Her eyes glisten. “You don’t get points for honesty after the fact.”
“I’m not asking for points,” I say. “I’m asking for the chance to earn forgiveness.”
She laughs softly, broken. “You declared me your wife in front of my ex and half the town.”
“I panicked.”
That earns a startled huff of laughter.
“You?” she says incredulously. “Panicked?”
“Yes,” I admit. “Because another man was trying to take you from me and it short-circuited my brain.”
She looks away, pressing her lips together.
“I fell in love with you the first night,” I whisper. “At the embassy. Before the sex. Before the chaos. When you saw right through my rehearsed lines and called me out on them.”
She turns back sharply. “Then why didn’t you say anything when I left the villa?”
“Because I didn’t know how to love you without ruining everything.”
Silence stretches between us, but our audience shuffles feet and mumbles among themselves.
Iris glares at them, and they settle down. “You hurt me,” she says.
“I know.”
“I thought you were ashamed of me.”
I step closer, stopping when she doesn’t retreat. “Never,” I say fiercely. “I was terrified of how much I wanted you. But being with me painted a target on your back and I couldn’t risk losing you. So I pushed you away to keep you safe.”
Her voice drops. “You don’t get to decide how I live my life and who I’m with.”
“You’re right,” I say. “And I was wrong. About all of it.”
She studies my face, searching for lies. “All this time,” she says slowly, “I’ve been trying to forget you.”
“I hope you. haven’t,” I say softly.
Her eyes fill.
I reach for her hand, stopping inches away. “May I?”
She hesitates, but then nods.
Her fingers are warm when they curl around mine. “I came here prepared to beg,” I tell her. “To stay in this town as long as it takes. To earn back every ounce of trust I burned.”
She exhales shakily. “And if I say no?”
“Then I’ll respect it,” I say. “And spend the rest of my life knowing I let the best thing that ever happened to me walk away.”
Her grip tightens. “I hated you,” she whispers.
The past tense gives me hope. “I deserve that.”
“But I never stopped loving you.”
The words undo me, and I pull her into my arms. She presses her face into my chest, fingers clutching my jacket.
