Page 86 of His to Destroy

When I open the door, he stands there.

And for a moment, I can only stare.

Gaspare looks... wrecked.

His black shirt clings to him, dried sweat staining the fabric. His hair is a mess, pushed back like he’s run his hands through it a hundred times. His knuckles are split and raw.

But his eyes are what undo me.

No armor.

No walls.

Just raw, soul-deep weariness and something even more dangerous—hope.

"Almeria," he rasps.

I step back without a word, silently inviting him in.

He crosses the threshold like a man walking into a church, full of guilt.

I close the door behind him and lean against it, waiting.

Gaspare turns to face me, jaw clenching, his hands flexing uselessly at his sides as if he doesn’t know what to do with them.

"I’m sorry," he says, voice cracking on the words. "For everything. For not seeing what was right in front of me. For abandoning you when you needed me most."

He moves closer, cautiously, like he’s afraid he might spook me.

"I should have protected you," he whispers. "I should have burned the world down the moment you cried for me."

My throat tightens painfully.

"I was blind," he continues, stepping even closer. "I cost you pain. And it cost you everything. It cost you years we can never get back."

I feel the first tear slide down my cheek.

Gaspare sees it, and it shatters him.

He falls to his knees at my feet without hesitation, his head bowed like he’s waiting for judgment.

"I swear to you," he whispers hoarsely, "there will never be a day you doubt where you stand with me again. I will spend every breath I have making up for what I allowed to happen."

He lifts his gaze, and the broken reverence there guts me.

"I love you, Almeria," he says. "I love you more than I love breathing."

I sink to my knees in front of him, reaching for his battered face with shaking hands.

"You avenged me," I whisper, stroking my thumbs over the bruises marring his skin. "You gave me justice when you could have walked away."

His hand comes up, covering mine, holding it against his jaw.

"I’d never walk away from you again," he says fiercely.

A shudder wracks my body.

"Do you..." he trails off, swallowing hard. "Do you want to see him?"

---