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“Uh, okay…” I said slowly.
“Don’t be mad,” Florence said as Fletcher left to show them in.
I looked at her in panic. “Excuse me?”
I turned to the door and saw Apollo and Valen both standing there. My heart tried leaping and crashing at the same time, and I honestly just felt like I was about to go into cardiac arrest. They were both sporting bruises they hadn’t been last I’d seen them, not that I cared.
I looked back at Florence, all incredulous now. “Excuse you!” I yelled at her. “I thought we were hating men for at least the rest of this week?”
“Hate me all you want,” Valen said. “But at least let me speak.”
I turned a glare on him. “You think you get to speak now? You, who had your chance and fucked it up? Twice!”
“Love, I–”
“Oh, no. Don’t ‘love’ me, Valen Kincaid,” I said, all fiery passion threatening to undo me.
He was here. That had to mean a shit tonne. But I didn’t know if I was prepared for this to be a shit tonne. I’d already had my heart broken more times than I cared to count in the last year, and I didn’t want to risk it again. Not so soon. And certainly not making potentially the same mistake.
Florence put her hand on my arm. “Please hear him out.”
I shook my head. “No. No. I’m either too sober or too drunk for this right now, and I’m not sure which.”
“That may have been by design,” Florence admitted.
“What?” I asked.
“I told you that was a bad plan,” Apollo interjected.
I pointed at him wildly. “Nothing out of you, right now,” I warned him. “You’ve brought…him,” my finger span to Valen now, “into my house under…what? Some misguided belief that I’ll listen to either of you?”
“You just need to listen to him, Harlow,” Apollo said. “Please. The fucker’s here to grovel.”
“Epic levels of grovelling,” Florence added, and I frowned at her for the part she had dared to play in this.
I looked at Valen. “Again, you let other people do all the talking for you. Have you decided it’s not going to make a difference?” I huffed.
He shook his head. “You know me, Harlow. I don’t waste words. I’m not going to waste the ones I do have.”
“That is still not grovelling,” I pointed out.
Part of me didn’t want him to grovel. I didn’t want him to worm his way back into my head when I knew he was still firmly planted in my heart. I was just about ready to get over him for good, and now this? Well, fine. I’d listen to what he had to say and…I’d leave my judgement until he’d said his piece.
Ha. Like I had the strength to turn him down if he was here to win me back.
“Youareworth breaking all the rules for, princess,” is what he started with, his voice low. “I broke so many just wanting you that the idea of breaking them all…fucking terrified me. It wasn’t just my life that could be forfeit, but the Black Bloods were coming for yours and I was risking that. Risking you. Cowardice more than obligation made me drive you to Apollo, but I won’t make that mistake again. I will breakallthe rules for you, if you’ll let me.”
Clearly, Apollo and Valen had been talking about me for a second time.
I looked Valen over slowly, feeling the ice around my heart cracking but not willing to risk it thawing entirely. “Except you can’t. Apollo and I have to pretend we’re together until a better opportunity presents itself, and I don’t see a better opportunity presenting itself.”
“We’ll find a way,” he said. “There has to be a way.”
“Why?” I asked. “Why does there have to be a way? Why does something that should be so simple have to be so hard? Why does being with the man Ilovehave to be so hard?”
“Save me, Harlow, love,” he begged. There was a broken gruffness to his voice now. “Save me from myself. From our world. From a life of emptiness without you.”
“Take him back, Harlow,” Apollo said, and I heard the humour in his voice at Valen’s grovelling. “For the love of God,” here, a wink, “please. And I’ll help you two be together while we still have to pretend. If you want. I will help us find a way out of our contract so you can be with him for real. If you want. I don’t know how long it will take, but we’ll find a way until we work it out.”
