“My mother,” she admitted softly.
He reached for her hand and placed it over his heart.“Do you really think I’m the kind of man who would walk away from my responsibilities?”
“I don’t like being called a responsibility.”
He nodded, taking that in without flinching.“Then do you think I’m the kind of man who would walk away from his family?”
Jemma looked up at him, her heart pounding against her ribs.Her answer came quietly but with certainty.“No.”
That seemed to satisfy him.He nodded, then kissed her gently.And then his eyes widened.“Alleana!I never told you how much I love you!”
She flinched.“Don’t say something you don’t mean, Saif.”
He laughed, shaking his head.“I love you, Jemma.I’ve loved you so long, it feels like you’ve always been part of me.”He lifted her hand, stepping back just enough to let her sit up—but he stayed between her legs.“When you left me, my world cracked apart.”
“You bought three companies this year,” she countered, trying to pull away.
But he held her still, his grip firm at her hips.“Distractions.Every one of them.I buried myself in work to keep from drowning in what you’d done.”
His hands slid slowly along her outer thighs.“You remember how it felt when your father left?How confusing and painful it was?”
She stilled, blinking at him.The memory was instant—and sharp.
“I was just a kid.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said.“Pain is pain.That’s how I felt when you walked out.One day, we were laughing over dinner, you fell asleep in my arms.The next, you handed me a resignation letter like I was just… just a job you’d outgrown.”He clenched his jaw and stepped back, dragging a hand through his hair.“It wasn’t time for me, Jem.I wasn’t done.I moved across the world trying to make sense of it—furious that you walked away from something powerful.Somethingreal.”
She realized then—he was truly angry.Angrier than she’d ever seen him.
“And that’s why you wanted revenge?”she asked quietly, thinking of the way he’d stormed back into her life, blackmailing her into working for him.
“Yes,” he admitted.“I wanted to destroy you the way you’d destroyed me.”
He stepped closer, bracing his fists on the wood beside her hips.“But the moment I saw you again, I saw the pain in your eyes.The longing.The need.”He stared down at her.“Tell me you don’t love me, Jemma.I’ll still support you, Jayla, and Jasper, no matter what.”
Her lips parted.She wanted to deny it.To protect herself.To hide how deeply, dangerously she still loved him.
But when she looked up at him, into those fierce, wounded eyes… she couldn’t lie.
Not to Saif.Never to Saif.
“I love you,” she whispered.“I never stopped.”Her fingers cupped his jaw and she kissed him, tears slipping down her cheeks.“I adored you from the moment you burst into my life.”She pulled back, her voice trembling.“But—”
“No buts,” he said firmly.“Marry me.Take a risk on me.You already know I’m not going to walk away.”
“Yes, but—”
“Take a risk,” he urged again, his voice low and rough.“I won’t let you down.”
They held still, suspended in a breathless moment.
Then, softly, she said the only word she could.
“Yes.”
Saif exhaled in relief and caught her in his arms, kissing her deeply—pouring every bit of pent-up longing into that moment.When he finally pulled back, still holding her close, he asked, “And you’ll agree to marry me?”
“Yes,” she said again, her heart thudding.But this time, it wasn’t from fear.It was joy.
