Page 108 of Before Broken Vows
He smiles and takes a few steps over to me, his tight black shirt highlighting the perfect curves of his muscles flexing underneath.
He stops just by the bed and holds out a small screen. "You're not sleeping in here tonight," he says firmly.
I sit up, confused. "What do you mean?" I ask, grabbing the monitor and looking. I instantly see me, the bed I'm sitting on, Xander, and Theo.
I look up in the direction of the camera.
"I had it installed when I knew you were coming back with him."
The picture is crystal clear. I can even see Xander's little chest moving up and down.
"You belong in my bed, Stassi, so that's where I want you," he says and brushes the hair out of my face. "Where you should've been all along."
I don't answer right away.
The silence stretches between us, heavier than it should be.
It's not doubt in him. It's doubt in myself. My place. The fear I don't deserve it anymore.
"I…"
Theo crouches down in front of me.
"I've posted two guards outside Xander's door. They're my best men. Three outside. And we've got this." He taps the monitor. "You'll see every breath he takes from my room. You need him, he needs you—we're seconds away."
His hand slides gently up my leg.
"You carried our son all this time alone," he says, voice edged with something primal. "Let me carry you now."
He stands, extends his hand.
"Come on, Stassi. It's where you belong."
I take it.
The moment our fingers link, something inside me shifts. My body remembers what it means to trust him. What it means to be led by someone who sees all your cracks and still calls you his.
As we walk down the hall together, my heart pounds.
Because this isn't just about being together.
It's about reclaiming something we both lost.
It's about coming home complete.
We walk in silence down the hall to his room.
Theo opens the door and steps aside, letting me walk in first.
As I step into Theo's room, I stop.
For a moment, I don't breathe.
The entire space is transformed. It's not the bedroom I remember.
Dozens, maybe hundreds, of roses cover the bed, the floor, the dresser. They're everywhere.
And not just any roses.
