Page 45 of Holden

“I forgive you,” I whisper. “You were put in a terrible situation, and you’ve suffered enough guilt. I forgive you.” I lick my lips. “I hope you can forgive me for not being honest with you when we first met.”

Holden’s eyes shimmer with emotion. “Sweetness, I haven’t stopped thinking about you since you walked into my life, and the truth is, I can’t shake you. I have to forgive you, because that’s the only way we can be together. And I want that very much. I love you.”

My heart is so full I think it might actually pop out of my chest. Tears stream down my face. Is this for real? I search Holden’s face, looking for any indication that this is all a dream, but it’s not. I can pinch myself until I’m bruised, and he would still be there, looking at me with the kind of love I’ve only fantasized about.

“I love you too, Holden,” I say. “I have since the first time you held me.”

Holden pulls me close, and wraps his arms around my waist. “Marry me, sweetness. And I promise, that’s where you’ll always be. In my arms.”

“Yes.”

He pulls back, surprised. “Yes?”

I cup his chin with my palm and smile. “One hundred percent yes.”

His smile is brief before he leans toward me, and presses his lips against mine. My entire body ignites with yearning. Our mouths move in synchronized beats of passion, draining all of our doubts and reservations. His hand threads through my hair and pulls me closer, so close, it’s almost like we’ve become one.

The apartment door clicks open, startling us apart.

Lindsay stands in the hallway, mouth open, a young guy with his arm draped over her shoulder. He’s handsome, fit, just her type, and it makes me smile.

“Uh, hey,” she says. “Sorry to interrupt…” The guy beside her coughs, and she pats his chest. “So, uh…I’d like you to meet Zach.”

Epilogue

Reporters line the red carpet leading from the Daylight Holdings corporate limousine to the front of the ball room inside the Beekman Hotel. I step out of the car, holding onto Holden for balance, as camera flashes blink around me like glittering diamonds.

My hand moves to my swollen belly, the baby inside already famous thanks to a media frenzy. Since the moment our engagement was announced, Holden and I are magnets for the paparazzi. First, the story of our unlikely relationship made headlines, followed by full coverage of our extravagant wedding almost a year later. Now, baby Rachel—named after Mrs. Kratky, the teacher killed by my father—is enjoying her time in the spotlight as we make our way down the runway.

“This is too much,” I whisper to Holden.

His grin is infectious. “It’s not every day my wife’s book makes the New York Times bestseller list.”

My throat goes raw with pride. Soon after Holden and I announced our engagement, I began the process of finding an agent and publisher for my memoir. Both came easily, and the book hit the shelves, already coveting the number #1 spot on every bestseller list in the country.

This party—planned entirely by Holden—is in celebration of that milestone.

But of course, it’s in honor of so much more than that.

Inside the hotel, we’re met by Mason and Olivia, and Lucas and Eden. Olivia hands me a flute of sparkling apple juice while Mason serves everyone else champagne. Holden lifts his glass. “To my wife,” he says.

There is a murmur of agreement, and then we drink to the toast, while my nerves buzz with restless energy. Behind the door, hundreds of people wait for me to make an entrance. To demonstrate that yes, the past can be left behind. Forgiveness is an option. And that family doesn’t always mean the people you’re related to by blood.

My eyes drift across the smiling faces of my new family. Olivia and Eden have become like sisters, their advice invaluable, not to mention their fashion sense. My wardrobe has undergone almost as much a transformation as I have.

The door opens and a young man runs out. Lindsay’s fiancé, the one that made her finally stop looking for new challenges. My eyes water with tears.

Lindsay spots me and squeals. Her dress is short, and her cleavage plunges almost to her belly button, but there’s something different about her—maybe it’s happiness that makes her eyes glisten and her cheeks blush.

She hugs me, smooshing her toned abs against my baby bump. “Your glow intensified every time I see you.” She kisses each of my cheeks and places her hands on the side of my face. “You’re happy, right?”

I nod. “Deliriously.” I nudge my chin toward her guy, who stands awkward in the corner, trying to act nonchalant despite the fact that Holden and his partners are staring at him. “And I see you’re firmly a one-man kind of girl nowadays?”

She shrugs. “I’ll never wonder if there’s someone better out there. I tried most of them, and he’s the best.”

My response is cut off by another entrance, this time from outside. I spot my mother before she sees me, and my heart fills with sharp emotion. It’s been a few months since we’ve spoken, my engagement and wedding to New York’s most eligible bachelor and a victim of my father’s killing spree becoming a wedge between us that seemed impossible to move.

But she’s here, in this hotel, looking small and lost and my breath catches with sharp yearning.