She had survived them all. And she would survive this.
The door thudded heavily behind her, as if he had fallen against it, mirroring her on the other side.
His voice cracked as he spoke through the barrier between them. “I’m not giving up. I’m not leaving you. You can put me to washing dishes, and I will. You can have me cleaning latrines in the Constables Tower, and I’ll do it. If I have to stand back and watch you make a life with someone else….” He paused for a long moment. “I’ll do that too. I’ll still stay, as close as you’ll allow, for as long as you’ll allow it.”
She brought up her knees, wrapping her arms around them, and let her head fall back, listening to the soft words, wishing that she could escape them but unable to tear herself away as the hot flare of rage slowly ebbed.
Perhaps he heard the soft scrape across the wood. Perhaps he would have kept talking no matter what she did. “I realized something important tonight, Lucy. Well, two things. The first is that I’ve been running away my whole life, and it’s time to stop. And the other—”
He cleared his throat, and she found herself sliding down to press her ear against the crack where the door met the frame, even as she wiped fresh tears away with the back of her hand.
“The other is that I love you.”
She couldn’t help her quiet sob. Or the way her fingers crept to the door that separated them.
“Please don’t cry, Lucy. Gods, I can’t bear it.” His voice was almost too rough to hear. “This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and listening to you cry is killing me.”
She swallowed the next sob, trying to be silent.
“I know that you’re right about everything, and I know I don’t deserve it, but I’m asking you to forgive me for the awful things I’ve done. Please.”
She sat quietly, frozen.
“Please, Lucy.”
She stood slowly and faced the door.
He had left. And he had broken her heart. But he had also come back.
In all her life, he was the only person who had ever come back for her. But so much more than that, he was the only person who saw her exactly as she was and loved her for it. And she could see him exactly as he was. Loyal, honorable, dedicated. Hurt, and lost.
The man who had brought sunshine to her world and who desperately needed to feel the warmth on his own face.
She had known that he was lying when he had pushed her away. Just as she knew he was telling the truth when he said he loved her.
Could she forgive him? Or was she better off letting him go? Both options could end with her hurt. But only one had a chance of saving them both.
She opened the door.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The doorsuddenly opened behind him, and he almost fell backward.
Gods. She had opened it. He hadn’t thought she would. But he had heard her lean against the door—had hoped, desperately, that she could hear him—and he would have stayed there all night. Would have offered up his soul on a plate if she would keep listening. And now she’d opened the door.
He rolled onto his knees and looked up at her where she stood in front of him, still wrapped in Jos’s cape. Her nose was red, eyes swollen and puffy, and her skin blotched. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
He pushed himself to his feet and opened his arms, and, like a miracle, she walked into them. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest, so soft and warm and vulnerable. With the biggest heart in the world.
He clung to her, his nose buried in her silky hair, telling himself that she was real, that he hadn’t dreamed it and wouldn’t soon awaken back in the hell he’d nearly sent himself into. Sent them both into. She turned her face upward, into his neck, and then he heard it. The low, contented rumble. His beast was back.
He pressed soft kisses onto the top of her head, feeling a depth of emotion that he hadn’t known was possible. Relief and joy and grief for all the hurt he’d caused. But mostly love.
She leaned back and lifted her hands to wipe his cheeks, and he realized he had been crying too.
“Can I come inside?” he asked cautiously.
She gave him a wobbly smile and stepped back to let him in, closing the door gently behind him.
