Page 111 of Keep Me In Your Heart

With nothing left to say, I stand up from the chair and cross the room toward to where I dropped my purse. Just as I make my way toward the door, Anna calls, “Sylvie.”

I turn toward her.

“You’ve been really good for him. And I had hoped you’d be enough to get him to leave the house on his own.”

“He needs more than me,” I reply. “He needs you too.”

Her lips tremble as she nods. “You really do love him, don’t you?”

Choked with emotion, I nod.

Then, to my surprise, her mouth lifts in a crooked smirk. “Then, you’ll figure this out. I know you will. I have a feeling you always get what you want.”

Not always, I think to myself. If I had gotten what I wanted, I never would have come here. I never would have needed ten million dollars, and I would have never married a stranger for it.

But I’m here now, and I fully intend to get what I want this time.

***

“Stop the car,” I say as Peter delivers me back home. We’re halfway down the drive toward the house when I see Killian walking through the trees in the same direction.

As the car comes to a stop, I call back, “Thank you,” before shutting the door and jogging over to where my husband is quietly strolling.

“I’m not disturbing you, am I?”

He greets me with a smile as he puts out his arm and welcomes me into his embrace, holding me tight to his enormous chest.

“I found a Q,” he says, and I pull back to stare at him quizzically.

Then, he holds up a tiny round button with the letterQin the middle. “Is that from the typewriter?” I ask.

He chuckles and then nods. As I gaze up at his face, I can still make out the sunken, tired features of his eyes and the lifelessness of his smile. The panic attack was almost twenty-four hours ago. Is it normal to still look so tired?

People don’t just bounce back that quickly, Sylvie.

“What is that doing all the way out here?” I ask, taking the letter and inspecting it.

“The rain washes everything out,” he says, glancing toward the river. His gaze grows unfocused as he stares into the distance. I clutch his arm and try to squeeze him tighter.

How on earth could they possibly do this to him? It’s not fair. It’scruel.

But I’m going to make it right. I just have to keep telling myself that.

“I’m sorry our trip was ruined,” he mumbles softly without looking into my eyes.

I grab his face and force his eyes down to me. “I don’t care about the trip. I care aboutyou.”

“It’s not right to keep you locked up in this house with me.”

My stomach sinks as my eyebrows pinch inward. “Don’t say that,” I argue. “I’m not locked up. And I love it here. You know that.”

“For how long, Sylvie? How long can you really stay like this? You’re a lot younger than me. You have your whole life ahead of you.”

“Killian, stop!” I snap, wrapping my hands around his neck and pulling him closer. “Please stop talking like that. We’re going to get through this together. We’ll get you the help you need, and I will be there every step of the way. So stop talking like that.”

As his eyes bore into mine, I search for the same fire I saw in the man I first met. So much life, vigor, and personality. Have I ruined that? Have I put out that light?

I don’t know what else to do, so I press my lips to his, hoping it will reignite the spark we had before. Before that stupid fucking trip. Before I royally fucked it all up.

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