Page 153 of Desperate Crimes

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She doesn’t say a word.

She doesn’t have to.

I let her lead.

Because all I want—all I’ve wanted for weeks—is to hold her.

I lie back on the bed, pain lancing through my ribs, but I don’t care.

I open my arms and she climbs in, curling against me like she’s trying to disappear into my skin.

And then shebreaks.

Silent tears first.

Then ragged breaths.

Then sobs that shake her whole body.

I wrap myself around her and hold on like she’s oxygen and I’ve been drowning.

I kiss her hair, her temple, her cheek, her lips.I whisper against her skin.

“I love you.”

A beat.

A gasp.

A shudder that fucking wrecks me.

And then I say it again.

“I love you, Wife.”

Over and over.

“I love you, Princess.”

Until her sobs quiet.

Until her breathing matches mine.

Until there’s nothing left in the world butus.

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