“Where is he?” I practically bark at Maria. “Where’s Marco?”
I need to see him.Needto see him.
“He wanted to give you some time alone with your sister.”
“Get him!” I say, then flinch. “Please.”
She disappears.
“Have you met him?” I ask Esme. “Marco?”
She nods. “He talks to me like I’m five, but I like him. He told me that as long as I help Maria with the cooking, I don’t have to clean. And he found me that book!” She gestures to the sketchbook lying forgotten, a drawing of a bee landing on a flower visible on the open page.
A slight shadow falls over us. I look up.
Marco stands at the top of the stairs, white linen shirt catching the breeze. He’s frozen there, watching us. Waiting.
My heart stutters, squeezes, shatters.
I untangle myself from Esme and stand on unsteady legs.
He descends slowly, like he’s afraid one wrong move will fracture this. His eyes never leave mine. There’s something in his expression—a vulnerability I’ve never seen before. Nothing like yesterday in the arena. Nothing like when we lay in his bed together.
This is him with nothing between us—no performance, no walls. This is hope, naked and terrifying on his face. When he reaches the grass, he stops. Just stops, a few feet away.
My throat closes. This man.This man.
He found her. Searched the entire goddamned city. Bought her freedom.
And he brought her here. To me. And there will be nothing I can ever do to repay that debt.
I can’t breathe around it. Can’t speak.
So I close the distance between us and pull him into my arms, burying my face against his neck. His arms come around me immediately, tight and sure.
“Marco,” I murmur into his ear as his hand comes up to cradle the back of my head, stroking my hair. “I… I…”
“It’s okay,” he says.
But it’s not okay. He did this.He saved her.
“I can’t believe… She’s… She’s…” The words won’t come. I’m struggling to breathe, crying, almost hyperventilating. All those sleepless nights, and now she’s here, on Marco’s grass, sketching in the bright sunlight.
“I know,” he says. “I know, Robin. But look at her. She’sokay. She’s more than okay. She’s brilliant, just like you.”
I laugh, pulling away slightly to meet his gaze. His brown eyes have never looked so soft, and soon I’m tumbling into them.
I lean in and press my mouth to his.
A surprised sound, then he parts his lips to kiss me back, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“Thank you,” I whisper against his cheek. “It will never be enough, but thank you. Thank you.Thank you.”
I draw back to find a hint of color on his cheeks. “It was nothing.”
How could he possibly say that, when he’s given me the one thing I wished for most in the world? “Marco, this iseverything.”
He brings one hand to my bronze collar, running his thumb across the metal. “Te daría el mundo entero y más si pudiera.”I would give you the entire world and more if I could.
