There’s a brief pause, but the three men the senator brought along with him all decide it’s better to leave this to me. They turn around, get back in the car, and take off.
“The fuck?! You bastards!”
I have to smile at that one. Did Teddy really think his men were going to be loyal?Pfft.
Bringing the gun back around to the senator, I smirk. “Aww, they ran off. What should I do with you?”
Movement catches my eye. Claire is walking toward us. Her hands are balled into fists at her sides, and there’s something in her expression I’ve never seen before.
Rage. Pure, righteous rage.
She stops in front of Theodore, who’s still on the ground, cowering like the pathetic piece of shit he is. He looks up at her with wide eyes.
“Claire, please—” he starts.
She doesn’t let him finish.
Her fist connects with his face so hard I hear the crack echo through the parking garage. Theodore’s head snaps to the side, and he howls in pain.
But Claire isn’t done.
She hits him again. And again.
“This is for what you did to me,” she snarls, her voice shaking with years of fear and shame finally finding an outlet. “This is for every woman you’ve hurt. This is for making me feel like I wasnothing.”
Each word is punctuated by another blow. Her knuckles split, blood mixing with his, and I should probably stop her, but I don’t.
I won’t.
This is hers. This moment belongs to her.
Theodore tries to crawl backward, whimpering and begging, but Claire follows him, landing one final punch that sends him crumpling into a ball on the concrete.
“Andthat,” she breathes, standing over him, “is for almost killing the man I love.”
My heart stops.
Claire turns to face me, and all that rage melts away. Her eyes are wet, her chest heaving, and she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
She runs to me, and I catch her with my good arm, pulling her against my chest so tight I can feel her heartbeat racing against mine.
“I thought I lost you,” she whispers into my neck. “When that gun went off, I thought?—”
“I’m here.” I press my lips to her hair, breathing her in. “I’m right here, baby.”
“Your arm?—”
“I don’t give a fuck about my arm.” I pull back just enough to look at her face. To memorize every inch of it. “Claire, I need to tell you something. I should have said it before. I should have said it in the car, before you went to meet him. I should have said it a hundred times by now, but I was too much of a coward.”
Her brow furrows. “Alec?—”
“I love you.” The words come out rough and raw, scraped from somewhere deep in my chest. “I love you so goddamn much it scares me. I’ve never felt this way about anyone. I didn’t think Icouldfeel this way. But you—” I cup her face in my hands, blood and all. “You changed everything.”
Tears spill down her cheeks, but she’s smiling. Smiling so bright it hurts to look at her.
“I love you, too.” No hesitation. No fear. Just the truth, finally spoken. “I think I’ve loved you since you chased me through my apartment like a lunatic.”
A laugh punches out of me. “That was two days ago.”
