“I get shot, and this is all the affection I get. Nah, get yourself on this bed and snuggle me.”
She huffed, but climbed up next to me and pressed her face to my pec. I wrapped my arm around her, letting out a contented sigh. I didn’t remember much about what happened, other than seeing that gun pointed at Hana and knowing I’d rather die saving her than trying to live in a world where she no longer existed.
“Where were you going before?” I asked, pressing my fingers under her chin so she couldn’t avoid me. She looked so fucking beautiful, I could stare at her for eternity and never get tired of seeing her face.
“I wasn’t sure you’d want me here.”
I tilted my head, regretting it instantly as it pulled on my stitches, and I hissed out the pain. Hana’s face fell, so I quickly said, “I took a bullet for you. I thought that might prove just how much I wanted you.” I wiggled my eyebrows, but when she didn’teven crack a smile, I added, “Okay, too soon for I’ve been shot jokes. Noted.”
I buried my fingers in her hair and brought her to my lips so I didn’t have to stretch and hurt myself again. Our kiss was slow, aching, as if we were both satisfying a longing we’d been unable to fill until now.
“What are you thinking?” I whispered against her lips, needing to know what was going on in her head.
“That I don’t understand why you did it. Any of it? Stepping between Amber and me, knowing you could die, wiping all the evidence of the crimes I committed, forgiving me for everything I’ve done… why you watched me all those years. Why you love me when I’ve fucked up so badly?”
I eased her away from me a little so our eyes could connect, and I dragged my thumb over her bottom lip. “I’ve never really had anyone. Only child, I don’t see my parents… haven’t for years, and they’ve never reached out. I built a life where I was alone, looking at the world through the safety of a camera. Never getting involved, never getting hurt. I’d tried friendship with your brother, and that didn’t end well, so I decided that I was better off on my own. And then I found you.
“You were like the light in my darkness. You lived a life I got to watch, and I started to wonder what it would be like to have a life with you in it. I let myself dream, and somewhere along the way, I became obsessed with you, Hana Monroe. Obsessed.”
She mirrored me, cupping my cheek and letting out a sigh. “I’m pretty obsessed with you too.”
I smiled as I continued. “But the Hana I watched was nothing like the one I met in real life. My obsession turned feral when you were just down the road. I denied it, of course, but you consumed me.” Her cheeks flushed. “Hana, I have told you again and again that you’re mine. Mine to watch, mine to love, mine to protect. I want a life with you. Not one where you’re looking overyour shoulder, expecting the past to bite you on the arse. You’re not a bad person; you did bad things because a worse person made you. I have the ability to erase that. To let you start afresh. And maybe you won’t want me to be a part of that new life.” I paused, not wanting to even contemplate a life without her in it. “It would kill me, but I’d step back. FYI, I wouldn’t stop watching you, but I’d give you space if you needed it. I want you to know you have options, and being with me… us together… that’s an option.”
She pressed her forehead to mine. “I don’t deserve any of this.”
“I know… if I’d found you sooner, I could have?—”
Hana didn’t let me finish. “I meant I didn’t deserve you and what you’re doing for me. You risked your life for me, Ro.”
“And I’d do it again and again if I had to. You’re it for me. You’ve been it for such a long time, but now you’re here, with me, and sometimes, none of it feels real.” I let out a contented sigh. “I know we started in the most fucked up way; our entire relationship is built on lies and secrets, but weirdly, I feel like you know me in a way no one ever has. Like you see my darkness and you don’t mind that it’s there.”
Tiredness overtook me, and Hana obviously noticed, shifting to allow me to lean back into the pillows while she nestled into my good side, tracing her fingers over my abs until my skin broke out in goosebumps and my cock swelled against my thigh, making her chuckle.
“I like everything about you, Psycho,” she whispered.
“So, me and you?” I asked, my voice slurred from painkillers and exhaustion.
I couldn’t hide my smile when she replied, “Me and you. Forever.”
EPILOGUE
ROMAN – 3 MONTHS LATER
I watchedas Hana stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in a fluffy white towel. Water dripped from her hair, which hung over her shoulders. Her eyes looked to where she knew the camera was positioned, and then she dropped the towel.
I groaned, and Wren tutted. “Seriously?” he asked.
I flicked my gaze sideways and glared at him. “What? I’m working,” I replied, glad my screen was angled where no one else could see my current view.
“Watching your wife is no longer on your job list, Roman,” he said, his voice low and far too judgemental for my liking.
“Just because you live and work with your husband, so you’re never apart, doesn’t mean we all have that luxury.”
He scoffed. “So you just watch her 24/7?”
I smiled, my attention moving back to where Hana was slipping her arms into a light blue silk gown that made her eyes pop more than usual.
“Why don’t you go ‘work from home’?” Wren did dramatic air quotes that I caught in my periphery.
