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“I love you, Juliette.”
All the air was sucked right out of my lungs.My skin heated unbearably, and I sputtered for a response, but my mind was at a complete standstill.
“Wait, that’s how you’re choosing to confess your undying love to me?Now?”I asked, my voice raising.
Her smile only widened, and she shifted so she could put an arm around my shoulders.
“I love you, Juliette,” she repeated, leaning closer to me to grab the bottle and place it on the table, not far from us.I was rendered speechless.
Her hand cupped my face, her thumb grazing my cheek.
“I.Love.You.”
There was emphasis on each word, all of them packing their own separate punch.
My eyes stung.Why am I going to cry right now?
“I loveyou.”
“Can you stop saying that?”I muttered weakly.Her eyes traveled my face like she could read every emotion I was feeling.
“I'm going to keep saying it until you realize that it doesn't matter what happens to her.Doesn't matter if she goes to jail or has to pay millions of dollars in fines or if she disappears off the face of the fucking planet because of it.I love you, and I would do anything to bring your parents’ murderer to justice.”
I couldn't stop it then.The tears were already falling.
Lux easily pulled me to her, maneuvering me so I was straddling her and forced to look her in the eyes.Her hands gripped my hips, holding me steady.
“Are you sure?”I asked, my voice hollow.
There was one thing I didn't expect to come out of this—the guilt.I expected the anger, the sadness, and even the shock, but nothing could prepare me for the amount of guilt I felt.
The accident had nothing to do with me.I had been a seventeen-year-old at home with her little brother.But somehow, as it all went down, I felt responsible for what was going to happen to Lux’s mother and Bella's grandmother.
I felt like I had the power to make this as easy as possible for them.That maybe if I could just turn the other way and pretend it didn't happen, they'd be able to live a normal life where their grandmother didn't kill people.
Because I loved Lux too.I loved Bella.We had created a little family I didn't know I needed.A little family that seventeen-year-old me would've died for.
My entire life, I'd had to beg people to pay attention.To love me.To even look my way.
To be loved and seen had been my greatest desire and biggest fear in this world.And Lux was here, giving me all of it.I didn't even have to ask her.
And that was why I felt unbearably guilty.
Because I didn't deserve it.I didn't deserve this level of love.I did nothing for her, but here she was, trying to help me.Trying to change my life at the expense of her own.
“Tell me what you’re thinking, Angel.”She said it in a low tone that made me want to spill everything.
“Is that a command,sir?”
Her eyes snapped up to mine at that question.
“No, Juliette.But I would really like to know.Would you indulge me?“ When I didn't speak right away, she tacked on, “Please?”
I swallowed thickly.
“I want to take her to court,” I admitted in a whisper.Fear crept up my back, and I couldn't look at her, so she brought her finger to my chin, forcing me to.
“I'm not going to get mad at you,” she said.“I truly don't care what happens to her.I care about what happens to you.Tous.”