Page 252 of Intense
“I love you, Finn. Fuck, I was so scared that I’d never see you again.”
He pulls back and cups my face.
“I was always coming to get you, baby. Always.”
I smile.
And one thing rests heavy on me. Something that I know I want to remember this time.
“Finn?”
“Yes, love?”
“Will you marry me? For real this time?”
A slow smile spreads across his lips as he brings my left hand up to his mouth and kisses over my rings.
“You stole my line again, temptress. I even had a new ring ready.”
Tears stream down my cheeks.
“You did?”
He nods.
“I did. I want a wedding that we remember. Something that could never be forgotten. Our moment for everyone to see. You deserve the world, love. And I want to be the man to give you that.”
I lean in and kiss him with everything that I am.
“But I asked first. Will you marry me, Finn Quinn? Will you make me the happiest woman in the world?”
He laces a finger around my throat, staring into my eyes.
“Yes, Stephanie. I’ll marry you. We can do it every year if you want to. Whatever makes you smile like you are right now.”
James’s groan from behind us burst our little bubble.
“Do you want to end this with me? By my side as we get our revenge?” he asks quietly.
I can barely process Finn’s words. My body is still trembling in his arms, but when he pulls me closer and I follow his gaze over his shoulder, my stomach twists.
James.
Bound to the same chair that held me captive. His ruined face glistening with sweat, the ugly curve of his mouth curled into a smirk like he doesn’t give a single fuck what’s about to happen.
“You said you wanted to learn. You wanted to know every side of me. That includes this.”
The part of me that’s still the surgeon, still the girl who believed in mercy, hesitates. But the part of me that bled, thatbegged, that thought I’d lost the man I love forever—that part burns hotter.
“Do you want me to…?” My voice wavers.
Finn cups the side of my face again, grounding me with his pale eyes.
“Only if you want to, love. You don’t owe me this. You don’t owe him a damn thing. But I’ll give you the choice. You can walk out that door and never see what happens. Or you can stand beside me and know exactly what it means to be mine. To be one of us.”
My throat tightens. He’s not asking me to cross a line for him; he’s asking me to decide who I am.
I want to be his wife. His partner. His fucking everything.
