Page 156 of Grumpy Billionaire Bad Boy

I look up from my computer, where I had been staring blankly anyway. "Yeah?" I clear my throat. "What's up?"

"It's late. You should try to get some rest."

I can almost barely make out her words from across the way, so I get up and walk over there, my eyes still burning from lack of sleep.

"I'll go to bed soon," I tell her.

"Will you come to bed with me?"

"What?" My brain is slow to process what it is she's asking me.

"Not for sex. To sleep.Please. Sleep with me instead of on the couch."

I rub my neck and glance back at the computer, afraid that if I don't keep searching, the answer will slip right through my fingers. But with that, I realize I've already come up with what I have to do, I just haven't come to terms with it yet, and if I'm going to follow through with my plan, I should enjoy what remaining time I have left with London while I have it. Because once this is said and done, I'll never get that chance again.

London tugs on my shirt. "Archer, please."

"Okay."

I let her pull me into the room and strip out of my clothes, tossing them onto the chair in the corner, not giving a shit about folding them. That's the least of my worries at this point. I climb into bed next to her in nothing but my boxer briefs and hold out my arm for her.

London settles right into the spot between my collarbone and jaw, and I know with one hundred percent certainty that I'd be okay dying like this. She puts her arm over my chest, her leg between mine. I turn, our bodies entwining perfectly, withno indication of where I end and she begins. I almost suspect that this is what heaven is, being with her, so intimately yet so innocently. I'm going to miss this most, holding her, right where she belongs, safe in my arms. Maybe in another life we could get our happily ever after, because this one is destined for tragedy.

"I like it here," London mutters into me, her breath warm on my bare skin.

"Me too," I tell her, never speaking anything more truthfully.

Under different circumstances, I wonder how things between us would have ended up. London and I are polar opposites. I'm a clean freak, she's a mess. I grew up with no money, she had it all. She's a spitfire and I'm reserved. She's stronger than I am. If I would have had to endure everything she did, I would have given up long ago. I admire that strength, but I hate that she ever had to go through it. Sure, it brought her here to me, but at what cost? If I had to give up this pure bliss just to save her from a shred of the trauma she's been through, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'd go back to my life of misery and solitude just to make sure she got the life she deserved, not the one she was forced into.

But these are the circumstances we were dealt, and the only thing I can do now is free her from the shackles her father placed on her the day she was born.

And as I press her fragile body into mine one last time, I savor this moment, because tomorrow I'm going to do something for possibly the first time in my life.

I'm going to accept responsibility for what I've done.

I'm going to turn myself in to the Manor brothers and confess to breaking the treaty.

It's the only way to save London, to save my family.

I must sacrifice myself.

Chapter 37

London

Ifloat in and out of sleep, my body wrapped around Archer's all night long. I wake just enough to confirm he's still there and drift out again.

He stirs, holding me tighter and kissing my head. I feel him sigh and I wish we could stay like this, forever together, out of harm’s way and ignoring the troubles of the world.

But I know come morning, reality will sink in and we'll be forced to face the impossible situation I've brought into his life.

So I allow this momentary and fleeting opportunity to entertain what will never happen again, because I've decided that the only person who can save me is myself and I can't let a man cloud my judgment ever again. I only regret that I didn't do it sooner and end my father's life before he had the chance to ruin mine.

"I love you," Archer whispers, and moves once more.

I reach for him, but sleep still has its hold on me, and I can't maintain a grip on him. I must have imagined Archer saying that, in the hypothetical fairy tale I fabricated to commit to memory so I never have to come to terms with the truth.

The truth that as soon as the opportunity presents itself, I'm going to betray Archer once and for all.

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