Page 153 of Blackwood

He breathes in like he’s trying to slow the storm behind his eyes. “I love you, Bella.”

I lift my head from his shoulder, my eyes locking into his piercing icy-blues that always see too much. My breath shudders, but I don’t look away.

“I love you, Lex.”

Just the truth, soft and quiet, but solid as steel between us. Raw, real, and finally said.

I feel his entire body freeze against mine. His hand flexes on my back. His breath hitches. Then he exhales, shaky, like I just undid something in him.

He doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t need to. He lifts a hand to my neck and pulls me up to his lips and kisses me deep and tender. Like he’s been waiting his whole life for me to say those words.

He lifts me out of the pool, water sliding down my legs as I wrap them around his waist. The heat rolling off his bare chest is all I need.

He carries me like I’m his and sets me down by the lounger just long enough for us to dry off, grab our stuff, and change.

The music is still pulsing behind us, bodies moving under the multicolored lights, but the party is fading into a blur. I don’t care about drinks or dancing anymore. I just want him.

“Where are we going?” I ask once we’re on his bike, his hand already on my thigh.

Lex grins. “Home.”

I arch a brow. “Redspire or Rosethorne?”

“Neither. Thought I’d take you somewhere better tonight.”

♥♥♥

We pull up ten minutes later and I gasp.

“No fucking way,” I whisper as I stare up at the building in front of us. The sleek black glass, brutalist lines, and a tall steel entrance glint like a knife under the moonlight.

My building.

Zeke’s building.

Home.

Lex turns off the bike and glances at me. “You good?”

“This is my building.”

“What?”

I whip around to face him. “Lex. This is where I live.”

He stares. “You live at Rosethorne, baby. The fuck do you meanyour building?”

“I live at Rosethorne, yes but this this…” I say pointing to the building. “This is my home. I’ve lived here since I was fourteen. Penthouse. Forty-first floor.”

“You’re joking.”

“No. I moved in with Zeke the night we escaped Miami. This has been my home ever since.”

“You’re telling me I’ve been living in the same building as you for months and didn’t know it?”

I nod slowly, watching it all hit him.

“Wait, are you on the thirty-first floor?” I ask.