Page 95 of Cara

My father might as well be whispering into my ear.

My business is not for your ears, Sophia. This is no place for a young woman.

When I whip around, Xavier drags in an unsteady breath, momentarily silent as his eyes burn holes into my back.

“I refuse to let you go into this without understanding the full picture.”

“Well, you described itperfectly.”

“I'm not finished,” he says. “There’s more.”

My words are clipped. “What else?”

“I wouldneverlet a day pass where you don’t understand the magnitude of my love for you.”

My eyes close at the softness of his voice, still standing five feet away from me.

“I would bend the world to my will to keep you safe. I’d let youwin every argument. I’d make sure every night—every single one—that I'm in that bed with you. I would be everything you need when you need it, Sophie. Icanpromise you that.”

My tears silently fall, unseen by him.

“If you didn’t want children, I’d understand. If you did, I’d give you as many as you wish. I couldn’t promise them a normal life, but I would cherish them beyond anything. I’d ensure they never follow in my footsteps, that they always know we want better for them than what was forced on us.”

He shifts, a noise that startles me. “I would never try to change you, Soph. I’d find a way to make you happy. I swear, if you come home with me, I will protect you. I will fight for you. Love you harder than you’ve ever imagined. It won’t be perfect. There will be days when you’ll hate me and can’t stand it, and I understand that. But we’ll be together. For the rest of our lives. The sacrifice of staying will be worth it, I promise…”

His words fade when I turn, when he discovers my tears. He immediately looks so hopeless, so sure it’s not enough. His eyes are physically shaking, visibly trying to come up with something else, something to make me stay, to choose him. But he restrains himself. He holds it all back.

He’s theonlyone who’s ever let me choose.

I see his words for what they are—vows. Not the stale ones we spoke in that cathedral that millions of others have recited through the ages. These were from his soul, spoken so passionately that I trust every word. Every syllable.

We were joined before God. We didn’t have a choice in our spouse. Our arrangement was planned for decades, yet here we are, standing at the precipice of our future.

My legs bridge the gap between us.

His hands slip from the counter. He watches me closely asI reach around his neck, unclasping the chain hanging from his throat.

Hearing two platinum rings chime against one another, I slide them from the silver tether until they fall into my palm, appearing merged from this angle. It’s quite fitting.

A tremor moves through his jaw as I lift his hand, aligning our fingers. His abdomen flattens when I take my time sliding his wedding ring back onto him—right where it belongs.

Xavier’s eyebrows dip toward his nose, his face tightening as he realizes what I’ve just done.

The answer I’m giving him.

Till death do us part.

I'm not running.

I’ll never run from him.

Plucking the slighter ring from my palm, his eyes glisten as he sinks it onto my finger. Nearly four years ago, we removed them outside of that cabin, both broken inside and out, relinquishing the life we’d planned with each other.

Arturo Marcello made sure it would happen.

Vito Marin did nothing to stop it.

We’ve done what we can to survive, to reach this moment when he wraps his arms around me, gently stroking my hair as I bury my face in the comforting crook of his throat, trying to breathe through the fear. I know he can feel the pounding of my heart against his similarly affected chest.