“Oh no,” Ana whispers softly. “Sasha–”
She steps forward, reaching for my hand as she leads me over to one of the chairs on the patio. “Did he really say he’s going to take it?”
I shake my head, trying to speak through the tears. “No, he–” I swallow hard, feeling choked by them. “He said he told Father Donahue no.”
Ana frowns. “What’s wrong, then? I don’t understand.”
“For as long as I’ve known him, all he’s wanted is to go back. He grieved that loss so deeply that he tried to keep his vows, even though no one was holding him to them any longer. He tried not to love me, not to want me, because it broke that–and now that he finally gave in–” My breath hitches, another sob escaping, and Ana squeezes my hand more tightly. “I can’t let him give all that up because of me. I can’t be the only reason he walks away.”
“That’s understandable,” Ana says softly. “But sometimes–”
She pauses, as if she’s trying to think of the right words to say. “You know, Liam would have walked away from the Kings for me. I know it’s not the same, because he never really wanted to lead, and Max wanted to go back. But he was willing to make huge sacrifices to be with me. Money, status, and even his own safety. He went as far to find and rescue me as Max did for you. And in a way, I saved him, too, just as you’ve done for Max. Sometimes, Sasha–the men they were before they loved us are very different from the men they become after. If Max says he wants you, that he’s chosen you, you should believe him.”
“It’s so hard,” I whisper. “It took so long to get here–and I never really believed we would. It’s so much easier to believe that it’s all going to be snatched away now. It’s so hard to trust it.”
“I know,” Ana says, smiling wryly. “But it gets easier with time, especially when you have a man who tells you and shows you every day. Liam has always been devoted to me. I know, if you’ve made it this far together, that Max is devoted to you, too.”
She reaches for my hand gently, holding it up so that the ring glimmers in the faint light of the patio. “I think this is a pretty good sign, too.”
“He asked me to marry him, just before he got the call. It feels like some kind of cosmic joke.”
“Or maybe an opportunity for him to prove to you that he means what he’s said–if you can trust it.” Ana pats my hand gently. “Give it a chance, Sasha. It doesn’t always have to be so hard.”
I sit out on the patio for a long time after she walks back inside, the warm air clinging around me, wondering what Max is doing, thinking. I can’t shake the fear that it’s all been a joke, that I’ve been given a glimpse of everything I want, only to have it snatched away. I’m almost on the verge of going back in and finding him when the door opens again, and I see him standing there, silhouetted.
The sight of him still takes my breath away. It always will, I know that, no matter what happens.
I’d told him once that I wouldn’t ever be able to stop loving him. It was the truth then, and it still is.
It always will be.
There’s a long moment of silence as he stands there, looking at me. And then, in a few quick strides, he crosses the distance between us and reaches for me, his hands wrapped around mine as he pulls me up to stand in front of him.
Gently, he reaches up, running a thumb over my tear-stained cheek. “I don’t need time, Sasha,” he says quietly. “I don’t need a day or a night or another second. That life is behind me. I grieved it, and I tried to cling to it, but I’ve long since seen the error of my ways.”
His hand cups my cheek, his hazel eyes fixed on mine, and I can see all of his emotions in his gaze, his heart laid entirely bare for me.
“You’re my life now, Sasha,” he murmurs. “I’ll spend all of it, if you’ll let me, keeping the vows I’ve made to you tonight and the ones I’ll make to you on our wedding day. I want you to be my wife. If you’ll have me–I’m yours. There’s no going back.”
If I’d been asked how many times I needed to hear him say those words to me, I wouldn’t have been able to say exactly. I want to hear them a thousand times again, over and over, but at that moment, I feel them sink in at last, my heart, at last, giving in to the belief that Max can be mine forever.
The past can be just that–the past, for him and me both.
His hand laces with mine, the ring pressed between our fingers, and as he leans down to kiss me, I know that Ana was right.
Sometimes, it can be as easy as this.
—
Our wedding is a small and quiet affair. Without the ability to leave the estate or draw much attention to ourselves, we can’t have a huge blowout celebration. Still, if I’m being entirely honest, I don’t care–and neither does Max. A big wedding feels intimidating and overwhelming. On the morning of the quickly-arranged day, I’ve never been happier to know that there will only be a few people there.
Ana and Saoirse help me into my dress, a sleek white silk sheath that clings to me, with spider-silk thin straps that look as if they’re barely keeping it on my shoulders. Ana fusses with my hair, curling it and pinning it back on one side with a diamond hairpin, and Saoirse helps me with my makeup. The entire time all I can think of is Max, and how very shortly, he’ll make new vows that will last a lifetime.
Vows tome–and mine to him.
The ceremony is held in the gardens of the estate, with the priest from the Cathedral of the Holy Cross there to marry us. If Connor or Liam had to pull some strings to get him to agree to preside over the marriage of a disgraced former priest, no one says a word about it.
As I step through the gate to the garden, I see Max standing at the end of the stone path, resplendent in a charcoal suit. His gaze finds mine instantly, and at that moment, it’s as if everything settles into place.