Page 87 of Between Dusk and Dawn

"I love you, Madison Solis."

Wha-hat? What did he just say?My heart started to do that racing thing and my palms became sweaty. It was so much worse since I was sitting face-to-face with him, his eyes searching for something in mine.

My first instinct was to run away, turn around and never look at him again. I glanced out the window where I knew my little apartment was still sitting with all my stuff, where Fire was. It was my haven, and I debated how fast I could get out of there and remove myself from the situation.

Then his arms wrapped around my shoulders, and his lips pressed against my back. I snuggled into him so I was facing outward.

"I’m here, Muse. You don’t have to say anything back. I may have been terrified before because, like you, I was a hurt person, too. I had thought that I needed to live in the confines of what was built for me."

He hesitated for a few, then continued. "When my mother died, I watched my little sister shocked and unaware of what had just unfolded in front of her. I was just a kid, but I saw the terrified look on my father’s face. He knew he would be forced to run an entire mob organization, something he never thought it’d come down to.

"I don’t know." Walsh’s voice got so low it was barely a whisper as he continued to rub small circles on the top of my shoulders. "I guess I thought I had to make sure my family was taken care of. I started to live my life, even when I was little, in this rigid way, making sure that no one would attack my impenetrable castle I built around me physically and mentally."

I grabbed his hand in a show of support, even though I still couldn’t turn around. "The moment I laid eyes on you, you fucking destroyed those walls without even trying. It’s like you somehow wielded a magical sword in that, within seconds of just looking at you, you could somehow see inside of me. It’s like I could see the mask you wore, and I so badly wanted to tell you that we were both alike?—"

"But when you’ve built a life like we have, it’s hard to start becoming vulnerable with someone like that," I added, and he nuzzled into my back.

"Yes, Muse. I apologize."

Wha-what? I turned around and searched his face in the darkness. His eyes were heavy with a profound sadness I’d never seen before. "I am really fucking sorry for being a dick. I wastrying to keep you far away from this fucking life. I was being selfish."

"No." I exhaled. "I understand why."

He dropped his head down to press a small kiss to the tip of my nose. "Sleep, Muse."

My eyelids grew heavy, then a loud buzz came from the table next to him. "Fuck," he murmured, twisting to see who was calling. "I have to get this."

I narrowed my eyes at him, thinking this was his way of getting out of this. "Oh…I can go back to my room."

I pushed the covers up, propping myself up in a sitting position. "No." He silenced his phone. "This is your room now. You are to sleep with me."

He pulled himself into a sitting position, and naked, he looked vulnerable as shit. "You are my wife, and I need you here."

It wasn’t a question, but if I dared push him, he’d let me go again, but I was tired of pushing and pulling. I wanted to be with him…even if that meant laying it all bare for him.

"I’ll stay."

He nodded. "Good. Good. I’ll get your stuff moved over here."

"You should go answer that call," I whispered, leaning over to plant a kiss on his cheek. His hand rose to the spot I touched, as if savoring a caress he'd never experienced before.

"Okay," he responded. As he turned to get up, a sudden wave of cold and loneliness crept back in.

"Walsh?" I grasped his elbow, pulling him backward.

His eyes locked onto me, as if searching for the three little words that circled in my own head. I felt like a coward, but I couldn't. It didn't feel like enough time had passed, whether it was for groveling or just simply time. "Will you take the callin this room? I know it's probably personal and all, but the company?—"

"Yes," he said breathlessly.

Walsh was meant to be mine. For God's sake, I'd never seriously considered divorcing him because deep down, I knew we were stuck together from that one night we'd spent together. The night I let him take me while he was with Cagen—I knew it was the end of it. When I spent an entire year dedicated to ruining him through Ember, I knew it was him.

We were two deeply hurt individuals who kept hurting people to find our way back to each other. We were the villains in our stories, the outcasts never likable enough to earn redemption. Yet we both did it because of the trauma we'd experienced and the pain that followed.

Just two hurt people, hurting people.

Yet, as he grabbed his laptop and settled into the chair on the other side of the bedroom, typing away furiously with a scowl, I couldn't imagine myself without him. Among all the people placed on this earth, we had somehow found our way to each other.

I never imagined I would ever be worthy of love. My parents never showed it to me, and when my grandmother did, she was taken away from me.

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