Page 160 of Blackwood

That one lands like a fist.

“You were the last person I ever wanted to hurt with all of this, all of me.” She glances at Lex. Then back to me. She’s steady now. Braver than she’s ever looked.

“But Lex is right.” She takes a small step toward me, the sheet slipping a little, her eyes never leaving mine. “We need to know.”

Her voice drops, barely a whisper. But it slices through me like glass. “Can you love me, all of me? Even the parts that don’t fully come back from what we’ve done? From what I’ll keep doing?”

Tears cling to her lashes, but she doesn’t back down. “Can you love me, even if I never stop? Even if I keep saving kids, whatever the cost? Even if there’s more blood on my hands in the future than there ever was in the past?”

“Yes.”

Her eyes snap up to mine, cracked open with disbelief. And then I see it. That smile. The one that used to undo me. The one I thought I’d chased away for good.

“I love you, sweetheart.”

My voice breaks and I let it. “Every fucking part of you.”

I step closer and this time, she doesn’t retreat. I wrap my arms around her like she might vanish again if I don’t holdtight enough. Her skin’s warm. Her breath’s uneven. Her whole body’s humming like she’s holding back the collapse.

I lift her chin, just enough to meet her eyes. “I’m sorry it took almost losing you to finally see what I had. To realize I’ve been in love with you longer than I ever admitted, to myself or anyone else.”

Her lips part, but nothing comes out except a soft, aching sound. A sound that tears straight through me.

“Cade,” she breathes and the tears fall. One after another, like she’s been holding them back for years.

God, I’ve missed her. And now that she’s in my arms again, I never want to miss her like this again.

“I know your world is chaos. I know it’s pain and grit and choices no one should ever have to make,” I whisper. “But I know you. I’ve always known you. Maybe not every detail, but the core of you. A core that’s been burned into me since the day you walked into my life in glitter boots and pure fire.”

I take her hand and press it over my heart. “And this, what we have, isn’t just love. It’s home. It’s gravity.”

I’m shaking now. Voice rough, heart bare. “I want to be the one who catches you when you fall. Who stays when the shadows hit. Who holds your bloodstained hands and never once thinks they’re anything but holy.”

She’s silent, staring at me like she’s trying to memorize every word.

“I want to be your peace, Bella. The place you breathe. The arms you run to. The man who never lets you forget that you were made for more than just surviving.”

I lean in, resting my forehead against hers.

“Let me be your second chance,” I breathe. “Your calm. Your fucking everything. From this moment until we’re old and gray and still arguing over the fact thatFast Fiveis not the best movie in the franchise.”

“Yes it is.” Her laugh chokes on a sob and I know this isn’t our ending. It’s our beginning.

A soft sound cuts through the silence behind us.

A sniffle.

Bella and I both turn. Lex is standing there completely naked, hair a mess, eyes suspiciously glassy.

Bella blinks. “Wait… baby, are you crying?”

Lex rolls his eyes—sniffles again—and grumbles, “No, I’m not crying. You’re crying, goddamn.”

Bella bursts out laughing. It’s that real kind of laugh, messy, pure, and loud. The kind that cracks something open inside you and puts it back together all at once.

And hearing it? Seeing her smile like that?

I know.