Page 143 of With this Ring

He went preternaturally still, like a predator scenting danger.

“They were at the hospital,” she explained softly, remembering her mother’s knowing looks, her father’s quiet understanding.

Gregorio’s dark eyes searched hers, looking for judgment or condemnation. Finding none, his shoulders loosened fractionally.

“Adriana isn’t talking to me,” she added after a pause, needing him to understand the full scope of what they faced. “But that’s nothing new.”

His jaw ticked—a tell she’d learned meant he was wrestling with something difficult.

And because he deserved to know… “She’s getting married again.”

“Is she?” The words hung between them, weighted with shared history and complicated family ties.

“You can’t take all the responsibility for the failure of your marriage.” Especially now after what she’d learned, that Adriana had been planning to break up with him before the robbery. She’d been infatuated with the idea of being with a savior, nothing more.

Another silence fell, but this one felt different. Charged. Like the air before a storm breaks.

He exhaled slowly. “If you want to try, you need to know that things won’t be easy. I am who I am. I’ll always have enemies. Always have missions that take me away. Always be the man who lives in shadows.”

Sasha’s chest ached with the truth of it. But she’d known who he was, watching him comfort her family after the robbery. Had fallen in love with every complex, dangerous, honorable piece of him.

“I’ve never asked for anything different,” she whispered, letting him see the depth of her feelings in her eyes. “I want you. All of you. The warrior and the protector.” Breathlessly, she added, “The Dominant. The man.”

Something broke in his expression—like ice cracking on a frozen river.

Then he moved.

The cane clattered forgotten to the floor as he demolished the distance still between them. His hand cupped her face withdevastating gentleness, even as his other arm wound around her waist with possessive strength, pulling her against the hard planes of his body.

“Petal,” he breathed, the nickname carrying years of longing.

And then he kissed her.

It wasn’t like their first time years ago in the janitor’s closet—all heat and desperation. Or like their kisses at the Den—commanding and primal. This was something else entirely. This was coming home. This was surrender and claiming all at once, tender and fierce, as if he was pouring every unsaid word, every moment of separation, into the press of his lips against hers.

For the first time since that horrible night at the hospital when she’d almost lost him, Sasha let herself believe in forever.

Let herself hold on.

And finally,finally—she was exactly where she belonged.

When they eventually broke apart, Gregorio kept her close, as if he couldn’t bear to let go. His dark eyes searched hers with an intensity that made her breath catch.

“There’s something else,” he said softly.

Before she could respond, he reached into his pocket. The movement made him wince—a flash of pain he couldn’t quite hide—but his hand was steady as he withdrew a small black velvet box.

Sasha’s heart stopped.

“I’ve had this for more than two weeks,” he admitted, his voice rough with emotion. “I was trying to convince myself to do the right thing while the lesser part of me was determined to selfishly have you forever.” He swallowed hard. “The moment I saw it, I knew it belonged to you.”

Her eyes burned with tears as he shifted his weight, preparing to kneel.

“Gregorio, don’t—your injuries—”

But he was already moving, gingerly lowering himself to one knee despite the cost she could see written in the tight line of his jaw. His warrior’s pride wouldn’t let him do this any other way.

“Petal.”The nickname carried every moment between them—from that scared young woman filled with hero worship, to the stolen moments at Leah’s wedding, to going through two life-changing events together. “I’ve spent my whole life in shadows. But you…” His voice caught. “You make me want to step into the sun.”

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