Page 101 of The Cost of Silence

I hold her tighter, just feeling her against me.

We sit there a moment, just breathing, grounded, full, exhausted, but the good kind.

Her voice is small when she speaks again. “Thank you. For today. For letting me bring my mom. For… all of this.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Belle.”

“I do,” she insists gently. “Because I know this wasn’t easy. All the noise. The chaos. The glitter.” Her laugh warms me in the ribs. “But you let it happen anyway.”

I press a kiss to the side of her neck. “It made you happy. That’s enough of a reason.”

Silence settles again, comfortable as a blanket.

She shifts slightly, turning her head just enough to catch my gaze. The lights from the tree reflect in her eyes, sparkling, gold, shot through with something vulnerable.

“Nico,” she whispers.

“Yeah?”

She kisses me.

Slow. Soft. Nothing like the hungry, consuming heat we share behind closed doors.

This one is… tender.

The kind of kiss people give when they’re grateful. When they care. When they’re afraid of how deep it’s getting.

My hand slides up her back, cupping the base of her skull, pulling her closer. She melts into me like she was meant to fit there.

When we break apart, she rests her forehead against mine, breath a warm exhale against my lips.

“I’m really glad I’m here,” she whispers.

“Me too,” I answer.

And for the first time in years, the ache inside me eases.

The ghosts are quieter.

And the future, dangerous and uncertain as it is, doesn’t feel like something to fear.

Not with her here.

Not with this.

Not with us.

“Come, I have a surprise for you.” Then I take her hand and lead her to the bedroom.

28.Nico

“What surprise?”

I grin at her as I guide her towards our bed. “Not much of a surprise if I tell you, Belle.”

She huffs and I kiss her neck. She fists the back of my hair and drags my mouth to hers, our lips crashing together in a kiss that’s all heat and hunger, no finesse. I could take her mouth and her body, every piece of her, and make them mine. I could lose myself in her and never come up for air. I wouldn’t hesitate. I’d keep going, keep claiming.

“This dress has tortured me all day, teasing me with glimpses of your lush curves.”