“I thought I’d lost you,” he says, thumb brushing a tear from my cheek. “If you were gone, I would’ve taken the world apart just to make them feel the hurt that I would’ve felt.”
A sharp ache rises in my throat, splintering through me.
“You found me,” I whisper. “I’m right here, baby.”
My fingers trace the line of his jaw, brushing over the rough scrape of his stubble, and his eyes fall shut as he leans into the touch like he’s been starved for it. Starved forme.
He kisses me again, gentler now, but no less consuming. There’s something different in it, though. A promise. A vow. A new beginning forged out of everything we survived.
And in this kiss, the truth roots itself deep in my bones.
I’m his. I always have been.
And I always will be.
CHAPTER FIFTY
FIONA
Once we arrive back home,I change into clean clothes, the shower with Aleksei helping me feel a bit more human.
With his hand in mine, we head downstairs and I know I’m going to have to face my parents. Konstantin had already told them what happened before Aleksei and I got home, and I’m sure they’re nervous, as they should be.
“It will be okay,” Aleksei says as we make it down the stairs, his lips pressing to my forehead right before we enter the den, where he said they’ll be waiting.
My arms curl around him for a moment too long, and he grips me against his chest.
“You do not have to talk to them if you don’t want to. They can wait.”
“No.” I pull back. “I want to get it over with.”
Squeezing his hands, I draw in a long inhale.
“I will be nearby.” He kisses the corner of my mouth before he turns and leaves.
Then I make my way to the two people I used to trust more than anyone in this world. They don’t say anything at first. Neither do I. The silence between us is heavy, thick with everything that’s happened, everything they never told me.
My mother tries to meet my gaze, but her eyes are already glistening with unshed tears, and my father won’t even lift his head. They sit on the sofa like they’ve aged twenty years in the span of a few hours.
A part of me wants to scream at them and demand they explain how they could do this, how they could lie for so long. But no words come. It’s like I have a million things to say, but I don’t know where to start.
“I’m sorry, Fiona,” Mom finally whispers, brows knitting tightly. “Please try to understand where we were coming from.”
I look at her, and for the first time, I actually see the fear etched there.
“My father…” she starts and pauses like it’s all so difficult. “He was a horrible man. He didn’t care about me. All he wanted was money and power, and I was just a thing he could use to get more.
“Your father…” She takes his hand and kisses his knuckles. “He was my only love, and when he told me we could run together, that he knew people who could make us disappear, I took the chance. Because I was already pregnant with you, and we needed to protect you.”
I swallow, throat thick as she continues.
“I didn’t tell you because I knew how you felt. About people like my family.” Her words falter. “Knowing where you came from, what you were tied to, it would’ve broken you.”
She’s right. Back then, it would have. I wouldn’t have been able to handle it. But now that I’m married to Aleksei, nothing is the same.
My mother wipes her cheeks. “We are truly sorry, tesoro. I just did what I thought was right for you.”
I close my eyes. “And selling me? Was that protecting me too?”
