The rifle tumbles free with a clatter.
I push up onto my hands and knees as Kellin rounds the truck. He crouches down beside me, grabs my neck, and tucks me against his chest.
As much as I’d love to feel his arms around me, this is no embrace. Kellin’s still tense, his eyes alert, his gun ready for the next threat.
I clutch the front of his chest. “I think there were just the three.” My voice trembles. I hardly recognize myself.
Another minute passes.
Silence.
Slowly, Kellin settles.
He leans back just enough for me to gaze up at him.
His nose is broken. Dried blood flakes off his lips and chin, staining the collar of his white Oxford.
But he’s here.
He came for me.
My knight. For real this time.
For once, someone chose me.
Kellin drops his gun and cradles my face. “Maeve.” He breathes my name like a prayer. “I fucking love you. I’m sorry I let all this messed up shit happen.”
I grasp his wrists. “Me too. I love you too.” I breathe in the scent of him—clean, slightly sweet musk beneath the blood and sweat and oil and gas—and blink away tears. “I went to sleep loving you and woke up loving you even more.”
His Adam’s apple bobs. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if?—”
He breaks off and kisses me.
Everything from the past few days melts away. The dinner. The wedding. The Russians. Watching my father torture Kellin.
All that remains are the lips and tongue devouring mine, the big palms warming my cheeks, and the distinctive, intoxicating scent driving me wild.
I love him. I’ve known that.
And now I know he loves me too.
Nothing else matters.
Not my dad. Not the Port Kings or the NYC Kings or Gallaghers or whoever.
Just us.
He pulls away. “I’m sorry. Really. I shouldn’t have lied, shouldn’t have drugged you. But the way I felt…the way we connected… That was real, Maeve.”
I close my eyes. Those are the words I’ve been waiting to hear. No matter what else happens, I believe him.
He leans back. “Are you hurt?”
“No, not really. I’m okay.” I suck in a breath before exhaling the lingering tension from my limbs. “Just tired.”
His lips touch mine. “Let’s get you out of here.”
After he helps me to my feet, we half walk, half jog out of the industrial yard.
