Page 174 of A Smile Full of Lies
She smiled, slow and certain.
“I’ve never been more sure about anything.”
I pulled her into a kiss so deep it hurt, my arms wrapped tight around her body like I could fuse us together with willpower alone. She melted into it, fingers twisting in my shirt, lips parting with a soft sound that made my vision go black for half a second.
When I pulled back, I rested my forehead against hers.
“Let’s go, then.”
The sun was just startingto burn through the clouds as we loaded the last box into the trunk.
We didn’t pack much. Just what we needed to stay overnight. The rest would come later.
This wasn’t a move-in day. This was something more. Claiming the space. Setting our ghosts to rest.
We were silent on the drive across town. Not out of discomfort, but reverence. She reached across the console and held my hand the whole way. My thumb traced lazy circles against the back of hers.
When the gates came into view, her breath caught. Stonewood Manor loomed in the distance — still massive, still scarred, still standing. But not untouched. Not anymore.
Ros whispered, “We’re really doing this.”
“Yeah,” I said, parking the car. “We are.”
I helped her out of the passenger seat, wrapped my arm around her waist, and we walked up the stone path together.
The keys felt heavier than usual in my hand. I unlocked the door, pushed it open, and let her step inside first.
She didn’t freeze, didn’t flinch. No, she walked into the grand foyer like she belonged there.
And maybe, for the first time in four years, it felt like someone finally did.
Chapter
Forty
DECEMBER 16
ROS
The house didn’t feelhaunted anymore. Not in the way it used to. Definitely not in the way it did the first time I’d run through these halls, heart pounding, fear licking at the edges of desire like a match to gasoline.
The shadows still lived here, yes — but they felt different now. Not like ghosts. Like memories. Like stories that finally had an ending.
And today? We were writing the next chapter.
The wedding wasn’t planned. Not really. Not in the traditional sense. There were no bridesmaids. No tuxedos. No seating chart. No cake.
There was just us and Stonewood Manor. A simple white linen dress I found in the back of my closet. A black suit Knox already owned. A simple bouquet I made with flowers from his mother’s garden. And the man I loved, standing in the foyer where his family once greeted guests.
He was already dressed when I came down the stairs. His back was to me, broad and straight, hands in his pockets as he staredout the tall windows overlooking the drive. Sunlight spilled through the glass, warm and golden, casting long shadows across the gleaming wood floors.
He looked like something out of a dream. Or a memory I’d only ever touched in sleep.
I paused on the last step, heart thudding like it had something to prove.
He turned before I could call his name, like he felt me there before I could say a word, and the second his eyes landed on me, everything else in the world went quiet.
I didn’t speak. Neither did he. But I could feel it.
