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“It wasn’t your fault,” I insist. “It was an accident. A terrible accident. You didn’t mean to hurt anyone. You protected Scarlett. Yousavedher.”
Sebastian shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter. Not enough.”
“Yes, it does,” I insist. “You’re making a difference in the world, even if you don’t realize it. Look at your foundation. How many people have you helped?”
“It’s not enough.” Sebastian shakes his head. “It doesn’t come close to erasing what I did.”
“But you can make amends,” I urge him. “You can do your father proud, if you choose to. If you make the choice to try. You’re not a lost cause,” I insist, not even realizing I believe it until the words are out of my mouth. “Nobody is, if they truly want to change.”
Sebastian looks at me. “Where did you come from?” he asks, with a note of wonder in his voice. He pulls me into his arms, holding me tightly. “Were you sent here to save me?”
No, I came to destroy you.
The guilt is heavy on my heart. He wouldn’t say any of this if he knew my cellphone was still buried under those magazines on the countertop, recording every word. But I don’t get a chance to dwell on it as Sebastian presses a kiss to my lips.
It’s deep and desperate, as he molds his lips to mine, his free hand going to my waist and pulling me closer until my body is flush against his. The kiss ignites something in me, the same desperate wish to block out the past, and only focus on the two of us, right here.
Sebastian draws back. “You’re still here,” he says, looking down at me.
“Of course I am,” I reply, confused.
“I always thought, if anyone knew… They’d leave me,” he explains. “I never got close to anyone, because I knew, this day would come. They’d learn the truth… And they’d be gone.”
I pull him closer. “I’m not going anywhere,” I vow, ignoring my confusion, and all the questions now brimming over in my mind.
“I can’t believe it, after all this time.” Sebastian looks at me with wonder and clear relief. “I won’t keep any more secrets between us. I swear it.” he pauses. “I love you, Avery.”
My head snaps up. “What?” I stare at him in disbelief.
Sebastian takes my hands. “I said I love you,” he repeats it, searching my eyes. “In fact… Marry me.”
What?
Am I hallucinating? I gape at him. After everything that’s happened between us, the secrets I’ve dug up, and the revenge I’ve been planning, there’s no way Sebastian Wolfe just proposed to me.
But he did.
Sebastian seems amused by my shock. He chuckles. “I know, it’s sudden, but… I mean it. There’s something between us, it’s more powerful than anything I’ve ever felt before. We can’t deny it, and God knows we’ve tried,” he adds, wry.
“But…” my head spins.
“I know you’ll need to think about it, but I know what I want,” he tells me, totally in control again. Determined.Fearsome. “It’s you. Only you. Marry me, Avery. Be my wife, and we can start over. We’ll make a new future together and leave the past behind.”
I stand there, totally stunned. My mind racing to find a way to tell him ‘No’…
… And deny the small part of my heart that wants to say ‘Yes’.
18
AVERY
Sebastian wantsme to marry him.
I’m in a daze the next day, still trying to wrap my head around his shocking proposal. It’s hard to believe. After everything we’ve been through, all the cruel moves he’s made—and my own deceitful plotting—even considering it is out of the question. I’d have to be out of my mind to think about pledging to be his wife and embarking on this fresh start he seems determined to bring about.
It’s out of the question. But still…
My heart aches for him. He was right: There’s something between us, beyond logic or reason. An inexplicable connection that’s drawn me back to him a dozen times, already. And now that I finally know the secret he’s been hiding, and all the ways we’re more alike than I ever imagined, I can’t help feel that connection calling inside me.
