Page 266 of Intense
Her jaw drops.
“I’m really that interesting?” she teases.
“To me? The most fascinating person on the planet, love.”
She flips open the little black book, and her breath stutters into a sob. My collar feels too fucking tight as I tug at it.
“Stephanie Miller. This is our second interaction. She scowls at me, a lot. I think she might find me attractive. I’m not sure. I will observe her behavior further. Note. Her smile is infectious, and so is her scowl. She’s the brightest person in the room, including myself.”
The crowd breaks into soft coos. Stephanie’s sobs rack her chest, but she steadies herself and reads on.
“I’m fascinated. I need to be in a room with her on my own to assess further.”
She flips through more pages until she finds a folded piece of paper. Her face pales as she unfolds it.
“What is this?”
Her voice trembles.
“Finn. Tell me what this is.”
Fuck.
“No. No, it’s all good, love. It’s healthy. Just the scan results. When I was falling in love with you, I had brain scans done. I needed to be sure I wasn’t sick. It all felt so alien.”
Her lip trembles. “You thought loving me was making you sick?”
I shake my head, firm.
“Loving you is the only thing that makes everything in here okay.” I tap my temple. “That day was confirmation of what I already knew. That I love you.”
She folds it carefully, tucking it back into the book before pressing it into my palm.
“So you were obsessed with me from day one.”
A grin pulls at my mouth.
“It would appear that way, temptress.” I wink.
The priest clears his throat, carrying on, but pauses when we give him our request. He wasn’t thrilled, but a few thousand dollars softened the blow.
Declan hands me two gold scalpels. I give one to my wife.
“Dec. I need you to take Nyx,” I murmur.
He freezes. “You never fucking mentioned that. You know how I feel about it.”
“It?” I growl.
He sighs.
“Put your arm next to Stephanie’s, and I’ll move her over, okay? Just… breathe normally and relax,” I tell him calmly.
Christ, they’re all such pussies when it comes to Nyx.
I move her carefully, and Declan looks like he’s about to piss himself before dropping into the front row with Charlotte. I spot Reggie, who is looking more stressed than usual.
Perhaps it’s pre-wedding jitters for his own big day coming up. If Theo can find his runaway sister, that is. I was right. She’s going to be a complete handful. And I cannot wait to watch this unfold.
