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—-just as cracks start to appear all over my heart.
"But every fucking day, I just can't concentrate."
His strong hands grip my shoulders as he speaks, spinning me around so that our gazes collide as his words come to an end.
Oh, Ronan.
There's so much pain in the amber depths of his eyes that I can only bite my lip hard to keep myself from crying out.
"I'm sorry," he says unevenly. "The last thing I would ever want to do is to hurt you, but that's exactly what I ended up doing. When I..." Ronan swallows hard as if needing to find the strength to say his next words. "When I first saw you, you were right. You did remind me of Lena. And I did want you because you looked like her...but I didn't realize it at that time."
The cracks in my heart have finally reached their limit, his painful words now tearing my heart into pieces.
"All I knew was that I wanted you. And it made me feel extremely good when you wanted me back, the way she never did."
My throat tightens, and I struggle for control.
"It was only the night when we attended our first party together that I realized..."
Agony flashes in his gaze.
"I wanted you for the wrong reasons at the start."
My fight for composure shatters, and my shoulders start to shake.
"Acacia—-"
He hauls me into his arms, and I sob on his chest. How crazy is it that I'm drawing comfort from the same man who's causing me pain?
"I'm sorry," he grits out. "I'm sorry for hurting you, but I want you to know everything's changed since then. That night was when I realized I wanted to marryyou.I wanted to marrymyAcacia. Be with you and our daughter for the rest of my life."
He pulls back so he can cup my face and make me look at him. His hands tremble as he wipes away my never-ending tears.
"When I see you now, I just see you and no one else. I see the girl who never spoke a single word against the people who hurt and abandoned her. The girl I will never deserve...but I'm hoping will still be foolish enough to take another chance on me."
I shake my head, knowing it's not foolish at all, but Ronan seems to misunderstand this as rejection, with the way his features turn ashen.
"Give me a chance to explain," he urges. "Please. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Lena the moment I realized how it started between us. I thought I had all the time in the world to find the right words to explain...but I was wrong."
He takes my hands in his, and it hurts to feel how badly his own hands are shaking.
"Forgive me, Acacia," Ronan says raggedly. Take me back. In whatever way you're willing to. I just want to be with you. Please—"
My lips start to tremble, and agitation flashes in his eyes.
"Please don't—-"
I can't bear it any longer, and I feel him stiffen in shock as I throw my arms around him.
"I love you, too."
A powerful shudder rocks his body.
"So, so much."
Ronan's arms close around me like chains, and his body is still shaking, as if he's unable to believe what's happening.
I love you.