Until Autumn - Sheridan Anne Page 0,62

a chance to respond, Patricia walks out the door and leaves me, Thorne, and the head of plastics gaping in shock.

CHAPTER 18

THORNE

I watch Autumn sipping from her glass of wine as she curls up on my couch, exactly where she belongs. I love having her in my home, and after a day like today, I don’t think I’m ever going to let her leave.

I walk back from the door with her favorite Chinese takeout and can’t help but notice the way the starlight filters through my floor to ceiling windows and shines upon her like some kind of halo.

She’s radiant. Even after what happened today, she still seems to shine, and every time she looks my way, the smile that brightens her face blows me the fuck away. She’s the one. There’s no doubt about it, the BOOM really does exist, and she’ll be mine until our dying days.

As I come back into the living room and place dinner down on the coffee table, Autumn sinks deeper into the blanket that’s wrapped around her. It’s coming into winter, and despite it being a cold night, I think she’s using the blanket more for comfort than warmth. Either way, she looks fucking adorable all snuggled up. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to just lie down and hold a woman so badly in my life.

She’s been putting on a brave face, but I know deep down that today freaked her out. She doesn’t want to admit it, but she doesn’t have to. I’m not here to force her to face reality; I’m here to help her forget. Today doesn’t define who she is, and it’s only going to affect her if she allows it to. What defines her is how she responds from here on out, how she fought for herself, how she was brave enough to speak out against a man who had the potential to destroy her, how she wasn’t afraid to ask for help. She’s so much stronger than she realizes, and while it was the most horrific thing that could ever happen to a woman, I’m proud of her.

She remains strong and shows that no matter what, he will never bring her down. She’s the winner here. He’ll never take claim over her, he’ll never be rewarded with her fear, and he sure as hell will never be a free man, not if I have anything to do with it.

The thought alone has my hand curling into a fist and pulling on my stitches as I cross the room and kneel down before the fireplace. I shake out my hand, not scared of the stitches breaking but scared of the ass-whooping Autumn would give me if I don’t look after myself.

I find myself grinning as I reach across and grab a few pieces of firewood before positioning them in my fireplace and finding my lighter. “Wait, that’s a real fireplace?” Autumn asks.

“It sure is,” I tell her.

“Nice,” she says, taking another sip of wine and getting up from the couch. She waddles across the living room, struggling with the blanket that she keeps wrapped around her while trying to hold onto her glass of wine. “I just assumed it was one of those fancy electric ones where you just press a button and it goes.” She drops down beside me, squishing in nice and close as she watches me start the fire. “That or a fake one that’s just for decoration.”

I stop what I’m doing and glance back at her. “Really?” I grumble. “Do you honestly think I did all of this,” I say, indicating around the massive living room that I had specifically designed and set out for my fireplace. “For a fake fireplace?”

Autumn glances around, really taking it all in. “Okay,” she says, bringing her wine glass to her lips to hide her grin. “When you put it like that, it makes sense, but then, you could just be one of those guys who likes to show off his money. After all, you’ve been driving your Ferrari around my shitholehood for the past month.”

“Hey, my Ferrari resents that. It’s good for her to get out and about every now and then. You know, experience new places to be reminded of just how good she has it.”

Autumn rolls her eyes and leans in close as I start the fire, gently blowing on the flames until the embers catch. The soft glow washes over her face as she stares into the fire, completely mesmerized by the whole