This man truly loves me.
Me.
The woman I am. Not the woman he wishes I could be or the woman he thought I might be. Not the illusion I always thought I had to show the world — the perfect woman who lives in the perfect house with the perfect life.
The imperfect one.
The real one.
The real me.
Conor Gallagher loves me.
Truly.
Deeply.
Unconditionally.
More than a limitless fortune.
And I love him in return.
* * *
Ten minutes later,thanks to Conor’s careful work, I’m breathing freely for the first time in hours. The weight of the bomb is gone from my chest. And the Evanoff brothers are long gone as well — we watched their brake lights disappear down the block as soon as they had the Egg in their possession.
The sun is setting, now, and the street is still abandoned. Before, I found it rather eerie. But now that the standoff is finally over, I look around at my empty neighborhood and think it’s actually rather peaceful.
Just me and Conor.
The only two people in the entire world.
“I can’t believe it’s finally over,” I whisper, looking over at him. We’re leaning against the side of his Jeep, arms locked around each other’s waists, watching the sun sink slowly across the sky in a gorgeous pastel tableau.
“Believe it,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to my temple. “You’re alive. Paul is in custody. Alexei Petrov is long gone. And the Evanoffs are halfway to the New Hampshire border, by now.”
I shake my head. “I still can’t believe you did that.”
“What?”
“Let them go. Gave up everything — the Nécessaire. The chance to arrest the Evanoff brothers, after everything they did, all the people they hurt… just for me. That’s crazy.”
“What was the alternative?” he asks lowly. “Let them kill you?”
“Yes! Rather than sacrifice all that… rather than give up everything…” I bite my lip, feeling tears prick at my eyes. “I don’t know how you could do it.”
“Shelby.” He turns to look into my eyes, taking my face between his hands. “Haven’t you been paying attention? There’s nothing I would not do for you. Nothing I would not sacrifice.”
“But—”
“No buts. No limits,” he whispers. “I love you.”
I stare at him. One, two, three long seconds. And then, without any fear whatsoever, I whisper, “I love you, too.”
Chapter Seventeen
AFTER PARTY