“Do you think I made the right choice?” I asked quietly. “Forgiving him?”
Mika considered the question seriously. “I think you made the choice that was right for you. He hurt you, yeah. Badly. But he never gave up. He never stopped loving you. And you...” she paused, choosing her words carefully. “You’re not the kind of person who holds onto anger. Even when you probably should.”
“You see the best in people,” Vivi added. “Sometimes it makes us want to strangle you. But it’s also one of the things we love about you.”
We kept talking as the afternoon faded into evening. They told me about Sarah, who had raised me after my parents died. About the pack and the politics and the drama I’d apparently navigated. About Mary, who had tried to steal Knox and was now on the run. About all the people who loved me and the life I’d built.
Some things sparked vague feelings of familiarity. Some things felt completely foreign. But by the time the sun started to set, warming the room with golden light, I felt like I’d known these women my entire life.
My heart felt lighter than it had since I woke up.
“I should go,” I said finally, standing up from the couch. “Knox is probably wondering if you kidnapped me.”
“He knows better than to rush us,” Mika said, but she stood too and pulled me into one more hug. “Come back soon, okay? We missed you.”
“I will.”
Vivi hugged me next, squeezing tight. “And call us if you need anything. Anything at all. We’re here for you.”
“I know.”
I walked down the stairs slowly, my legs tired but steady. The café was mostly empty now, just a few stragglers finishing their drinks. And there, in a corner booth with a cup of coffee and a book in his hands, sat Knox.
My heart jumped in my chest.
He looked up as I approached, those gray eyes finding mine immediately. He set the book aside and stood, his attention entirely focused on me.
“How did it go?” he asked.
I thought about everything Mika and Vivi had told me. About the man he used to be and the man he’d become. About the love and the pain and the long road to forgiveness.
I wanted to know more. I wanted to know everything.
“I’m ready to go home,” I said.
Knox smiled, warm and relieved, and reached out to take my hand. His fingers intertwined with mine, strong and sure, and I let him lead me out of the café and into the fading light.
We walked to the car in comfortable silence, his thumb tracing circles on the back of my hand. I glanced at him from the cornerof my eye, at the sharp line of his jaw, at the way his dark hair fell across his forehead, at the hint of a smile on his lips.
“Knox?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For being patient with me. For giving me space to figure things out.”
He stopped walking and turned to face me, his free hand coming up to cup my cheek. “I would wait forever for you, Lina. I’ve done it before. I’ll do it again if I have to.”
The sincerity in his voice made my chest ache.
“Let’s go home,” I said again.
He opened the car door for me, helped me inside, and climbed into the driver’s seat. As we pulled away from the curb, I took one last look at Winters’ Books & Brews, at the apartment above it, at the life I used to live.
I was starting to believe I could love it again.
20
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