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He glanced at me. “What do you mean?” His face had that heartbreaking openness, that tranquility, that I’d only seen properly during his stay at my family’s home.
“When you arrived, Helli had an excuse to set off ‘code red’. It was the only thing that would spring open the safe containing the documentsanddivert Apollo away from his office.”
“And in the helicopter?”
“Both twins. Hopefully not fighting to the death. We could do with those documents if you want to stop Apollo coming after you or your brothers again.”
He laughed. “You know, my role was entirely an accident.”
“I know. But it was better than if you’d planned it.” The helicopter was becoming just a dot in the distant skies. We had work to do. “Come on, we’ve got to meet Sylvester and the twins at our meeting point.”
He held up a hand to stop me from jumping into action. “Wait. Can I talk to you first?”
I looked at him. His eyes were intense and earnest as he met mine. But I couldn’t help but meet his earnestness with defensive irony. “Wow. You have the opportunity to finally fuck over Apollo and you’d rather stay here and chat with me instead? You are a changed man.”
He wasn’t deterred. “I meant what I said. I don’t need to take Apollo down anymore. However, if you, Jenni and Helli want to use that evidence to get your well-deserved revenge for Apollo almost destroying your families, that’s entirely your prerogative.” He winked. “Let’s walk a bit, while we talk. I’m sure Apollo’s security are searching the surrounding areas now the helicopter’s definitely gotten away with it.”
We walked on. We were silent for a while, breathing in the fresh air and basking in our reunion. There was a mutual glow that we shared, that increased whenever our hands met or our eyes swapped gazes. It had taken a brief absence to really prove to me how connected we were. And we’d both almost let this go over pride.
I nudged him. “Go on then. You had something to say.”
He nodded. “I was a dickhead, Ria. I was so... ‘tunnel vision’ on getting our plan to succeed, I stopped you from telling me about the baby and then lashed out at you for not having told me. It was unforgivable.”
“Yeah... but maybe I can forgive you.” I shrugged and enjoyed his resulting confusion. I grinned. “After all, I betrayed you to your half-brother in the first place.AndI considered giving Apollo the Forest Brock psychological profile lowdown in exchange for the safety of my family while you’ve been absent.”
He started. “You did?”
I continued as if it were no big deal. “Yeah. I didn’t do it in the end. But I was this close to fully turning on you.” I held up my thumb and index finger – almost meeting, but not quite.
He thought about it, and then shrugged too, and laughed lightly. “I don’t blame you, to be honest. I’d turn on me if I were you. I mean, Ididturn on me briefly, and I’m me.”
I laughed. “That makes no sense but also, so much sense.”
He pressed his lips together sheepishly. “Like tarot?”
“Like tarot.” I elbowed him in the ribs. “Hey, look at you. You’re ‘The Fool’.”
He rubbed his side then pulled me in close around my shoulders, so we were walking as one. “Somehow you’ve managed to warp my brain so much that that doesn’t sound like an insult.”
“You stepped off the cliff into the unknown. Apollo Brock being your nemesis who you must defeat – that was your ‘known’. That was where you were comfortable, oddly enough. And now, who knows? Unlimited possibilities have opened up to you.”
His tone changed. “I’m not so sure about unlimited.” He was Mr Serious again. He meant business.
“What do you mean?”
He cleared his throat and looked straight ahead. “Ria, there’s only one possibility I will even slightly entertain right now. And that’s the possibility that we forgive each other, we discuss the future of our child, and you consider marrying me and us spending our whole lives together.”
That was a lot to take in. My eyes widened. “That’s a very specific possibility. Really... mapping out the rest of your lifetime. And mine.”
But he wasn’t deterred. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about it. That doesn’t mean there can’t be surprises along the way.”
I thought about it. “I’m sure there will be.”
He stopped walking and swiveled me around, so that we were facing each other, his arms still holding me close. “There will? Does that mean... do you mean to say...?”
A wicked thought came into my mind. “Yes, Forest Brock. Yes, I willconsidermarrying you.” God, I was infuriating when I wanted to be.
He blinked, perplexed. Bless his heart. “Wait. Did I ask the question wrong?”
