it came to him.
“Yes.”
And with the sweetness of relief and joy, he sealed the promise with a kiss.
Starting Now
Amelia
“Come home,” he whispered when he broke away, his lips grazing my cheek, my jaw, my neck.
I sighed at the ceiling. “Anything you want.”
“You. All I want is you.”
He captured my mouth, the kiss deep with possession and desire, with the freedom found in forgiveness. And for a moment, that was all we needed. Just each other.
We hurried upstairs. I hastily repacked my things while Tommy picked up Claudius, holding my cat to his broad chest and petting him, cooing his hellos and sentiments. I chuckled, setting the crate on my bed and opening it up.
“Claudius has turned you into a cat person.”
“Well, he’s such a good kitty, aren’t you, Claude? You’re a good boy. Gus is gonna be so happy to see you.”
I beamed. “Oh, I’ve missed Gus so much.”
“He’s missed you, too,” Tommy said, his blunt fingers tenderly twiddling the top of Claudius’s head. “He’s been camped out in front of your room since you left. And he’s been giving me the silent treatment.”
“Claudius has been glued to me. I can’t get anything done because he’s been in my lap for days. But honestly, I don’t think it was for my comfort. I think it was for his. He missed you, but not as much as I did.”
Tommy deposited Claudius in his crate. “I’m sorry. For all of this.”
“Please, don’t,” I said softly, closing the metal door. “Tommy, I am such a fool. I don’t know why you would forgive me for this.”
“Because I love you. Because you would forgive me. Because you did the best you could. Because if your greatest sin was that you didn’t ask me about Vivienne, then we’re doing all right. I just needed time. Thank you for giving that to me.”
I laughed. “I published a love letter to you in the USA Times.”
He shrugged, stepping into me. “I’d already forgiven you, Melia. That article gave me hope that maybe you’d forgive me, too.”
His arms wound around my waist, and as he pulled me into him, my hands came to rest on his torso, the heat of his body welcomed and sorely missed.
“There was never anything to forgive, not from me. I…I can hardly believe you’re standing here after everything. Because you were right.”
One of his shoulders rose and fell. “Just because it was justified doesn’t mean it was right.” He reached for my face, inspected it, thumbed my cheek. “But I would have always come around, Melia. I could never have let you go.”
Tears welled in a rush of gratitude and relief. “I would have been here, waiting.”
He tilted my face to his. “And I would have always come for you.”
His lips brushed mine, delicate and sweet.
Claudius meowed impatiently from the confines of his crate, and Tommy broke away with a chuckle. “All right, let’s get you home,” he said to the crate as he picked it up. “And you, too, Mrs. Bane.”
And he took me under his arm, and we did just that.
We walked the blocks home, the winter sun high and distant, the sky big and dusty blue. I clicked neatly into his side as we strode down the sidewalk, talking about what had happened since we parted. I’d known about Janessa—when I’d approached her office about the article, I’d found it occupied by someone new, a woman far more amenable than Janessa had been. Vivienne was gone, too, and I felt immeasurable relief that we were separated by an entire continent.
But best of all, Tommy had finished his book. Blackbird hadn’t dropped him because of Vivienne’s article, and they were especially pleased after my response was published. But more than anything, they loved the book so much that the acquisition was enough for them to overlook the media fire. And in fact, his editor was going to fast-track the book to use the media draft to promote it as our story. Tommy showed me the cover—Wynn and Aislinn standing on a clifftop, overlooking a mountain range, the wind whipping their cloaks, the light brilliant and hopeful. The book was already up for preorder, and Blackbird had already busted out the big guns, pushing promotions everywhere.
The first thing we did when we reached the house was go straight downstairs. Sarah was waiting anxiously with Theo, their faces lighting up with joy and thanks I felt in my marrow. There were hugs and tears, laughter and thanks.
Relief. We were all relieved, and that