“You falling asleep on me?”I ask.
“Never,” he says without lifting his lids.
Then he opens them, and that arctic blue gaze knocks the air out of me.
He looks lighter.Not healed.Not even close.But more distributed.Like the heaviness he carries found a way to spread out instead of crushing him all in one spot.
I climb onto the bed beside him, and he rolls, facing me, his hands tugging my hips until we’re pressed together.
“What’s going on?”He narrows his eyes as if trying to see straight into the center of me.
My throat thickens.
This is it.
No running.No hedging.No half-truths.
“I love you.”The words leave me in a rush, almost violent in their urgency.
His breath stops.His lashes flutter.Shock freezes his entire body for one second, two seconds, three… Then his face cracks with pure, blinding happiness.
He tries to hide it.Of course, he tries.He pushes his tongue into his cheek, nostrils pulsing, fighting a grin, fighting the wide-eyed innocence threatening to spill out.
But he can’t mask it.Not from me.
His fingers sweep up my arm and tremble against my cheek as he brings his mouth to mine, eyes blazing with reciprocated love.
“Of course, you do,” he says hotly, hoarsely.“You never stood a chance.”
He leans his forehead against mine, the grin winning, boyish and smug.Somehow, that arrogance makes my heart bang harder.
He’s still smiling when he rolls onto his back and releases a satisfied breath.I follow the movement, propping myself on an elbow beside him.
“We leave the island tomorrow.”I run a finger down his chest, tracing the longest scar beneath his ribs.“Back to everything.”
His nose wrinkles.“We could stay.Build a treehouse.Start our cult.Only rule is nudity after breakfast.And before.”
“Be serious.”
“I am serious.”He turns his head toward me.“I don’t want to go back to separate schedules and walking around Sitka pretending we don’t have an entourage of bodyguards.”
“We can’t stay here forever.”
“Why not?”
I laugh under my breath, because, of course, Wolfson Strakh askswhy notto reality like it’s negotiable.
Reality won’t wait for us.Not while Jag is hacking systems, controlling cameras, and making enemies with every criminal organization under the sun.As expected, Monty’s private investigator has uncovered fuck all on my stepbrother and his associates.
“Did you tell Taaq you’re returning tomorrow?”Wolf shifts closer, sliding a hand under my T-shirt, warm palm settling against my stomach.
“Yeah.I have a full roster waiting for me.Brake jobs, filter changes, oil leaks… Back to minimum wage and greasy hands.”
He studies me for a long beat.Too long.“You know you don’t have to do that, right?”
“I like working on cars.”
“I know.”He nods slowly.“You used to have your own garage.Specialized in vintage engines.You like working on those.The onesyouchoose.But that shop in Sitka?It’s not the same thing.”
