He visibly winces and his eyebrows draw together. “Well, let’s not get carried away.”
I laugh out loud. “Then what did you have in mind?”
“Something… local. Or maybe…online or something?”
I give him a smile and shake my head. “I think that’s an excellent idea. I love that idea. I can actually finish my degree in a few months.”
“Perfect.”
“Why does that matter to you?” I ask him curiously.
He gives me that signature scowl, the one that makes him look daring and reckless, like he should be a swashbuckling pirate. “Because it matters toyou.”
Oh. Well, that should’ve been clear enough.
“So you’re not one of those old-fashioned mobsters who thinks his wife is a pretty little trophy to keep on a shelf until he tires of her and decides he needs a younger, newer model? I hear mistresses are quite common…”
Thayer’s dark eyes flash at me with a wicked smile that makes me yelp.
“I think you know me well enough by now to know I am absolutely old-fashioned and painfully loyal.”
“Which means…”
He leans in and kisses my cheek while he whispers in my ear, “That I will be devoted to you until the day I die.”
My heart squeezes. I never knew I wanted — noneeded— someone so fiercely protective … until Thayer.
I know it matters to him that I’m safe. That I’m cared for. That I’m loved.
“Maman called,” he says as I stretch my arms over my head and he gives me a little tickle. I squeal and lean closer into him, so he embraces me and holds me against him.
“And?”
“She wanted to know if we’d visit for dinner soon.”
I smile. “I wouldlovethat.” We sit together and enjoy amicable silence in the quiet, warm evening. When a surprisingly brisk wind kicks up, he wordlessly wraps his arm around me and shields me from the cold. I wonder if it isn’t maybe a bit symbolic — he may not ever be able to protect me from everything, but maybe it’s alright that he shields me a little. Maybe there’s a partof both of us that needs something exactly like this, this mutual meeting of each other’s needs.
“And what about the threats against us?”
“Us,” he says with a rare smile. “God, I love hearing you say that.” He blows out a breath. “To answer your question, there probably will always be forces against us, Savannah. The key to it all, I’ve learned, is to stay close together. It’s so much harder for anyone to harm us knowing we’re a fortress.”
Fortress. I like that.
“Right. Well that makes sense.”
I think about Nicolette and Fabien, and whatever it is that brought her to him. She may never tell me all the details, and I’m okay with that.
I think about Lyam and Cosette, and how closely she escaped with her life. I know typically that betrayal the likes of hers warrants swift and severe punishment. But I can still see her pinched face and pale cheeks as she pleaded with me for forgiveness for a sin against me I didn’t know she’d committed.
I know that this life I’ve chosen is complex and beautiful and heartbreaking…and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Let’s go home,” he says softly, threading his fingers through mine.
I smile. We rise, hand in hand.
And walk home.
