Page 94 of Chips & Checks
“You were assaulted, Violet. This isn’t just a bad day at work. He tried to corner you and take something that didn’t belong to him. You have every right to be haunted—and every right to breathe easier now that he’s gone.”
I nod, but the moment keeps shifting. Sliding. Because this isn’t just about Chad. It’s about every man who’s ever made me feel small. About my bio-father. About the fear I’ve swallowed for so long that I thought maybe it was part of me.
“But what if it changes me?” I whisper. “What if it’s already changed us?”
Bowen is quiet for a beat. Then, “It doesn’t have to. It can make us stronger.”
I look up at him—at this man who broke every one of his own rules to defend me—and I realize I’m already halfway in love with him.
I shift gears fast, because that’s what I do when I’m afraid. “So, why are you here?”
“Because Viktor told me to be. Said I’d be an idiot not to find you the second that meeting was over.” He lifts his beer. “Also said he’d revoke my ‘honorary Abbotts’ membership card if I didn’t grovel.”
I huff a laugh and nod. “You know what I’d really like?”
He lifts a brow. “Uh-oh.”
“Calm down, I’m not about to proposition you.”
“Pity.” He leans closer. “Because I’ve got intel that says you’ve got a fantasy bucket list.”
I give him a pointed look. “I’m saving all that for my boyfriend.”
“Oh, damn.” He places a hand to his heart like I just struck him with Cupid’s arrow. “Wait, did I get replaced in the last three days? That’s cold, Doc.”
“You should be worried. He’s got really good arms.”
“Yeah, but can he make you laugh like I do?”
I smile. God, I hope so. I hope he can make me laugh and breathe and heal. Because if this is the start of something real, I want to remember it. I want to choose it, not just survive it.
He waits a beat, then takes my hand in his. “Okay. No more joking. Let’s make it official.”
My pulse skitters. “You’re asking to be my boyfriend?”
“I’m asking if we can stop pretending like this is anything less than real. I’m all in, Vi. No games. No rules. Just… us.”
The world tilts a little. But in a good way. Like maybe I’ve been off-balance for years and I finally just found my center.
“Yeah,” I whisper. “Okay. Real boyfriend, it is.”
His grin is slow and wrecking. “Then you’d better update that fantasy list. Make it extra kinky. Your boyfriend has plans.”
From across the room, someone calls Bowen’s name. He glances over his shoulder, then looks back at me, like he doesn’t really want to go.
“I need to thank them. My team, my people… They stood up for us today.”
“Of course. Go.”
He hesitates. “Wait for me?”
“Always.”
Bowen kisses my forehead—quick, reverent, forever-coded—and it’s like my whole nervous system exhales.
Maybe this isn’t the end.
Maybe it’s the beginning.
