Page 121

“I’m so sorry,” I breathe out, a fresh batch of tears spilling from my eyes.
None of this ever should have happened.
“Hey, it’s alright. We’re safe. It’s all over,” he says, rubbing his arms up and down my back.
The police car doors close outside as Marcus looks down at me.
“You want to go put a top on? Or are you giving the whole station a show?”
And I actuallylaugh.
Pulling myself away from him, I fold my arms over my chest as I take a step towards the stairs, but I wince, the pain in my feet cutting through me.
“I’ll get it,” Marcus says, noticing, and goes past me up the stairs, returning a moment later with my top, which he slips over my head.
“Come here,” he says, and wraps his arm around my waist, lifting me off the ground just enough so that my feet hover off the ground. I wrap my arms around his neck and let him carry me to the car – my knight in shining armour.
As we drive to the station, I can’t keep my eyes off him.
He’s bleeding, exhausted – and still looks like a goddamn superhero.
My heart swells with amazement at how he handled the entire situation.
How had he thought to grab the curtain rod? And somehow managed to disarm a man with a bloody knife, and beat the hell out of him with his bare hands and feet?
And he called me hisgirlfriend.
I reach over and rest my hand on his shoulder, my heart completely overwhelmed with love.
Chapter 42
20th MAY 2025
(Four Months Later)
Lila
Sunlight peeks through the blinds as I blink my eyes open and roll over in bed. Marcus is already awake, propped up against the headboard with his iPad in his lap. Most mornings, if he wakes up earlier than me, he’d be reading a book, but lately, he’s been so consumed with preparations for the gala that he’s barely been sleeping.
He's wearing his glasses – thin, dark frames that make him look infuriatingly intelligent and sexy. It’s quickly become my favourite look on him, even edging out the navy suit, just barely.
He notices me stir and looks down at me, smiling.
“Morning gorgeous,” he says, setting the iPad and his glasses on the nightstand before sliding down to face me.
I smile, loving the way he always puts me first, even when I know there’s so much on his mind.
I smile sleepily. “Mmm, morning.”
His arm curls around my waist and my body instinctively shifts to press against him. We’d fallen asleep naked – as we did most nights now – and the warmth of his body sends a delicious shiver down my spine.
“Got much planned for today?” he asks, his voice low and hazy.
His eyes are twinkling in that way that always gets to me, and his smile – God, that smile – melts my heart every single time.
I run my hand through the soft tendrils of hair falling loosely around his face, then down the curve of his muscular arm.
“Oh, I don’t know,” I say, my voice light and teasing. “There might be some kind of fancy charity thing going on tonight. I was thinking I might stop by, you know, if I have time.”