I slide my arms around him, holding him close, and whisper back, “I love you too… more than anything.”
And when he leans in and kisses me—slow, deep, achingly passionate—a quiet certainty settles in my chest. I don’t regret a single moment I have shared with him. Instead, it feels like I have given something so intimate, so personal to the right man.
The one my heart loves.
My husband.
Chapter 26
Dev
With a mile-wide grin, I make my way towards the bedroom, balancing the breakfast tray in my hands. I can already picture the look on her face when she sees her favourite parathas and aloo sabzi. This time, I made sure to get the household staff to help so it wouldn’t turn into another disaster like last time. But the effort is still mine. That has to surely count and bring a smile to her face. A smile I live for, and the one she brings to my face just by being who she is.
And no matter how much I do for her happiness, nothing will ever come close to what she has given me. Herself. Completely. The way she trusted me with every part of her is something I’ll carry to my grave.
Even now, thinking about how I woke up with her tucked into me, with her leg thrown over mine and her face buried against my chest, fills me with a deep sense of peace.
I just didn’t want to move. All I wanted was to remain right there, wrapped around her, holding on to the most beautiful happiness I’d ever known. But I also wanted to make this small effort and wake her with her favourite breakfast, if only to show her what she meant to me, no matter how many times I tell herthe same thing. So, reluctantly, I untangled myself as carefully as I could, making sure not to wake her, and slipped into the kitchen.
As I push the bedroom door open, I suddenly stop dead when I see her suitcase lying open on the bed. She’s standing with her back to me and shoving her clothes into it. Instead of the nightdress I left her in, she’s now dressed in a salwar suit.
The fucking sight steals my breath.
No. She wouldn’t.She wouldn’t regret last night. She wouldn’t run. She wouldn’t leave me. Not after everything we shared, not after she finally let me in.
No. I won’t let her. There’s no damn universe where I will let her walk out that door.
I draw in a few shaky breaths, trying to fill my lungs, before I force my voice out, “Meera?”
She jumps at my voice and spins around, placing her hand on her chest.
“Dev! You scared me! Honestly, you need to stop startling me like that, or one day, you’ll give me a proper heart attack!”
“Why are you packing?” I ask, brushing off her words, because right now it feels like my own heart will give out at any second.
She glances down at her suitcase, then back at me. “I was going to my parents’ house.”
At her words, the ugly fear in my chest skyrockets. She’s really going. She’s leaving me. After everything, after the night we just shared.
“My…” she starts, but I cut her off, my mind too chaotic to let her finish.
“You’re not leaving me.”
She blinks, her brows furrowing. “What?”
I step forward and set the breakfast tray on the table with a thud, and then turn to face her fully. “What happened last nightdoesn’t mean you should run from me or regret it. What we shared—”
She interrupts me this time, a soft, almost amused smile playing on her lips. “It was perfect.”
Before I can respond, she closes the distance and cups my face in both hands, her thumbs grazing my cheeks. “And I don’t regret a single moment.” She leans in, her lips grazing my nose, sending a jolt straight to my chest. “I can never and will never regret being yours.”
Relief floods through me, and I press my forehead against hers. “Then… why are you packing?”
“My mom called a few minutes ago. She said Dad’s not feeling well, and he’s been asking for me. I thought I should stay with them for a few days.”
“You scared the hell out of me.” I exhale, then pull back just enough to look into her eyes. “I am coming with you.”
She frowns, biting her lip. “Dev, I… I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”
