"I love you,” she whispered. "I have loved you through every empty night and every morning I woke up. I have loved you across five years and three thousand miles and every wall I built to keep you out."
"Calla—"
"And I am so tired." Her voice broke. "I am so tired of being strong. So tired of carrying everything alone. So tired of pretending I don't need you when you're the only thing I've ever needed."
I pulled her into my arms, finally letting my guard down, and breaking through the walls she kept herself in.
CHAPTER TWENTY
CALLA
The elevator doorsopened on the sixth floor, and Cassian's hand found mine before I could step out.
"Wait."
I turned to look at him. His eyes were still red from crying and his face still carried the remnants of everything we'd just torn open and put back together. But underneath the exhaustion, there was hope trying to breathe.
"What is it?"
"I just need a second." He pulled me back against him, his arms wrapping around me, his chin resting on top of my head. "I need to remember that this is real. That you're here and we're doing this."
I pressed my face into his chest and let myself be held, feeling the steady rhythm of his heart against my cheek and the warmth of his body seeping into mine.
"It's real," I murmured.
"Promise me."
"I promise."
We stood there until the elevator doors tried to close and he had to stick his arm out to stop them. He laughed, and I found myself laughing too. We just sobbed in front of half the hospitaland now we're hiding in an elevator, unable to let go of each other long enough to walk down a hallway.
"We should probably go," I said.
"Probably."
Neither of us moved.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw Daniel's name on the screen.
"It's Daniel," I said. "He's been calling."
Cassian's arms loosened slightly. "The job offer."
"I never gave him an answer. He needed one by the end of the day, and then everything happened, and I just..." I stared at the screen, watching it ring. "I forgot."
"Answer it."
I looked up at him. "What do I say?"
"Whatever you want to say. Whatever's true." He cupped my face in his hands, his thumbs brushing my cheekbones. "I'm not going anywhere. Whatever you decide, I'm here."
I answered the call.
"Daniel."
"Calla. I've been trying to reach you." His voice was warm but tinged with impatience. "I need an answer. The board is meeting tomorrow morning, and I need to present a final candidate."
I looked at Cassian. At the man who'd just dropped to his knees in front of a crowd and told me he loved me. At the man who'd forgiven me for the worst thing I'd ever done. At the man I'd spent five years running from because I was too afraid of what staying might cost me.
