Page 112 of The Right Garza

Hemust.

He’s just handed me his share of a four-million-dollar property. Who else would do something like that but a madman in love?

“Ican’ttake this, Trent.”

“True’s only interested in a silent partnership, and I’m out of it completely—obviously,” he goes on as if he hadn’t heard me. “So all executive decisions will be made by you.”

“Trent—”

“It’s yours, Lexi,” he repeats in a tone that brooks no argument. “It’s right there in black and white.”

“B-But it’stoo much.” I drop the papers as if they’re on fire and rub at my temples. Am I dreaming right now? “What have I ever done for you? What have I ever given you? How do I deserve this? Make it make sense, Trent!”

“Take off your necklace.”

The command in his voice makes me pause. “What?” Like he’s a thief out to take what’s mine, I reach up and clutch it possessively. “No. Never.”

“Just for a minute.”

Suspicion creeps in and my eyes narrow on him. “Why?”

“Don’t you trust me?”

I do.With my whole heart.

Hesitantly, I reach up and unlatch the necklace, removing it for the first time since he put it on me in my bedroom across the street.

“Open it.”

I do, sliding the angel wings apart, revealing the miniature picture of Mama and me, slightly brown with watermarks from years of baths and showers.

“Pry the frame open.”

Huh? I frown down at the necklace. The frame and backing looks perfectly sealed. Not at all like something that should be opened. “But won’t that ruin it?”

“No. Use your fingernail.”

Gingerly, I poke my thumbnail into the tight seal and apply pressure to urge it open, surprised when it splits with ease. Like a book, I open the frame from the backing.

Then, I freeze.

Disbelief sears through me on wings of fire.

A wild rush of emotions explodes in my chest, and my eyes begin to burn.

Framed in the heart-shaped backing is a worn, water-stained picture. This miniature picture is not of people, though. Not of Mama and me. Not of him and me.

But of two tiny, scribbled words. In the same handwriting that is on the back of the picture of me tucked in the corner of his dresser mirror.

Marry Me

The words dissolve into nothing but a blur as tears pool in my eyes.

“Nothing’s changed, Lexi,” he says, pulling my watery gaze to him. Placing a hand over his heart, he adds, “In here.”

He leans in and cups my face. “I was in love with you then and I’m in love with you now, with the same crippling, forceful, undying, all-consuming fierceness. And all you’ve done to deserve it, isexist. I’m yours. All of me. No charge.”

I blink at him, and a tear escapes from the act. My heart feels like it’s about to burst in my chest. “But…I was dating Tor when you gave me this. How could you have known…?”