Page 148 of Covenant

“Then you came home from abroad to learn about Jackson’s accident. To find out I’d been fired. You watched from afar as my life fell to pieces, not knowing how to help.”

I’m not sure if he still needs my affirmation, but I offer it anyway. “Yes.”

“And then I approached The Firm, and you knew I’d hit rock bottom.” His hands link behind my neck, holding us together. “You saw an opportunity, not to take advantage of me, but to save me. To help Jackson. To make sure I was fed. That I was safe. To remind me that it’s okay to laugh. To be happy. To look forward to the future.”

I blink and a tear falls. I do nothing to stop it, too afraid to shatter this moment between us. “Yes. I’m so sorry I did that?—”

“No. Don’t apologize. I get it. Now shut up so I can keep going.”

I swallow and let him continue.

“You didn’t plan on me falling in love with you,” he whispers. “That’s why you put barriers up between us at first. You were trying to protect yourself.”

I choke on a sob. “Yes.”

“But you couldn’t help it,” Wyatt continues. More moisture hits my face, but I’m not sure who it’s coming from. “You couldn’t help loving me any more than I could help falling.”

A shudder goes through me and his grip tightens, holding me steady. “Don’t make me out to be a saint, Wy. I also made you sleep in bed with me. Did you forget that?”

“I didn’t say you were perfect,” Wyatt grins softly. “Considering how long you’ve been in love with me? Everything you’ve secretly done for me? I think you were entitled to take that bit of pleasure for yourself. Even if I was an absolute brat about it.”

“You weren’t.”

Wyatt’s laugh heals something inside me. “Oh, I fucking was. But it’s okay. I think that’s something you love about me.”

“I do,” I say quietly. “I love everything about you.”

This might be a mistake, but if this is my last conversation with Wyatt, I don’t want to hide anything. It’s not just about telling him the truth. It’s about being completely open with him, baring my heart to him, and letting him do with it what he will.

It makes sense. After all, it belongs to him. It always has.

“Good,” Wy sounds a little breathy. “That’s really good, because otherwise, this next part would be a stupendously bad idea.”

Wyatt pulls away, but it’s not to leave.

No, he’s not going anywhere.

He’s pulling a small black box from his pocket.

He’s lowering to one knee.

He’s blinking away tears as he opens the box to reveal a slender gold ring.

“Matthias,” he begins. “My Matt. You’ve looked out for me ever since the day we met. I grew up thinking nobody loved me, but that’s not true. You’ve loved me for so long I’m not sure either of us can say when it began.”

I cover my mouth with a shaking hand. Is this really happening?

“I’m not sure when I fell in love with you either,” he continues huskily. “But I know for certain it happened before the day we first exchanged vows. Long before I was taken away in that cop car. I might not have known it back then, but that’s what it was. Love.”

I’m sobbing now. I can’t help it. Wyatt is saying things to me I’ve never so much as allowed myself to dream of, let alone hope for.

“That’s why it hurt so much the first time it fell apart between us. And why, this time, it almost broke me completely.”

“It broke me too,” I choke out. “I’ve barely been existing without you.”

Something passes over his face. “Yes, that’s something else we’ll be discussing later. But, right now, I’m proposing.”

My lips twitch. “Is this the part where I remind you we’re already married?”

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