Rose, who’d restarted his dead heart and now it was beating and beating for her alone.
‘You,’ Ares said, the words coming out of him harsh and raw. ‘I want you. I want to keep you. I want you to be my wife for ever. But I can’t. Love lies. It cannot be trusted. And my love will kill you just as surely as it killed Naya.’
It had taken all of Rose’s considerable will not to cross the distance between them and fling herself into his arms the moment Ares had stepped through the door and into the cafe.
She’d never expected him to come to Paris for her, not even once.
The past month had been a busy one, though he’d never been far from her thoughts. She’d finally gathered her courage to make contact with the brother she’d thought she’d lost, and their reunion had both torn her apart and then put her back together again.
Castor had welcomed her with open arms, and she’d got to meet his lovely wife, Glory, and their son, her nephew. It had been so bittersweet, giving her back parts of herself she’d thought she’d lost for ever. Yet one part was still missing. The part of herself she’d given away.
Her heart.
She’d stayed for a couple of weeks in that lodge in Iceland after Ares had left, not knowing what to do. Whether to go to him and beg to be taken back or go to Paris and try to forget he ever existed.
Except she couldn’t do either of those things. Firstly, even if she’d wanted to beg him to, she suspected he wouldn’t take her back, and secondly, she was never going to forget him. She was never going to want another man. It was only and always ever going to be him.
Yet she couldn’t let him be alone either. She had a new-found family in Castor and Glory now, but who did he have? No one. He was alone with only that lonely legacy of a company, and she hated that thought more than anything in the world.
So, when the divorce papers had come through, she’d simply refused to sign them, because she’d wanted him to know that she wasn’t going to let him go so easily.
She’d just never thought he’d come all the way over here to confront her.
But that meant something, didn’t it?
She could see it now as he stood by the door, so tall and powerful and so beautifully scarred. The depths of his love worn proud for the world to see.
‘Your love didn’t kill Naya,’ she said quietly. ‘It didn’t, Ares. Your love made you go into a burning building for her, made you risk your life for her. Your love built a company in her memory, a company that helps people the world over. You didn’t fail her. She was taken from you, that’s the tragedy.’ She took a soft, shaky breath. ‘But you can’t go on letting a memory be your own reason for living. And you can’t go on living in your grief.’
His eyes were completely dark, his big, muscled body tense as a coiled spring. ‘That is not—’
‘You were badly hurt. And you’re afraid. But you’re lonely too, Ares. You need someone.’ She stared at him, willing him to see the love that was burning in her eyes, the love she had for him. ‘Naya loved you and she would want happiness for you, not this...half-life you’re living now. She would look at the scars on your face and see how deeply you loved her, not how badly you failed her.’
His expression twisted, a muscle in his jaw flicking. ‘How could you possibly know that? You didn’t know her.’
‘No, but we both love you.’ She was very calm all of a sudden, trusting the feeling inside her. ‘And that’s what I want for you. And I think that’s what she’d want for you too.’
Agony glittered in his eyes, and grief, and anger. So many different emotions, all the ones he’d been locking inside himself that he was finally now showing to her.
And she couldn’t stay where she was any longer.
She stepped away from the counter and crossed the distance between them, and he didn’t move, watching her as she came. And when she was right in front of him, she lifted her hands and placed them lightly on his chest, looking up into his beautiful, ruined face.
‘These are love, Ares.’ She reached up and touched him, tracing the lines of his scars. ‘These are all love. Can you feel it?’
‘Little maid,’ he said hoarsely, his rasping voice vibrating with something powerful. ‘Little maid...’ He turned his head into her hand, watching her as if he couldn’t drag his gaze away. ‘When Naya died...part of me died too. And I don’t know... I don’t know if I can do this again with you.’
‘I understand. After what you lost...’ She touched his hard mouth, looked up into his eyes. ‘It must be frightening to risk your heart again. And I know I haven’t lost what you have, but... I’m scared too. Yet all I can think is why shouldn’t we both get what we want? Don’t we deserve it? Don’t we deserve to be happy?’
He made a harsh sound. ‘Do you really want this? Do you really want to be tied to someone like me? I don’t know if what I have to give you will ever be enough. I’m scarred and broken, and...’
‘Still grieving,’ she finished and smiled. ‘You may be scarred, but you’re not broken, Ares. You’re kind and protective, and whether you like it or not, you’re caring. And there is no time limit on grief.’ Her fingertips drifted to trace the line of his bottom lip. ‘We can work it out between us.’
‘Rose...’ The look in his eyes had lightened, the moon coming out from behind the clouds and shining on a green sea. Then he took her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. ‘How can I divorce you when I think I’m in love with you?’
‘Are you?’ Her chest was tight with the pressure of everything she felt for him, the huge, complicated feeling that had tied itself into a knot behind her ribs. But it was a good pressure and it felt right. As if now she was finally whole. ‘You can’t divorce me. I won’t let you.’
Abruptly the look on his face changed, and she was being pulled against his hard, powerful body and he was bending his head, his mouth covering hers in a kiss that consumed the entire world.