Page 128 of Say You Will

“Can Gabriel do it?” she asks.

“I suppose we’ll find out.”

New Year’s Eve

Soulmate | Chanin

My mouth goes dry, and my heart rate picks up speed as Franki brushes her hair over her shoulder and walks farther intoour dimly lit hotel suite. Intrigue lights her eyes, and she sends a curious glance my way. With every step she takes, her silver evening gown flows over her curves like living mercury.

I indicate the attached bedroom. “I packed an overnight bag for you. Spencer and Dante are pet sitting for the night.”

She smiles in confusion. “Why did you get a suite? We’re not that far from home.”

“Not that far is stilltoofar.” I run my knuckles over the velvet softness of her right cheek and kiss the warm skin beneath her left ear, reveling in the feel of her. Drawing her scent into my lungs. I’m continually stunned that she’s given me the privilege to be so close. I doubt I’ll ever fully get used to it.

“The last time we were in this hotel was Finn’s wedding reception. We ditched the party early that night too,” she says.

“I thought you’d prefer dinner up here, rather than downstairs at one of those communal event tables with people we don’t know.”

We share a look and shudder in tandem. Franki and I are capable of that type of socializing. It doesn’t mean welikesitting with six other guests at a round table and pretending to have fun.

Franki has barely recovered from her ordeal, and both of us have depleted our social batteries dealing with the fallout from her mother and David Vance, but Franki wouldn’t miss a party thrown by her cousin if she could help it. Finn and his mother are the only living blood relatives she considers family.

She glances around and, for the first time, notices the table, dressed in white, adorned with peonies, and glowing with flickering ambient light. Our plates hide beneath silver domes, and a bottle of champagne on ice awaits. The entire scene reflects in the floor to ceiling windows. Though I’m behind her, I read her reaction in the glass. The lift of her hand. The softening of her eyes.

I drop to one knee beside her and wait for her to see me. To realize I’m here when she’s ready.

Four years. Nine months. Twelve Days. Without her.

Never again.

She turns, and emotion chases across her beautiful face when she finds me at her feet. Momentary confusion. Love. Hope. Her dark amber eyes glint with unshed tears.

I lift the ring I chose for her myself. “I believe the two of us could reach an amicable agreement mutually beneficial for both parties—”

She sniffs a watery laugh.

“—I’d offer you my heart, but it’s already in your possession. And possession is nine-tenths of the law. I can’t give you something that’s already yours.”

Her breath hiccups.

“I’m asking for permission to be your husband. I promise I will make our marriage my life’s work.”

I frown. “That doesn’t sound romantic. I don’t mean that it will be difficult. I mean it the way someone with a calling speaks of their mission in life. You’re my magnum opus. You’re the discovery of the edge of the cosmos, and don’t cite the Kuiper Belt, because you know I think that theory is ridiculous.”

Franki nods.

“You will have my dedication, my passion, my time. I’ll invest in us every day. You, and the family we build together, will always be my first priority. I will always take your side. I will always support you. There has never been another woman for me. And there never will be. Not if I have to wait a hundred lifetimes for you to come back to me again.”

She presses her hand to my cheek.

I turn my head to kiss her palm. “I know I’m intractable. Often arrogant. I’m obnoxiously tidy. One of those annoying morning people. And I take unholy pleasure in pushing people’s buttons.But if it’s true that you are what you love, then I’m one hell of a catch. Because there’s not a cell in my body that doesn’t love you.”

She lowers herself to the floor, kneeling with me. I use my thumbs to wipe the tears from her cheeks. Franki’s mascara streaks into a black mess beneath her eyes. She sniffles as her nose runs, and her eyes are rimmed in red. She’s so incredibly lovely.

She kisses me, then leans back and cups my face. “Yes.”

I freeze, then confirm. “You’re saying you will—”

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