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“Of course. Okay, let me see.” He hands me his phone, open to a post with a video. I steel myself, open the link, and press play.

“I dedicate this award to every young person who’s caught in a storm not of their making. Don’t be afraid of the rain, let it nourish the parts of you left parched by your pursuit of constant sunshine. Don’t run from the wind, lean into it. Spread your wings, and let it propel you. And have faith that if you work hard, when your opportunity comes—and itwillcome—you’ll be ready to meet it.

“I believe in you. Iamyou. And this award belongs to all of us who defied the odds. Thank you, the Inner Temple, for this honor. I’ll work every day to continue to be worthy of it.”

I’d forgotten what I said when I got to the small podium. I didn’t expect to win, and I hadn’t prepared a speech.

I glance at Omar, press pause, and cup his face.There’s anapology in my eyes and on the tip of my tongue. But he presses a hand to my lips to silence me.

“I love you, Beat. More than I thought possible. But keep watching, please.” He presses play, and I tear my eyes from his face back to the screen. He cuts to a video of himself. I recognizethe stone columns of the outside of the church. He must have done this while he waited for me to pose for official pictures.

His normally direct gaze drops to the phone, and his fingers fidget with the fringe of the bed’s duvet. A flush spreads across his cheek, and I’m so endeared by the fact that he’s nervous that I want to hurry up and watch the video so I can rip his clothes off and say a proper thank you.

He’s sitting with his back against one of the columns outside the Temple Church. His dark gray tie is loose, and the top button of his crisp white shirt is open. He’s smiling, and his breathtaking eyes are bright and intent. “Hey, people. It’s been a minute, but I’ve been busy making up for lost time. The woman you saw in the previous video giving that incredible speech is the reason I’m in London. Not because I’m marrying one of the royal princesses or coaching a championship league team. Fuck whoever startedthatrumor. I’m here becausesheis. No one is more surprised than I am that I fell in love so fast and furious. But Jules is light, and color, andsomuch clarity. She’s proof that change can happen in a split second. Because all it took to change my whole world view was meeting someone who understood me, heard me, saw me. And as if that’s not enough, look how fuckingfinemy woman is. Actually don’t look, cause I’m jealous as hell. Anyway, you keep asking when I’m coming home, and all I can say is that I’m already home. Not London. Buther.” He glances over his shoulder and actuallygiggleswhen he looks back at the screen.“Here she comes. She’s going to want to kick my ass for this, but only until I get my hands on her.” He winks at the camera, and the video ends.

I stare at him, speechless. My heart stutters and strives at the same time. I’m happier than I have any right to be.

“How mad are you?” he asks.

I shake my head, put the phone down, and swing my leg over his lap to straddle him.

“I’m the luckiest person in the world,” I whisper through a throat clogged by love and want and a little bit of terror. He’s amazing. I can’t believe I found him and that he found me and we have this thing that’s bigger than either of us imagined. “I thought…I’d always be alone.”

His broad hand cradles my neck and draws me forward. “Not anymore. Never again. Not while I’m around.”

There’s a scream building in my chest that I can’t release, and just when I think it’s going to consume me, his lips cover mine. They are a lifeboat, and I’m not afraid of drowning anymore. I see the light, the way home. The barbed vines of despair that began their threatening creep up and over my heart cower in the face of his fierce claim of it as his own.

I lose myself in the moment and imagine that this could last forever. He doesn’t know it yet, but these same lips that saved me from the drowned deep will be the instruments of our destruction.

Because not only will Conrad know how to find me and won’t have to wait for luck to swing his way. Now, he knows I have more to lose than just my job.

And when he comes, not even my lionhearted lover will be able to save me.

CHAPTER 17

FORGIVENESS

Jules

“This isn’t working.”Omar is naked but for his apron, on the phone, pacing in front of the stove. “Send me more resumes. But if the next batch is anything like these, we’re going to have to hire an executive search firm.”

I drop the post I collected on my way in and hop on a stool to admire his broad, muscular back and his delicious ass.

He pauses with his hand speared through his hair and his body bristled with annoyance as he listens intently. “It will take as long as it needs to take, Sam. I’m not rushing it or settling. I want the right person this time.”

He turns toward me and holds his hand up as if to beg my patience and mouths,I’m sorry.

“It’s fine,” I whisper. He’s been on the phone incessantly this week speaking with candidates his HR team has identified to fill his soon-to-be vacant CEO role. It’s been a disaster from the start.

He kept insisting he was glad his father is stepping down. But then my man of action dragged his feet for a month before he finally approved the job posting. After another month of intensive searching, the first batch of candidates have all been disqualified. “Fine, that’s your call to make. Just send me people who are actually viable. I’ll call you on Monday.” He hangs up and slips his phone into the front pocket of his jeans. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. Is everything okay?“

“Yeah. I don’t understand why this feels so hard. I’m glad he’s leaving. But I don’t want to replace him with someone who’s not prepared to lead us in a similar manner. So far, not one of them has his breadth of experience.”

“Maybe you should ask him to stay.”

“Never.” He scoffs and grabs a carton of eggs, a block of butter, and a small bag of shredded cheese from the fridge. “You don’t know what they’re like.”