She started to lift her suitcase off the bed, but he stepped forward, taking it for her.
“I’ll never stop loving you,” he said softly.
“I know,” she whispered back, voice heavy with defeat. “And if I thought love was enough…”
“It’s not,” he said in soft agreement. “You have to be willing to fight.”
Eric turned and walked out of his bedroom, her suitcase in hand. He passed the door to the apartment and kept going.
There was a pregnant silence before her rushing footsteps sounded behind him.
“Eric…” Her tone was wary. “What are you doing?”
“Fighting. For us.”
“Eric, don’t make this harder than it— Where are you going?”
Eric opened the glass door onto his large stone balcony and strode out into the afternoon sun. The air smelled like sea and salt.
“You’re not going anywhere.” He hefted her suitcase. “Because what happened to youisn’t my fault.”
Nikolett’s gaze flicked from his face to her suitcase, then back.
“It’s his fault. He’s the one who hurt you. Maybe I did something shitty to him—it’s entirely possible. But that doesn’t give him the right to hurt the people I love. Do I feel bad? Yes. But you’re not going anywhere.”
Eric spun, then hurled her suitcase discus-style off the side of the castle.
Side by side, they leaned over the rail to look at the result. Her suitcase had exploded on impact. Clothes everywhere.
“I… I don’t need my suitcase to leave.” There was a note of hope in her voice, woven with the defiant annoyance.
“True.” Eric grabbed her by the shoulders, turning her to face him. “Do you love me?”
“Inexplicably, yes.” Her aggrieved tone made him weak with relief.
He smirked. “Do you want to marry me?”
“Against my better judgment.”
“Will you stay with me? Trust me to be a better man, a better partner, now than I was a year ago?”
Her gaze slid down, her shoulders slumping. “Eric, I can’t do it. I can’t survive you going cold on me again.”
“Right. That’s fair.” He straightened, dropping his hands from her arms. “There’s one thing I keep thinking will fix our issues.”
“Couples therapy? I considered it, but?—”
“Nope.” Eric bent, planted his shoulder in her stomach, then gently stood, ignoring the way she smacked him and tried to wiggle free. “Careful of your shoulder.”
“Put me down.”
“No.”
He got a good grip on her thighs and started walking.
Nikolett’s hand dug into the small of his back as she braced herself and made a pissed-off noise.
“Careful, don’t hurt yourself,” he said.
