Page 92 of Heart of Stone
Reid jerked his chin down. “Of course. Whatever you want.”
Given the circumstances, I thought it was understood that Reid should have been the one who broke the ice and clarified things. When he didn’t, I simply asked, “Why?”
Disappointment washed over him. “Natalia, I can’t begin to tell you just how sorry I am for everything. I never meant to hurt you. When I first came back to Cardinal and decided to stay here, it wasn’t without reservations. I agreed to step in to fulfill my father’s role, mostly for the sake of my mother. But I won’t lie and say that him offering up the retreat to me after six months wasn’t a big part of the reason I agreed as well.”
“You plan to tear down the retreat?” I asked.
“At first, that was my plan. I didn’t hide how much disdain I had for the place from the start.” His fingers tightened around mine. “But it changed, Natalia. Somewhere along the way, it changed because of you. I understand you have every reason to doubt me and feel cautious, but I need you to understand that everything that happened between us was real for me. All of it.”
Tears filled my eyes. “Everything?”
“Everything. I promise.” Reid lifted my hand in both of his and kissed my knuckles. “I fell in love with you, too, Natalia. And like you, I’ve been terrified to share that with you, because I was worried that I’d be saying too much too soon.”
My heart squeezed at his admission. Except for Danielle, nobody had told me they loved me in years. “You love me?”
“I do. God, I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone. Please tell me I didn’t screw this up with you permanently. Please tell me I can fix this between us.”
I licked my lips and regarded him. No matter how badly I’d been hurt, I was still so in love with him. But I was scared again, and I needed to protect myself. “What are your plans now?”
“My plans?”
“For the retreat.”
His features softened. “Nothing beyond keeping it as it is. I could never take it away from you. Never in a million years could I do that.”
“And what happens at the end of April?”
He swallowed roughly. “When we reach that point, my father will sign everything over to me.”
“What about your company?”
“It’s still going to be in Pittsburgh.”
And there it was. The confirmation I’d been dreading to hear for weeks now. He was going back. Even if everything that had happened from the moment that I heard what his friend said to him in his office yesterday until now hadn’t happened, I still would have wound up with a broken heart. “I see,” I murmured, rolling my head against the pillow to look away.
“Ask me what you want to ask me,” he urged.
Did he expect me to ask him to stay here with me? “It’s not my place to ask such a thing.”
“If not the woman who’s stolen my heart and turned my world upside down, then who?”
My lips parted, and my lungs stopped functioning.
“Ask me, Natalia.”
“Can you… Will you stay here…with me?
His mouth curved into a smile. “I will have to make a handful of trips back and forth between here and there for a bit to get things sorted, but yes, I’ll stay here with you. Every day. Always.”
My bottom lip trembled, tears welling in my eyes. “Really?”
“I love you, Natalia. You’re the only thing that matters to me. And I want you to be happy. If me staying here with you makes that happen, there’s not a chance I’m leaving you.”
He was going to go back and forth between here and there to figure things out, but Reid was going to stay here. He was going to do that for me.
Because I was the woman he loved. I was the woman who’d stolen his heart and turned his world upside down.
“If what you say is true, and you really do love me, can I ask you one more question?”
