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“Isabella, I’m so sorry. I don’t know any other way to say it, except that I know I fucked up. I know what I did was wrong. What can I do to make it up to you? Please tell me, and I’ll spend a lifetime doing it.”

“You don’t have a lifetime, Sebastian. You have five more minutes, and that’s it. And then you can talk to Marcus with any further questions.”

“Isabella, I screwed up. I can't tell you how terrible I feel about that. It was my first test, and I failed it miserably. I know I became exactly who I promised you I wouldn’t. But I’ve spent my whole life conditioned to do one thing, and I’m working desperately to undo that. I swear what I said at the press conference is true. Do you believe me?”

I hesitate before I answer. “Yes.”

“Then please believe what I’m about to say, too. I’m new to this way of life. I’m new to the person I’m trying to become. But I don’t want any of it, I don’t want to live this new life, without you. You’re the one who dragged me kicking and screaming, showing me how much better I could be.

“I’ve been miserable without you, Isabella. I feel like there’s something missing, as if a vital part of me is gone, and I won’t be whole unless I get it back.”

“You made a rule that night in my office,” he says quietly. “When the job is over, we’re strangers again.” He swallows. “The job is over. I’m asking you to break the last one. I don’t know how to be this with anyone else, Isabella. I don’t want to.”

“If I meant that much to you, why did you choose your family's legacy over the right thing to do? Over me?”

“Because I was scared.” He says the words quietly, humbly. “I was scared, Isabella. But you’ve shown me how much better I can be, how much better my life can be, when I’m following my own rules and my own sense of morality.

“I didn't send that letter because of you. And before that, I told the Ghost to reverse all the orders I gave him. Even if I had gone to prison, they wouldn't have touched Vance and Jenkins. And I will support their families, just like I promised. I’ve offered to hire them back, if that’s what they want. I’ve apologized to them personally, and I’m coming clean.”

He sounds sincere… and exhausted.

“You betrayed me, Sebastian. You made a promise, and you broke that promise.” I hate the way my voice sounds, and I feel tears of hurt stinging my eyes.

“But I’m willing to fix my mistakes, not just for you, but for me, too. I’m ready and willing to become the person you want me to be. I will stumble, but I’ll always keep trying, even when it’s easier not to.”

A lump in my throat stops me from saying anything. I feel like I’m going to start crying, and I swallow hard.

Sebastian leans forward, the chair creaking beneath him. He takes my hands in his and looks directly into my eyes. “You stood up to your mother, and I’m so proud of you. I stood up to my father, and I’m proud of me, too. I want to be the man you need, Isabella. I want to be the kind of man who deserves you. Please, give me a second chance. Let me prove to you that I can be that man. All I’m asking for is a chance.”

I want to say yes so badly, but I’m scared. I’m scared to trust him and have my heart shattered.

“I want to trust you but…”

He raises my hands to his face and kisses them tenderly. His eyes are as intense as I’ve ever seen them. “Take your time doing that. Just give me the chance to earn it, to show you that you can trust me. I promise I won’t let you down again. I know you still have feelings for me, or you wouldn’t have come to the detention center to support me. You didn’t have to do that.”

He cups my cheek. The feeling is all that I want and everything I’ve feared, and I have to close my eyes against the tears.

“I’m not those other guys, Isabella. I love you for everything you are. I love you for you. I love every inch of you, every part of you: the fire, the stubbornness, your laugh, your eyes, the way you feel in my arms—everything. I am crazy in love with you. Please, give me this chance.”

A single tear escapes when I finally open my eyes to look into his, where I see such earnestness, such hope, such love. And I know. “Okay.”

“Okay?” he says, clearly having expected more resistance.

I nod, scrubbing the wet track away from my cheek. “Yeah. Okay.”

He leans in to kiss me, and I put a hand flat against his chest.

“Wait.”

He stops instantly, the way he did that very first night. Something about that almost undoes me.

“Before you decide you mean all of that,” I say, “you need to know something. And you need to hear it now, before anything else happens, because I won’t have you find out later and wonder if I used it.”

His brow furrows. “Isabella, whatever it is⁠—”

I reach past him for my bag. My hands are shaking so badly that it takes two tries to open the inside pocket. I unwrap the hand towel in my lap and hold out the digital test, the one I’ve carried every day for a week like a stone in my pocket.

Pregnant.