“Thought I’dlostyou.”
I ignore the stinging pain in my ankle and tighten my arms around him. “I’mrighthere.”
“They could’ve hurt you. Theycould’ve—”
“But they didn’t. I’m right here.I’mokay.”
His grip flexes and I get the sense he’s barely hanging onto his control. “Delilah, you don’t understand. Never had a family. Never had a home. Never had anyone who belongs to me.” His words shake. “Most of my life, I never thought that was even in the cards. Not a possibility. But… then I met you. And I started to see a different kind of future than the one I’d mapped out for myself.” He breaks off, voice muffled against my skin. “The way I see it, you’re the best chance I’ve got at building a life. A family. A real one. Because when I’m with you…I’mhome.”
My hands move from his shoulders to his neck. Gently, I lift his chin so I can see into his eyes. They’re swimming with so much warmth and love and worry, it breaks myheart.
“Earlier, you said something to me. Something that freaked me out, made me run. But the truth is, I’ve spent the past few months running. From you, from the truth, from the way you make me feel.” I swallow. “I don’t want to runanymore,Luca.”
His eyesflare. “Babe—”
“The thing is, I think I knew the first moment I saw you that I’d fall in love with you, if I let you get too close. So I pushed you away. I knocked over Jenga boards and made shitty excuses and told myself I could never have you, that it would never work out. Because things in my life never really seem to work out. Why should love be anydifferent?”
His holdtightens.
“I was a bitch to you. Tried every trick in the book to keep you away. And even still… you saw straight through me. You’ve always seen straight through my bullshit, to what’s really going on. Even before you really knew anything about me, you could tell exactly what I was thinking without me ever opening my mouth. One look in my eyes wasenough.”
I take a deep breath and drop all the guards I keep up around myself, filling my stare with everything I’ve ever felt for him. All the faith and the trust and the sheer, inescapable love. I pour it all intoalook.
I love you, my eyes tell him.Wholeheartedly.
“Can you read what they’re telling younow,Luca?”
I see victory flare in his gaze, hot and hopeful, as his face drops downtomine.
“You love me,” he growls againstmylips.
“Iloveyou.”
“No morerunning?”
“No morerunning.”
Crushing his mouth to mine, he picks me up and spins me around in a circle in the middle of the catwalk. I don’t think about the fact that we’re standing over potentially lethal sea creatures, or that I’ve basically ruined Phoebe’s wedding reception, or that there’s still going to be fallout from the loan sharks after Duncan. I just let the man I love hold me close and kiss me until there are stars inmyeyes.
When he finally sets me back down, I’m breathing hard and grinning like an idiot. The grin wavers a bit as my weight lands on my twistedankle.
“What? What is it?” He’s instantlyalarmed.
“Nothing,” Imurmur.
“You’rehurt.”
“It’snothing!”
He ignores me, bending to examine my ankle. “Christ, Delilah! Why didn’t you say something? You need a doctor.” His fingers move over the bone lightly, but I still wince at his touch. “Not broken, but definitelysprained.”
“See! No break.I’mfine.”
He glares up at me. “Why didn’t you tell me youwerehurt?”
“Um, hello? I was alittle busymaking a sweeping declaration of love. Or did youmissthat?”
He rises to his feet, smiling as he wraps an arm around my waist to support my weight. “No babe. Definitely didn’tmissit.”