Page 52 of One Weekend in London

“Because it matters to you.” I sink my hand into the hair at her nape and give it a slight tug, forcing her head to tilt, her neck arching the slightest bit. “And what matters to you, matters to me.”

She lets out a watery laugh, her smile tremulous but blinding. “I’m no one special, Rhys. Just a small-town girl with a soft spot for strays.”

That wanker Maxwell.

He’s done this, awakening her doubt.

“Get his bloody voice out of your head. Because everything Maxwell said? Pure and utter gobshite.” I ought to exterminate him like the vermin he is. “The only man’s voice worthy of being in your pretty little head, speaking words you’ll never forget, is mine.”

That gets a rise out of her.

She bites her bottom lip, the sadness contorting her features fleeing in an instant, further proving she belongs at my side—from now until my heart ceases beating.

“Yeah? And why is that?”

“Because you’re everything to me.” The words are a growl, a declaration torn from my soul. “And I’ll be damned if I let another man’s words keep you from giving me your heart.”

I give her no chance to respond.

Not before sinking to one knee before her, my hands damn near bloody shaking. She gasps, her hand flying to her mouth as I reach into my pocket and pull out a small velvet box.

Christ, I’ve never felt nerves like this.

“Sadie Lou Winslow, I’m not asking for forever. Not yet.” I smirk. “But I am asking you for a chance. A chance to prove how good we could be together, how right this is.”

Tears spill anew, but she doesn’t look away, her eyes locked on mine as if searching for any hint of deception or uncertainty. But like the last time she did this, she won’t find any.

My soul is hers for the taking, stripped of all pretense and armor.

“I know it’s fast,” I barrel on, the words spilling from me in a desperate rush. “And its utter madness. But I also know, with every last bit of my being, this is fate. That you’re the piece of me I didn’t even know was truly missing until you walked into The Opulence.”

Exhaling swiftly, I pop open the box.

Sadie’s eyes widen at the sight of the gleaming skeleton key, one that unlocks every door of my penthouse. Her stare snaps to mine, questions I’m about to answer dancing in their depths.

“This is me asking you to stay. To accept this key and move in with me. Here, where our story started but hopefully doesn’t end. Because I need more than one weekend in London with you, love, no matter how perfect it’s been. Christ, I’m not even sure a lifetime with you at my side is enough.”

“Rhys, I—”

“In case I haven’t been clear, I’m falling for you, love. I have been since that very first moment. Hard and fast and irreversibly. I know it’s too early for you to love me. But I’m begging you to give me this chance, to remain at my side until you’re ready to fall, where I’ll be patiently waiting to catch you. And where I swear on everything that matters, I’ll never drop you.”

There’s so much more I want to say, promises I want to make. But I hold them back, my heart caught in my throat as I wait for her to answer, deciding my fate.

She holds my world in her hands.

I can only pray she doesn’t drop it.

CHAPTER 20

Sadie

Rhys’s words linger, nudging at my defenses.

They echo in my mind as I stare down at him, his handsome face a mask of raw vulnerability, those panty-melting eyes of his shimmering with desperate hope that shatters and stitches me back together all at once.

This man—this beautiful, complex, and completely captivating man—is offering me everything. His home and heart, a chance at a future I never dreamed of having, filled with endless adoration and devotion.

Two things I never experienced with Maxwell.

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