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AIDEN

S he came . I want to laugh with joy at finding her here, right where Tristan said to go, even though I grumbled at him for interrupting my plans.

She came and she’s stealing my grand gesture for herself, because of course she is. She’s so fucking pretty under the lights, the red dress plastered to her, her features stark under the rain.

“ My grand gesture,” I call back, my hands still shoved in my pockets. I could watch the play of emotions on her face all night.

Now that I’m in this moment, I want to live in it forever. I want to savor the knife-edge sweetness of knowing I can have exactly what I’ve craved, and I’m mere minutes from the happiest moment of my life. Because now that she’s here, I know she wants this too.

And that spark she lit? It’s burning.

I know the answer to her question now.

What do I want?

Her. Emory. Emory over everything. Emory to tease me, and taunt me, and sometimes torment me, play games with me, and argue with me and challenge me and force me to live.

To toss those smiles over her shoulder when she does something better than me and thinks I’m annoyed.

Emory, to help turn the dark moments light.

I love her.

“Are you going to stay down there all night?” she calls down.

“Just thinking about how you stole my moment from me,” I call back.

She snorts a laugh.

“Our moment,” she shouts.

Yeah. Ours. That sweet, blooming ache is back as I mount the steps onto the boat, as she rushes forward, her eyes luminous, her lips wet with rain. She’s mysterious and lovely in the water-washed darkness, like a siren from the sea.

“Emory, I—”

Her fingers press to my lips, her hands trembling. My words are stoppered in my mouth. Joy pushes against my ribs.

“Me first,” she whispers. “I love you.” Her voice is fierce.

Her eyes search mine, making sure I understand.

That ache turns into a slice of agony, edged with delight.

“I needed to say it first, because you deserve to know that I love you without strings. Without reservations. I wanted to say it first so you know that it’s given freely, with no expectations. ”

My throat tightens. I knew she loved me, but this . This is better than I imagined. Her fingers drop to my jaw, her hands cradling my face.

“S-say it again.” The words are rough and dredged up from deep inside. I should have something more eloquent to say, but the need to hear her declare it makes my fingers curl into my palms. “Tell me you love me again, Emory.”

Her eyes go soft. “I love you.”

I’m crushing her to me before she finishes the sentence, love for her racing like a lit flame through me, rewriting all the parts of me that ever doubted I could make someone happy.

“I feel like I can fly,” I murmur into her hair.

She pulls back, her lip wobbling. It’s my turn to cup her jaw, cradle her cheek, trace her pulse where it trembles.

“I love you,” I say softly. “I love you so much, Em. More than I ever thought I could love anyone. You lit a spark for me, but you also created a monster.” I smooth a thumb over her cheek, savoring the way her breath catches, the way her eyes look like the deep heart of a flame, even in the dark.

“I burn only for you now, sweetheart. For a second at the party, I thought I lost you. And I—” My voice breaks, and I force the stutter down through sheer force of will. Not now. Not fucking now.

“Aiden,” she breathes.

I press my lips to the crease of her jaw. She’s shivering under me and I wrap my arms around her. “I’m so sorry I left you to the wolves. Never again, I promise.”

“You divorced me,” she says, pushing at my chest. “I’m still annoyed about that.”

I tighten my arms and trail my lips over her shoulder, smiling against her wet skin. “You didn’t read the papers, did you?”

“No,” she admits. “I was too upset.”

I chuckle and she makes an annoyed sound. “I gave you everything,” I say, then lift my head to watch confusion play across her face.

“Everything?”

I pick up the rain on the edges of her lips, suck my thumb into my mouth because I’m greedy for her and I’m jealous of the water that gets to paint her skin.

“It was part of my plan to force grandfather’s hand.

You missed the changes I made in the margins of the divorce papers.

If we divorce, you get it all. Well, everything I didn’t renounce.

” Her sharp inhale has me grinning. I outsmarted her.

I graze my thumb over her lips again, watching her reactions carefully.

“Aiden, you didn’t have to—” Her voice trembles. I feel it under my hand.

“Yes.” Another soft press of my fingers. “I did. I meant it as a threat—if he forced you away, you get the shares, the house, all my property.” I can’t help my lopsided smile. “And now it’s yours. Well-played, wife.”

She lets out a choked sound. “I should have trusted you.”

“Probably.” I press my lips to the crease of her mouth, then her eyebrow. “But it worked out.”

“But it almost didn’t,” she says tremulously. “I almost ruined everything.”

“None of that now, my love.” My mouth is on her temple.

Her hands curl into my jacket, and lightning zips through my veins. This. She turns to me for comfort. She’s mine. My hand curls possessively around her lower back. “Red,” I murmur, fisting the material of the dress.

“What was that?”

“Red,” I say again. “For my wife. Meant for me. Except.” I pull back to smile down at her. “She’s not my wife anymore.”

Her eyes shut briefly, but I don’t feel sad. Instead, as I get down on one knee, I feel nothing but joy arcing inside me like an electrical storm, like I might burst out of my skin. She did that.

“Open your eyes, sweetheart.”

She opens. Her hands go to her mouth.

“Will you marry me, Emory? With no expiration date?”

I capture her hand in mine, pressing a kiss to the inside of her palm before curling her fingers under my own.

“Yes,” she chokes out. “Yes, of course I will.”

I’m on my feet and crushing her mouth under mine before she has a chance to draw a breath.

She’s panting and giggling when we finally break apart.

“Aiden.”

“Yeah?” I grin at her.

“You didn’t stutter.”

“When?” My brows tug down.

“When you told me you loved me.” Her arms wind around my neck. Her lips are at my ear, her breath warm as she whispers, “I’ll tell you a secret.”

I wait, my pulse galloping.

She kisses me at the crease of my jaw. “I would have liked it more if you had.”