“I am.”
“I would have tried to call you, but I didn’t want to make things worse.”
“There was no need to call me.” The coldness in my tone is new and invigorating. All my life, I practically worshiped this man. It’s good to have the smoke cleared from my eyes.
“Yes, there was. Anastasia, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. I still want to be with you. I’m still fighting to be with you.”
“You don’t need to do that either. Viktor, I don’t love you. I’m not sure I ever did.” I wish I could lash out about the vineyard, but remembering Desmier’s words about the possible plan to kill him keeps it locked in my mind. “This has to end here. I’m in love with my husband.”
Viktor’s eyes narrow, becoming dark pools of venom. He doesn’t answer, but when his gaze shifts from mine to over my shoulder and hatred amplifies his stare, I know there’s only one person he could be looking at like that.
So when I turn and see Desmier, I’m not all that surprised.
From where he’s standing and depending on when he moved to us here, he would have heard what I said to Viktor. He certainly would have heard the last words I said, which were the most important.
Without another word, Viktor turns and walks away. Although I know I just added another wedge into a messy situation, I made the right decision and my heart feels free.
I walk toward Desmier and stop a breath away, searching his eyes as he gazes back at me.
I hope he can see how I feel because this is the no-holds-barred version of me. It’s everything. My heart is in my hands, and all that I feel is beaming from me like a beacon of light calling this sailor home.
His eyes roam over my long black evening gown, which isn’t that different from the last one I wore. When he reaches out to lift a lock of my hair, I feel more at ease, and I realize the door is open for me now. I just have to take the chance and walk in.
“Valkyrie,” he says, and parts of my heart heal just hearing him call me that. “Every man in this building has his eyes on you in this dress.”
“I just need one guy looking at me.”
“He is.”
“Then I hope he can look into my soul and see how I truly feel about him.”
The guard drops from his eyes and he inches closer. I inhale him, committing his scent to memory.
“Be careful, Valkyrie. The angel shouldn’t fall for the devil.”
I have the perfect answer. He thinks I’m the angel, but I’m not. It’s him. He’s the avenging angel, while I’m the devil’s daughter.
“Then maybe you shouldn’t fall for me.” I feel like I’m crawling over thin ice just by saying that, but I needed to. And I need to trust that this strong connection between us is solid enough to keep us together.
Desmier touches my face, bringing his nose to mine. As he looks at me, I wonder if he can tell that I now know about the past and what my father did. It’s the only reason why I could have said what I did.
“It’s too late. I’ve already fallen for you.”
A brush of his lips over mine renews my strength. I touch his cheek, running my finger over the scruff on his chin.
“It’s too late for me, too. I think if I lived my life a thousand times, in many different ways, something would always lead me back here to this point where I choose you.”
He guides my face closer to him. “Then I will always find you in every lifetime.”
When he presses his lips to mine, time fades into the ether, taking everyone and everything with it. All I feel is him, all I want is him, all I need is him.
We kiss as if we need each other for our next breath, then suddenly, he’s moving me away.
“Come. I need you,” he whispers over my lips, then he takes my hand and leads me down the hall away from everyone.
He opens the first door we find. Dim lights pop on, revealing the interior of a storage closet holding boxes and shelves. Before I can even take note that we’re probably somewhere we shouldn’t be, he pushes me up against the wall.
His lips return to mine, and I no longer care where we are.