Angus swallowed at the lump again.
“I…” He licked his dry lips. Jesus, he wished he had a glass of water right now. “I know it makes no sense, but I love her. If it’snotlove, it’s this…” he waved his hand around in front of his chest, curled his fingers on the air, as if trying to grip the impossible, “…this big…bigthingthat makes every breath worthwhile. Thismassivething that makes everything alive. Makes it all make sense. I can’tnotsee her in my life. When I think of tomorrow, the next day, the next month, fuck, the next decade, I see her there. With me. Being loved by me.”
Owen didn’t say a thing.
“And I get it,” Angus went on, staring at the floor. If he gripped his phone any harder his knuckles would pop. “It’s not possible, but itis. And you of all people shouldn’t be telling me it isn’t. That I’m not. Iam. So you can just accept I’m legit, that I love her and—”
“Angus,” Owen said.
“Just trust me. Trust me that I feel what I feel, and trust me that I will treat her the way she is meant to be treated and never—”
“Angus,” Owen cut over him, a chuckle in his voice. “Will you shut the fuck up for a second.”
Angus stopped. Swallowed.
“Iget it,” Owen said. “I do. I get it. Falling in love when you least expect it…it throws everything into chaos. I know that first hand. But you? Your whole life you’ve activelyfoughtagainst falling in love, so I bet right now that control-freak mind of yours is completely in a spin.” He paused. “I hear everything you’re saying, and I get it. I’mnotsaying you can’t have anything to do with Elisa. And I’m not saying you don’t feel how you feel. I don’t have the right to do that. Or the inclination.”
A heavy pressure wrapped around Angus’s chest. “So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying if you hurt her, if you make her cry, or abandon her, I won’t protect you from her sisters. In fact, I’ll drive them to your place straight away, and screw the speed limit.”
Angus sucked in a slow breath. “So you believe me?”
“I do. But a word of warning, mate,” Owen said, his tone serious. “I know your baggage. And I won’t hold back on calling you on it if I think I need to. Understand?”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way, Blackthorne.”
“Good. Don’t forget.”
“I won’t.” Smiling, Angus lifted his gaze from the floor. And froze.
Elisa stood, watching him, only a few feet away, her expression unreadable.
He stared at her.
“I’m pretty certain Bria and Zeta have been handing Elisa a new one while we’ve been talking,” Owen said. “So I’m going to let you go. But right now, imagine I’m making theI’m watching youfingers back and forth, got it?”
“Got it,” Angus replied. Or maybe he didn’t. All he could do was look at Elisa. Nothing existed but her.
His blood roared in his ears. His heart hammered. He lowered the phone, and swallowed. “That was Owen.”
She nodded.
“How much did you hear?”
She bit her bottom lip. Licked it. Hugged her elbow. “From where you said,I can’t not see her in my life.”
His gut knotted. “From there, eh?”
She nodded.
He swallowed again. “And?”
She crossed the space between them, and threaded her fingers into his hair. “And I can’tnotsee you in my life either. Tomorrow, the next day, the next month, fuck, the next decade.”
And with that, she pulled his head down to hers and kissed him.
14