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Zayne
IstareatEmma,trying to process. Is she saying she's in love with me? I'm afraid to hope, but I hope anyway. It's a powerful thing when it's all you've got.
"Why are you so sure I'll break your heart, baby girl?"
"I don't know." She shrugs helplessly. "Maybe because you make me feel something I'm afraid to lose."
"What's that?"
"Like I'm not alone." Her earnest, fearful expression cracks my heart in half. She's carried a helluva lot for a helluva long time, more than anyone should have had to carry. Fears about turning out like her mom, grief over losing her parents, and responsibility for Gran and Bets…she had to grow up way too fucking fast. That kills me for her.
"I've been responsible for everything for so freaking long, Zayne. Carrying it all is exhausting. And then you come along and promise me that I'm safe. You make me feel like maybe I could lean on you, but I've never had that. I don't want to lose it, and I'm terrified if I let you get any closer, I will."
"Fuck," I growl. Of course, she's scared she's going to lose it. She's lost more than anyone should, far before she ever should have. Of course, she's afraid to let me in when it means opening herself to the possibility that she could lose more. But she's worked herself into knots over nothing.
I'm not going anywhere. There's not a damn thing she could do that would change my mind. Even on her worst day, she isn't capable of inflicting the kind of damage her mother inflicted. That's simply not who she is. She's bright and shining and pure, all the way down to her foundation.
And I'll work my ass off to guard that part of her, to protect it like the treasure it is. That's my job as her man. To let the world harden me so she stays soft and sweet. To use my back as a shield so nothing ever touches her.
I fucking hate that she's spent so much of her life afraid she'll end up alone, but hell will freeze over before I let that happen.
"You aren't going to lose it, Emma," I murmur. "I'm not goin' anywhere. And I don't give a shit what Gran and Bets do. I've been to hell and back for this country. You think I wouldn't do the same for you and those two old ladies to keep the three of you together?"
"It's not fair to ask you to help me with them, Zayne."
"You aren't asking, lamb. I'm telling you this is how it's going to be," I say, making the choice for her. "You wobbled your gorgeous ass into my office and stole my heart. Whether you want it or not, it's yours. So you might as well get used to the idea of me sticking around. You might as well prepare yourself for the fact that I'm going to be here, driving you just as fucking crazy as they do."
I release her, taking a step back to unbutton my shirt.
"What are you doing?" she asks warily.
"Showing you something." I quickly work the buttons through the holes before slipping the shirt off my shoulders and tossing it over the end of her bed. Her eyes eat me up, making my cock throb. But I ignore the greedy bastard for a moment, reaching for her hand. "Do you know what this means, baby girl?"
She traces her fingers over the tattoo on my chest, her touch searing me. "Familia ante omnia," she murmurs, reading the script inked there. "Familia means family, but I don't know the rest."
"It saysfamily over all. It means family comes before everything." I tug her back into my arms, tipping her head back until those pretty blue eyes are locked on my face again. "They aren't just words inked into my skin. They're precisely the way I've always lived my life. My family comes before everything else."
"I love that," she whispers.
"You're family now, lamb. Gran and Bets are family now."
"Zayne." Her expression goes soft as her fingers dance over the delicate lines of ink.
"I'm in love with you, Emmaline Cooper. Madly, wildly, crazily in love with your gorgeous ass. So I'm going to need you to be brave and trust that I'm not going anywhere. Not today or tomorrow or the first time Gran and Bets cause a problem. Not the fifteenth or fiftieth time, either. You're family, and I don't give up on my family."
She blinks up at me, awe stamped across every delicate line of her face. "You mean that, don't you?"
"Which part?"
"All of it."
"Every word." I brush my lips across hers.
"I love you too," she whispers.
For the first time in my life, I know what perfection feels like. And for the first time in my life, I know exactly what heaven looks like. It's this curvy little lamb staring up at me with desire in her eyes and love on her lips.
"You can't take it back now, Emma," I warn her. "Not the words, not your heart, not any of it. You're mine now."
