Page 145 of Outcast’s Vow

A smile crosses my man’s face.

“I will always chase you, Highness. I will always come for you.”

I remember the island. The heat of the rainforest. Stomping through the leaves. Trying to hide. Facing him in that clearing. That fear I felt when I realized he’d caught me. That fear of a stranger.

And that fear that I felt, heavier and scarier than before, when he disappeared from my life.

I never want that to happen again.

It seems I’m forever tied to Baptiste Tremblay, for good or ill.

“When you were gone, where did you go?” I ask him.

Baptiste shrugs.

“Europe. Well, Croatia specifically. I crashed at a friend’s place there.”

“So what you’re saying is you had a fun little vacation?”

“Mostly I thought about you.”

“Oh.”

Baptiste grins.

“And I surfed.”

“Of course.”

“I didn’t sleep.”

My hand squeezes his.

“I thought my life was over,” Baptiste continues, “but I didn’t want your life ruined because I couldn’t prove my loyalty to the Castaways. And then I heard about your father’s plans for you, and how you were going to be married off to him.”

“I was scared when I found out you were offered women.”

My husband grimaces.

“I know. I’m sorry. I will always choose you, Sylvie. I walked out of that hotel. I chose to walk away from the Castaways because I couldn’t do that to you. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I had hurt you like that.”

“You always wanted to be in rooms full of great men,” I say. “Everything you’ve done in your life was to get yourself into the Castaways. Forget about money… being a member of the Order was success to you, and you were ready to throw it all away? For me?”

His hand grips harder.

“There was a moment along the way when I realized you were more important to me than any of that,” he says.

I believe him. I believe every word he says.

But there is still one thing I want to know before I can fully trust him.

“You said you once didn’t believe in love,” I say, cutting through the quiet. “But you admitted back there at the mansion that you are in love with me.”

Baptiste looks at me. Deeply and unwaveringly. A flutter ripples through my stomach.

“I was wrong,” he says. “I do love you, Sylvie. I might not have believed in love before, but I believe in us.”

“I thought you were never wrong.”