“They’re flameless.”
“Really?” I didn’t mean to say it, but seriously, I had to look twice because they looked real.
I touched the tip of the flame of one close to me. Nope. Not real.
“Thanks, Marco. I can take it from—”
I turned at the sound of Kieran’s voice, saw him strolling in the same way I’d come. The moment I saw him, my throat closed up, a hot ball of emotion filling my airway. Although I was still mad at him for the part he’d played in all of this, I had missed him fiercely. But I had refused to reach out because I didn’t trust myself around him, knew I would forgive him before he could even explain why.
“What’s going on?” Kieran asked, his gaze shifting past me to where Knox was standing.
I turned back around, stared at Knox.
He looked much the same as he had the last time I’d seen him, only his expression was softer, not quite so guarded. He was dressed in one of his impeccable suits, not a hair out of place and the scruff on his jaw neatly groomed. I hated him for the fact that I still wanted him.
“There’s no code violation, is there?” Kieran prompted, his tone bordering on angry.
“There is not,” Knox confirmed, his eyes shifting between us.
Kieran’s gaze scanned the space. “Good chance these candles are a code violation.”
“They’re not real,” Knox said with a smirk, clearly amused that we had focused on that.
“Damn good thing,” Kieran grumbled.
“Why are we here, Knox?” I demanded.
Knox’s green gaze pinned me in place. “A wise woman once told me that when you love someone, you should tell them.”
I focused on breathing through my nose as I watched Knox. He had his hands in his pockets as though he didn’t have a care in the world. But it wasn’t enough to disguise the tight lines I could see near his mouth and eyes. Whatever this was, whatever he was doing, it wasn’t easy for him.
“I didn’t heed those words the way I should have,” he admitted, taking a step toward us.
“That’s not an apology,” Kieran noted.
Knox didn’t respond, merely took another step, then another. When he stopped, his hands came out of his pockets. He held up a black velvet box, but before he opened it, he eased down to one knee.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice raspy as hope flamed eternal in my chest.
He opened the box, held it up.
I gasped when I saw the enormous diamond solitaire ring and felt my heart slam hard when I saw the other, a platinum band with what appeared to be three thin lines running through it.
“I’m not good with apologies,” he said.
“You don’t say,” Kieran retorted.
Knox glanced between us. “This is me telling you both that you are my world. You are the only two things that matter to my existence. Without either of you, I could have all the money in the world and still have nothing.”
My hands were trembling, so I lifted them to my mouth, fisting them tightly.
“Forgive me.” Knox’s voice didn’t waver as he continued to glance between us. “Love me as much as I love you. Spend your lives with me, and I promise to always put you first. Above all else.” Knox met my gaze again. “As I always have.”
My heart splintered, tears formed in my eyes, and my sinuses burned as emotion choked me.
“Marry me,” Knox said, and this time the roughness of his voice had my knees going weak.
He remained like that, unmoving as neither of us said anything. I wasn’t sure I could form words. I was trembling, my heart rapidly piecing itself back together. I looked at Kieran, saw that his eyes shone with unshed tears. He was holding them back by sheer force of will.
