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“Val…” I breathe out, tracing the small mark with my finger.
He shrugs and averts his gaze. “So that’s the story. You wanted to know what it represents? Nothing. It’s an X. Also, everything. It’s my freedom. It’s the most insignificant and significant one.”
Wow. My stomach is in knots as I watch him struggle under the weight of the memories.
“I guess they followed through on their threat?”
He lets out a harsh laugh. “They sent some weird official notice informing me I was no longer their son a few days later. So yeah. I just wish it had also convinced them to leave me alone, but I wasn’t so lucky. As you witnessed last year, that notice just changed the narrative from extortion to revenge.”
I nestle close to him, resting my head on his chest. There’s not a person on this planet who deserves that cruelty less than this one. My fingers drift over his skin in the silence, my heart so full of pain and love I don’t know how to begin expressing it. I have so many things to say, but none seem like enough. His soul and mind run so deep. I’m not sure a lifetime would be enough to explore every piece of him.
A lifetime?
A strange feeling rushes through me at the thought. Do I really want a lifetime with him? I never thought I’d want that with anyone. All the guys I’ve dated in the past were barely tolerable for more than a few hours, let alone forever. It worked fine because our busy lives didn’t allow for more than that anyway.
This one, though. This one inspires a surge of panic at the thought of not having him in my life.
“Well, that’s one down,” he says. “Your turn.”
“You want one of my secrets?” I tilt my head up to him.
His lips turn in a weak smile. “I want all of them, but I’ll take one.”
I search his eyes for a second before pushing up to press a gentle kiss on the X tattoo.
“Okay. Here’s one. Before I knew anything about the story behind it, the X was my favorite.”
His eyes soften as they sift over my face.
“You’re so special,” I say, tracing my finger along his cheek. “I knew it before I even met you. I heard it in what you did with my music.”
Emotion filters onto his face as something works its way through his head.
“I’m not the special one,” he says. “You’re the one who changed everything for me, and I’m not talking about a career. I’ll never be able to convey how much your faith in me impacted my life. Up until then, I was starting to think maybe they were right. Maybe I was living a delusion. Maybe I wasn’t any good at this and as worthless as they said. You didn’t just give me a job, you gave me me.”
I blink back tears as I nestle close, and he secures his arms around me. Silence engulfs us as we cuddle together, breathing in the scent of soap and clean linen while soaking up each other’s warmth. His path was hard. So was mine. But would we be here together in this moment if it wasn’t?
“Kind of funny, really,” I say, breaking the long silence. “You’ve been saying no your whole life and know exactly who you are. You just don’t have any faith in that person. I have all the confidence in the world, but have no idea who I am—and I’m too afraid to say no to find out.”
“We make quite the pair, huh?” he says with a smile.
“Kind of perfect if you ask me,” I say, leaning in for a kiss.
Val
“There is no way you wanted to be a stockbroker when you were little,” I laugh out.
In my eagerness to lift the heavy mood, I forced another secret from Larinda. As much as I love the fact that she loves my tattoo, I’m not counting that revelation. I’m not sure I can count this one either, though, with the way my bullshit meter is spiking.
“It’s true!” she cries, swatting my chest.
“Nope. Not a chance.”
“Why is it so hard to believe? Because I’m some ditzy country girl?”
“Uh, no, because no five-year-old except the kids of stockbrokers want to be stockbrokers.”
“Well, I did,” she huffs. “Ask my parents.”
