They brought her hands to his face, and she started to cry, the tears raining down her cheeks silently as she felt his features under her fingers.
This face was...familiar.
Her fingers moved to trace his lip.
Beloved.
Ilse choked back a sob, but when she felt the lips under her fingers start to move, she shook her head jerkily. “N-no.” Her tone was frail and fierce at the same time. “No, Jaak.”
The billionaire’s heart constricted painfully behind his chest.God.He had thought he would never hear her say his name again.
“You don’t need to say a thing.” A smile wobbled on her lips. “I just need you to be here, and...” She raised her gaze to his, unseeing eyes that could somehow see through his soul the way no one else could. “You’re here with me now.” Her voice broke. “You didn’t fail me—-”
He could no longer help it, cupping her face so he could kiss her.
“This is the last time,” he swore raggedly, “I’ll make you cry.”
And the tears fell faster even as her arms went around him, telling him without words that she believed in him.
Because she loved him.
When he pulled away, it was to slide a ring on her finger, and Ilse’s shoulders started to shake as she realized what it meant.
“Oh, Jaak.”
“Ilse...” His voice was tight with emotion. “Love me.”
“I do.”
“Need me.” And the billionaire’s voice broke, too. “I need you,” he said rawly, “to need me as I have always needed you.”
“You never had to ask. I was meant to love you, Jaak.” She smiled at him tremulously. “And that’s why I needed you before I even met you.”
Epilogue
One year later
“I’ll be out in a minute,” Ilse called out from the walk-in closet.
“That’s what you said a minute ago, babe,” her husband called back from the bedroom. “And the minute before that, and—-”
“I get the picture,” Ilse yelled, “and you’re not helping.”
A moment later, and the billionaire sounded a lot nearer as he delivered in perfectly crisp English, “I love you. Does that help?”
Since her knees were threatening to buckle, yes, it definitely did help, but she would rather not tell him that. The billionaire had an all-too-big ego as it was. He didn’t need it to get any bigger, and so Ilse only allowed herself to grunt in response.
The billionaire’s lips twitched. “You can say it, babe. It’s written all over your face anyway.”
“Excuse me?”
“The fact that I make you head over heels,” the billionaire said wickedly.
Ilse made a face. “Ha. Ha. Ha.”
But her reddened cheeks belied her sarcastic response, and the billionaire grinned at the sight. Walking towards her, he asked, “Can I help you with anything?”
Ilse bit back a sigh. She had hoped she could do it on her own, but after one year of living blind, she also knew when to call it quits, and she said ruefully, “It’s nothing serious. I just...” Her shoulders moved in an almost embarrassed shrug. “I can’t find my belt.”
