“I’m not,” I hurried over him, my head quickly shaking as I struggled to choke out the lie. “We didn’t do...that.”
Only the smallest whisper of relief swept over his features before he reminded me, “You avoided me. You barely talked to me for three months. You planned onleaving.”
“Because I thought you slept with Wren the morning after we got married,” I cried out, giving him as much of the truth as I felt I could, but the words were barely more than a wheeze. “I felt like an idiot, because I’d more than likely revealed what you meant to me, only for you to then remind me what I didn’t mean to you.” Grief gripped at my chest when I relented, “I did go to you.”
Gray’s head tipped ever so slightly in question.
“When I got the call about my mom,” I explained. “I went to your room because—even though I was still panicking and worried about so many things—I needed you. But you didn’t answer, and then when I finally called Rush, he told me who you were with. What you were doing.”
Frustration and understanding fell over Gray’s features before he stepped closer, his voice filled with pleading. “Except, I wasn’t,” he said unwaveringly, repeating what he’d been trying to convince me of for days. “I told you, nothing has happened with her. Ever. And before that? Years.”
When he slipped a hand around my waist that time, I went into his arms willingly and felt every weight fall away when he pressed his forehead to mine.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” he whispered. “I would’ve—Mallory, you have to know I would’ve been there.”
I wanted to believe him. Ididbelieve him.
Up until my mom passed, Gray had been there for everything since the day I’d met him.
But it was hard to just erase what I’d been sure of for so many months.
“Where were you?” I found myself asking, even as I gripped his soaked-through shirt in my hands, pulling him even closer.
“Honestly, it depends on when you came by,” he began on a sigh. “I passed out at some point. Other than that, I—” He went still for a second before a disbelieving breath burst from him. “I might’ve actually been headed to your room.” He leaned back just enough to rough a hand over his jaw. “I went to your room a couple times, trying to talk to you. Other than that, the only time I left was for dinner that night. By then, you were already gone.”
I studied him for long seconds as I digested what he was saying, knowing deep in my soul that every word was true.
And I knew, Iknew, he’d been doing exactly that—heading to my room—because Hudson Gray had somehow always shown up exactly when I’d needed him over the years. And I’d needed him then.
The truth washed over me like a tidal wave, along with the way I’d shut him out over the past three months, shaking the steady ground I’d always walked on, until I broke. Heavy, unbidden tears built and spilled over as foreign, shaky words tumbled free.
“I’m sorry,” I breathed. “I’m sorry—I’m so sorry for everything.”
If Gray was surprised by the apology, he didn’t show it. He just pulled me close and gently hushed me before passing his mouth across my forehead.
“I should’ve known,” I choked out. “I should’ve listened. I—” A broken sob wrenched from deep in my chest. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“Don’t,” I pleaded. “I haven’t been fair to you.”
“We’reokay,” he murmured, correcting himself, “and we’ll be okay.” He tipped my head back to search my eyes, his voicelowering when he continued. “It took us a long time to get here because we both did what we thought we had to—things that will destroy us with guilt and regret if we let them. So,don’t.
“What matters is what we do from here on out.” He placed the softest, sweetest kiss on my lips before leaning back so the tip of his nose brushed mine. “I love you. And knowing you, those words won’t come easily for you—sober, at least.” He winked as the corner of his mouth lifted, gracing me with the barest hint of his dimples. But when he continued, his voice was hushed and earnest. “But I know you love me. That’s more than enough to move forward.”
I leaned into his hand when he lifted it to my cheek, brushing the rain and steady stream of tears away. “Then let’s move forward.” Just as he leaned in to steal another kiss, I whispered, “This doesn’t mean I won’t try to take you down at every opportunity.”
I felt more than saw the next twitch of his lips. “I love when you get violent, Mrs. Gray.”
Everyone was waiting at the Shadow Industries office by the time I finally got there. Clothes only mostly dry, with my wife by my side.
Briggs’ eyebrow ticked up slightly when he saw Mallory—the only show of surprise he let slip—before he bent back over the large conference room table. But I didn’t miss the ghost of a smirk tugging at his mouth as he tapped on his tablet.
Passing my fingers over Mallory’s in a move that no one else could see, I felt the corners of my own mouth tip up at her stuttered inhale before we parted ways to take our usual seats on opposite sides of the table.
“Donut in Amber?” Briggs asked without ever looking up from his tablet.
A grunt of acknowledgment built in my chest. “My cousin’s wife owns a coffee shop and bar. One of her managers claims she’s being stalked by a guy who lives in her building.”
