Page 186 of Modern Romance Collection December 2024 Books 5-8

He could be inside right now. But he was here on the pavement, waiting, as she had every time he went away, every time he left her behind and alone, waiting for him.

‘I will sign them if that is what you want,’ he said, and his voice was tight. ‘If you want this,us, to end, I will do it. I will sign them. If you need more time to think, I will wait. I will wait for you forever.’

His chest heaved.

‘You are my soulmate, Emma. Destiny thrust us together. And it will do it again. In this life, the next. I will wait for it. But I do not want the next life. I wantthislife. I want you to be my wife. A real wife with a real husband. I want to be your husband. I want everything I never thought I wanted because of you. Before you, I was empty. And you filled me up, Emma. With warmth. With love.’

Still, she did not move.

And it hurt. Deeply.The understanding that he might be too late. She might send him away because her needs no longer aligned with his.

‘If you choose to sign,’ he said, and his mouth moved in awkward ways. His tongue was too heavy. It did not want to cooperate. But he would keep his promise. ‘If you choose to end us. I will keep my word. I will give you a divorce and I will...’

His jaw locked. His body hardened. But he would do it for her. He would sacrifice his needs to meet hers, because that was love.

And he loved her.

‘I will let you go, Emmy.’

Her heart fluttered as wildly as a million bees buzzing towards home. Towards their queen. And it didn’t matter to the bees where home was, because home was their queen.

Home was right in front of her.

Emma moved.

She let the bees carry her home. Until she stood in front of it. In front of him.

‘I choose you,’ she said. ‘I choose our marriage.’ She held out her hand. ‘Because I love you.’

And she waited with bated breath for him to take her hand. To accept her love. To trust her to lead him to a safe place. Because it was safe. Their love protected them. And she would protect him now. She would shelter him. She would—

‘Emmy...’ His hand reached for hers. His fingers slid between hers. Entwining his between hers.

He stood. His face twisted with contorted angles of uninhibited emotion.

He pressed his forehead to hers. ‘I love you. I love you with everything I am. Everything you have enabled me to become. I am changed because of you. And I—’

‘You will let me in, you will let me love you and you will love me in return.’

‘Yes!I will love you. With my words. With my body. Witheverything, Emmy,’ he promised, and she knew he would keep his word. As he always had.

‘Let’s go inside,’ she said, and she felt the tremble rip through him. The shudder.

He nodded. And Emma led him by the hand, up the white stone steps.

And together they closed the black door behind them. They shut out the hardness, the noise, and found home.

In each other.

EPILOGUE

Later that night...

THEBEDWASLARGE.

Dante stretched out his arms, his long legs, his feet—searching for her. The warmth of her tiny toes to stroke against his. Her soft body to pull into his. And he found her. He stroked his feet against hers, placed his hand on her hip and pulled her into the groove of his hips. Pushed his face into her hair and inhaled her.

His lungs were full.

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