Page 86 of V-Day

“You tell me what the list is for,” Cristián said at last.

“It’s everything which makes you good enough, Cristián. It’s everything your brother never did and could never do. It’s everything that makes you such a…a worthy person.”

Cristián leaned and picked up her hand and drew her all the way to the table. Then he gripped her waist and lifted her up and settled her in his lap. “You forgot the most critical item on your list,” he said, stroking her cheek.

Chloe shivered. “And that is?”

“Chloe Masters, woman genius, loves me.” He shook his head. “Me. If someone like you can love me, then I can’t be a complete waste of space.”

Chloe linked her hands behind his neck. “Have you figured out the rest, yet?”

“That I love you? I learned that when I saw you standing in front of two Insurrectos with your hands up while they brought their machine guns up to fire.” He let out a heavy gust of air. “I think I died a little, in that moment.” He touched his lips to hers. “I’ve always loved you, Chloe. Even when you were Babylon, and I didn’t know a single thing about you. I loved you anyway. I would lie awake at night, thinking of you. If you ended up being a man, it wouldn’t have mattered. I would have figured it out. It sometimes feels as if I have always loved you. Only, when you found me, when you stood in front of me, I suddenly had to face reality. While you were just on a screen, I didn’t have to worry that you would be disappointed in me. When you stepped out of the screen, then…well, you were there. You saw how I handled that.”

Chloe tightened her arms and rested her cheek against his and sighed. “I wasn’t wrong,” she breathed. “You were worth the risk.”

“You lost everything,” Cristián reminded her. “Yougaveit away.”

She shook her head. “I got you in return. It’s a fair trade.”

Cristián slid his hand along her torso, swooping up toward her breast. “I’m the same value as a mobile app? Hmm…I see I’m going to have to demonstrate my intrinsic value.” He kissed her, his hands roaming her body, making her squirm and making her forget the chill of the coming night.