Page 136 of Cara

“You could.”

I tuck my hair behind my ear to prevent it from blowing in our faces and gaze at him, amazed. “Something happened. You’re too compliant. And you won’t stop smiling.”

Grabbing my hand, he presses a tender kiss to the underside of my palm. “Something did happen.”

“What?”

He stretches across the blanket to reach for his suit jacket, feeling around for the pocket. I rest comfortably on him, my chin propped on my hands, watching him pull out a folded document with a mix of anticipation and uncertainty. It’s rare for him to be excited about anything.

Xavier passes me the paper.

I smirk at him, unfolding the flaps as he brushes my hair away from my eyes. “What is it?”

“I’ve spent months on this. It was finalized an hour ago.”

DEED OF LAND

Words in bold at the top of the page make my heart skip a beat. “Xavier.”

Once my eyes dare to drift from the deed to look at him, he smiles so softly, making me think he must be nervous. “I needed to make sure it was perfect. There are plenty of acres we can use. A river flows through it.” He takes the paper from my frozen hands and places it beside us. “I figure we can build the house right next to it.”

The house.

Ahouse.

Ahome.

“Our home?”

He nods. “I’ll build it from the ground up. Every inch of it will be ours. You can have a library filled with yourbooks. We can make a kitchenette since you don’t like to cook. You can get all that art you love and fill every room with it.”

“You didn’t do this.” My eyes bounce around the sprawling estate we’ve been trapped in, my heart slamming against the walls of my chest, unable to grasp that he could be freeing us from it all. From that home. From that goddamn prison. “You…”

“Are you happy?”

Happy isn’t the right word.

Honestly, I don’t think a single word can convey what I feel as tears fill my eyes, overwhelmed by the awe of being trulyseen. And that one single thought sends me over the edge until the force of my sobs are shaking my weary body. I spring up to cling to his shoulders, burying my face in his neck.

The burden of these grounds, the years they’ve tormented me, all of it starts to fade away.

Xavier’s eyes glisten with laughter, delight radiating across these blood-smeared grounds as he gratefully absorbs all the love I give him. My lips are everywhere, thanking him for the trouble. For caring enough.

“I love you. I love you. Iloveyou.”

He smiles against my eager lips, rolls me onto the blanket, and draws me close. “I’ve got you, baby.”

Xavier

“Even after all these years, I still have to chase you down to get you to eat something.”

Viola sets a plate of carbonara on the tablecloth, right on top of the stack of papers I’ve been poring over for the last two hours. As my focus slips, I notice the dim restaurant lights and the cleaning crew bussing the wine-stained linen tablecloths.

With strained vision, my eyes close.

Sophie’s waiting at home.

Burgundy wine sloshes into the glass that Viola is holding from a bottle of aged Merlot. “It never stops, does it?”