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“Thank you,” I say simply, overwhelmed by his sincerity and by the unwarranted hope blooming inside me.

This man loves me.

He cups my face and kisses me gently. It’s just a peck, but the tremor it triggers is unreal, silencing the faint voice that is telling me I’m giving up too quickly. But perhaps this is just surrendering instead of fighting the inevitable.

“Find your ground, The Morrigan, but you’re fucking doing it from this house, and while I’m by your side.”

I open my mouth, but he captures my lips in an arresting kiss. And perhaps, sometimes, you need a controlling person in your life so you can fight harder for yourself.

And fight I start. “That’s—”

He puts a finger on my lips. “Non-negotiable.”

Chapter 25

Corm

She pulls away. “This is what I’m talking about—”

“You’re talking about leaving me. And I can give you all the autonomy, but I can’t let you do that.”

“But you can’t order me to stay here.”

“Unfortunately.”

“Corm—”

“No, let me talk now. I’m the person who betrayed you, just like Vito or your father. I take full responsibility for it. I kept things from you for my personal gain, but that gain had nothing to do with my ego, or a need to get richer, or just simply getting off on manipulating you.”

God, the humble pie tastes like shit.

“I shouldn’t have done it. I should have told you about the trust fund and hoped. Hoped that you would still stay. But I’ve never tried to hope. Hope terrifies me. And you, Saar van den Linden, expose me to that futile emotion daily. I operate with facts and certainty. I balance risk and profit. And I make a decision. Selfish decisions.”

She studies me, and it’s like she sees me for the first time. Like despite her reluctance to trust me, she does.

“You really love me?” she asks, and I hate the doubt in her voice.

I hate that the people in her life, who should have protected her, damaged her so badly that she won’t ever trust anyone.

I hate that my own needs and desires drew us into this standstill.

“I really, truly, deeply do. But I understand you see my words as another attempt to manipulate you.”

She sighs and sinks down, taking a seat on the stairs. “I don’t think I feel much at the moment. I’m torn between us and me. Between trust and leap. Between past and future. Between giving up and trying.”

“I’ll go and sleep somewhere else. For as long as you need. I’ll give you space. It might kill me, but I will step aside, so you can step forward.”

I take her hand, and she lets me. A win.

I look at her, and the corners of her mouth curl up slightly. Another win.

I hold my breath, and finally, she nods. A home run.

“Stay. It’s your house. And I’m going to stay here as well. In the guest room. Not because you deserve it, or because I really fucking have nowhere to go. I’m going to stay here to give us a chance.”

I vividly remember many exhilarating moments in my life. When my father got me my first Ferrari when I was a stupid teenager. When I made my first million. When I closed the first deal at Merged. And many fleeting blissful moments in between.

But the freight train of emotions that destroys me at her reluctant but genuine commitment is so overwhelming that I want to run away just to deal with them.