Page 163 of The Wishing Game

"I loved it. Like I loveyou," he says, his piercing gaze meeting mine just as his hand comes up to caress my cheek. "Was it your first kiss?" he inquires before I can recover from his confession. His voice is tense, almost as if he's already hating my answer.

I give him a slow nod.

He lets out a relieved breath.

"Good. Good," he repeats, more to himself. "You saved those lips for me, didn't you, Luce?"

I'm so embarrassed, I try to avert my eyes, but he won't let me, tipping my chin up so all I see is him.

"Tell me you saved your lips for me," he rasps, his hungry eyes on my lips.

"Yes," I whisper.

He smirks.

"You're telling me everything I need to hear, Luce." Leaning further in, his mouth stops next to my ear. "Me too."

I don't get to question him on what he means as he points to the time.

"We need to leave," he says, taking my hand in his. "Lead the way, Luce."

I give him a smile, once more marveling at the fact that he's really here, with me. It was something I would have never dared hope for, yet something I wished for ardently.

As we take Nikki's car to go to the nearby village for an errand, he tells me about his cover story and how he'd managed to get an invite to Sergio's banquet by pretending to be a high-level investor interested in the inauguration of his new drug.

"What happened to you, Nikki? What happened after you left?" I muster the courage to ask. His features darken instantly, and he averts his gaze.

"I would have come earlier for you. Believe me that I wouldn't have taken so long if it hadn't been out of my hands."

"What do you mean?" I whisper, almost afraid to know.

"I made it home all right." A dry smile tugs at his lips. "But within a day, I was in an accident that might not have been much of anaccident."

"Nikki." I turn to him, my eyes widening with worry.

"I was in a coma until a couple of months ago," he admits.

"What? Are you okay now? My God, Nikki..."

My heart is hammering in my chest at the thought of him in the hospital, fighting between life and death. Even before, when I'd never thought I would see him again, at least I was fine thinking he was happily living his life somewhere in the world. But to hear that it hadn't been the case? That he...

"There was something wrong with my head, but I'm fine now." He keeps one hand on the wheel, grabbing my hand with the other. "I'm not entirely sure what happened while I was in the coma, but you were there, with me."

"I was?" I blink.

He nods wistfully.

"I don't remember everything, but I know you were with me every day. We were by a waterfall, and I would lay my head on your lap while you'd tell me stories."

"That's... I don't know what to say, Nikki. I'm flattered," I murmur, a blush staining my cheeks. "I didn't realize you thought about me that way back then."

"You've been everything to me from the first moment I met you in those cursed tunnels, Luce. I survivedonlybecause you were with me, and later, because I knew I needed to keep my promise to you."

I stare at him, mouth agape.

"I thought about you, too," I confess shyly. "Every day, I'd wonder what you were doing. If you were happy. If you...were with someone," I whisper as I avert my gaze.

How many times have I hurt myself over the thought of him with someone else? With a girlfriend, or maybe a wife. I never regretted helping him escape and leaving me behind. But just imagining him with another woman has chipped at my heart time and time again.

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