Page 107 of Broken Vows

A hopeful expression appears on his face. “Do you really want to hear this?”

Honestly, I don’t know.

But I give him a small nod.

“After we decided to call things off, Anna went to find Sydney while I tracked down Justin first and gave him the news, though I asked him not to call you. I needed time to think about what to do next, to do this on my terms, as much as I could.”

A slow, heavy thud starts in my chest. I’m sure Sydney immediately agreed without hesitation, but the reality of me leaving my boss to deal with this mess makes my stomach knot.

“How did Sydney take it?” I ask, even though I know the answer. Sydney is the epitome of professional. If a client—especially someone like a Barlowe—asked her to handle something, she’d do it without question.

“Like a champ.” A short chuckle leaves his mouth. “Maybe it wasn’t the best plan in the world… but… it worked. Sydney said she’d handle the announcement and manage the fallout. But Anna and I were very clear that you were to be kept completely out of this and to make up for the trouble, we offered her a bonus.”

“A bonus? What does that mean?”

“Ten percent of our original fee.”

My eyebrows shoot to the cloudless sky. “You gave my boss two hundred thousand dollars so she wouldn’t call me?”

He shrugs. “I protect what’s mine.”

My eyes narrow at his words, but my mind swirls. Two hundred thousand dollars? I’ve barely registered that I’m sitting on a picnic table with an unmarried, half-tux wearing Theo, much less that he gave my boss enough money to keep the business afloat for a few more months. “But… but… Annabelle won’t have any money after this. She told me she’s giving up everything, her trust fund, her inheritance and—”

“Okay, not to sound like a dick, but you do remember that I’m the son of one of the largest shipping heirs in the world, right?” I roll my eyes at his remark, though I hate to admit it that I did, kind of, forget. I’m always so focused on the Barlowe name and influence that I forgot the Astor name comes with its own wealth. “We will be fine. I wouldn’t do something if I didn’t think it would be worth it.”

A slow ripple of warmth stirs in my chest and flutters through me. How is this even real?

“Can I tell you about the first time I ever saw you?” he asks.

My lips curve into a soft smile. “Sure.”

“It was September seventh, the third day of classes, almost eight years ago. I even remember how brutally hot it was. High nineties, suffocating humidity. That’s how deeply the day has been burned into my brain.” He kicks at a rock, staring down at his folded hands. “And I was pissed, too. Shocking, I know.” I grin at this and wait for him to continue. “I’d just found out a professor was giving me preferential treatment because I was George Astor’s son. Not because I was a good student who he wanted to help.” He exhales. “That same day, my dad called me into his office. We got into an argument, and I couldn’t stay there another second. I was still completely in my head when you stopped me on the quad.”

My head snaps up. “I did?”

His beautiful dimples deepen. “Yeah. You handed me my dropped headphones and asked for directions. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with people, so I tried to get rid of you as quickly as possible. But then I looked up, and fuck, Lexie…” he drags his hands down his face. “You had on these pink Converse, cut-off shorts, and a St. Ben’s t-shirt. Your hair was in this long braid all the way down to your waist. And I swear—the way the sun hit you, like some kind of firestorm, the way it pulled out the green flecks in your eyes, the way that your freckles were darker from the summer—it stopped me. Everything just… fucking stopped. I didn’t care about being late to class, or my dad, or even the heat. I couldn’t see anything but you. And I swear to Christ, Lexie, I honestly thought I was going to pass out. You were so goddamn beautiful. But it was more than that. You had this pure, angelic innocence to you and… I knew that was it. I fell so fucking hard.”

I can’t believe he remembers all this, when all I remember from that time was how worried I was that I’d get lost on campus.

Theo shifts to face me. He still looks hesitant to touch me, like he’s scared that if he moves too quickly, I’ll run. But I know in this moment, I will never run. I want to stay locked inside his orbit forever. Nothing has felt more whole or complete than when I’m with him. Sitting on a picnic table, wrapped in his arms in my tiny apartment, or feeling him inside me, he is the glue that adheres my broken, jagged pieces together.

“Anna told you everything, didn’t she?”

I nod.

His beautiful soft brown eyes bore into mine. “You have to understand—there was so much at stake. It felt like there were no good options left.”

I fan my fingers across his tattooed arm, a quiet reassurance to him that I’m here—that I understand. It’s the first time I’ve touched him since he showed up, and his skin is warm, heavenly, under my fingers. “I love your loyalty to Annabelle. You’ve been the one constant in her life, and I’d never ask you to give that up. I know how much you mean to each other.”

He tightens his grip on my hand. “I need you to know that since the beginning, it’s always been you. I’ve done so many fucked-up things in my life, made difficult choices because of it, but I keep coming back to the same truth—you are mine, and I am yours.”

The tears that were clinging for dear life under my eyelids, release and roll down my cheeks, and I swipe them away, my emotions a mess.

“I am…” He hesitates, pain flickering across his face. “Sorry. For lying to you for so long. I should’ve told you right away about what I did at school. But I was terrified you’d leave and after all these years, I’d just gotten you back. It was selfish and so fucking wrong. But I swear, with everything in me, I will never, ever lie to you again.”

Theo isn’t someone who apologizes lightly. I know that when he says it, he means it—and warmth spreads through me.

“When you told me yesterday, at the house, that you love me, it… it broke me,” he says as he tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “No one has ever made me feel that exposed. I’ve never let them. I wanted to say so much back to you. I just… couldn’t.”