’s not about my land?” she asked even though he had said it wasn’t. He would never lie to her; she knew that much about him now.
“I don’t want or need your land. It’s not going to make me any richer than what I am right now.”
She closed the distance between them. He growled softly at her.
“And you didn’t think that asking me out on a date like a normal person might have been a better option?” She smiled. Her heart soared in delight.
He turned and looked at the rising sun again. It truly felt as if they were the only two people alive.
“I’m not normal. I’m the fucking American Mafia. I don’t date either. I make you my wife. Do you know what it’s like to want something so badly for a man like me but to have to wait for the right moment?”
“But you want to send me away?”
“I can’t risk something happening to you, Everleigh, in my world—”
“I love you, Parker Knight,” she said, blurting it out. “I loved you since the moment I hid in your linen closet,” she laughed. “And every day since then. Nothing is going to happen to me. Ever. How could anything happen to me when I’ll be surrounded by bodyguards when I’m not with you.”
He faced her and curled his hand around her nape. He was such a beautiful but tortured man. She understood him now. She wanted to take that away from him. She wanted to be his solace.
“There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you. With all my heart and soul. With my last breath, Everleigh.”
“I love you,” she insisted and watched the dark cloud storm his eyes and fierceness take over his expression.
“Parker.”
“I will protect you until the day I die.”
“I love you,” she said softly and knew something was holding him back from saying those words.
She cupped his face. Imploring him not to shut her out.
“Those were the last words I said to my father before he was killed,” he said hoarsely.
Everleigh threw herself into his arms. He crushed her to him. Holding her as if she would sail away into thin air if he didn’t hold her down to him.
“You were sixteen years old. You couldn’t have done anything. And I’m not going anywhere. Besides you’re the fucking American Mafia now. You’re powerful enough now to protect me from anything bad happening. You know that.”
“Mine forever,” he said softly before lowering his mouth to hers and kissing her. “Say it,” he said when he finally let her catch her breath.
“Yours forever,” she whispered. “I love you, Parker Knight.”
