Page 79 of Grift

I pull back, and look at her. Really look at her.

The soft swoop of her dark chestnut waves tumbling over her shoulder, her wide gray eyes, the explosion of freckles across her nose. The delicious curves. The steady intelligence that’s managed to last through the worst things that life threw at her.

“Our families are so toxic,” she whispers. I won’t blame her for not wanting to stay. Not wanting to raise a child – our child, oh God – in the midst of this. For wanting to make a better life or build a family far from the Kensingtons or the Carneys.

“The thing is that I wanted to see you, to talk to you, before I even realized….” Her voice trails off, but then she speaks again in a steadier, clear tone. “You’re a good man, Patrick. I want to be with you.”

That’s when it hits me.

She’s not saying that she’s staying because she’s pregnant. She wants to stay. She wants me.

She is mine.

“Jessica, if you stay with me, I’ll promise you three things. I will love you always. I will protect you with my life. And we will give our child all the love they could ever want, however you want to do this. We can walk away from our families and never look back. Anything.”

And it’s true.

I’d taken lives for this woman, to keep her safe. Now, I’d reshape mine in whatever image would make her happy. I’ll dedicate my life to making sure that we have the happiest family two people could ever imagine.

She’s looking at me with bright eyes. “Yes.”

The “yes” I’d never heard because I hadn’t proposed. In agreeing, she gives me the greatest gift. Knowing that this amazing woman, free to choose any path and any man, chooses me.

Now that we’ve found our way back to each other, I’m never letter her go. Not for one single second.

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