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Tentatively, Gleb reaches up to cradle my face, and the pad of his thumb brushes softly across my cheek, wiping away the moisture I hadn’t realized was there. “I believe you, Mel,” he says gently. “I was ready to believe you before I even came over this morning. But when I’m with Gabby…? God, when I’m with our daughter, I can feel it in my very bones.”
Our daughter.
Two words have never sounded so sweet.
Any remaining drops of resistance evaporate from me as I see just how truly selfless and kind this stone-cold killer of mine can be. He would make the best father in the world, and it fills my heart to know that this man is as madly in love with our daughter as I am. I can hear it in the depth of his words. The ache in his voice when he talks about her.
“I’m so sorry for doubting you—for ever calling into question your honesty or integrity. You are the strongest, bravest woman I’ve ever met. And I promise to keep working on my trust issues, my failure to communicate, if you’ll please give me another chance. Because I would rather fight with you any day and work through our problems than to live without you. You mean more to me than life, and I don’t think I can go back to the cold, empty place the world was when you were gone.”
Heat courses through my veins at his words, flooding me with emotions that make the world spin. I never took Gleb for a romantic, but suddenly, I feel as though Silvia might be far closer to right than I ever could have imagined. Gleb came here this morning to lay the world at my feet.
His eyes search mine with such desperate need, I feel as though they’ve put together their own agonizingly beautiful speech.
And I don’t know what to say.
I’m so overcome with emotion that words escape me completely.
Swallowing convulsively, I take a shuddering breath. And though I know nothing I say now could possibly compare to the open-heart surgery Gleb just performed, I’ll do my damndest to live up to his moving vulnerability.
“I think I could learn to enjoy fighting with you…” I tease, my voice rasping past the knot in my throat. “If it means growing together. Because I’ve fallen hopelessly in love with you, and if you’re willing to be with me—flaws and all—I want to be with you too.”
“Oh god, Mel.” Gleb pulls me into his warm, strong arms, enveloping me in his comforting, masculine scent. Cradling the back of my head, he holds me close.
And right here, in the middle of the public sidewalk, he kisses me with such passion, that I’m completely swept away.
37
GLEB
Mel melts against my chest, her body curving perfectly to mine as I claim her full, soft lips with a possessive hunger that turns me into something just shy of a beast. Hearing her say she’s in love with me sets fire to my soul.
And I don’t know that I’m ever going to be able to let her go. I might not stop kissing her before the world runs out of air.
In the back of my mind, I track the people who pass us, their lingering gazes at our public display. But unless someone tries to stop me, I don’t care.
With one arm wrapped firmly around her waist, the fingers of my other hand tangled thoroughly in her hair, I kiss her like there’s no tomorrow. And she kisses me right back.
Tongue delving deep between her lips, I taste her, relishing the feel of her, savoring the way we come together. Her arms are trapped between us, her palms resting on my chest, and her fingers curl around my shirt to pull me closer still.
Only after my lungs are burning with the need for oxygen do I start to think about letting her come up for air. And still, it takes all my willpower to break our kiss.
Mel releases a breathy laugh as we pant together, her dark-onyx eyes shifting between mine as her lips pull into a breathtaking smile. And I soak up the vision of her perfection. I’ve never met anyone as beautiful as Mel—inside and out.
She’s all I’ve ever wanted and so much more.
And I could die a happy man knowing that she chose me—she loves me. And no one else. Ever. Searing desire ignites my veins at that thought, and in an instant, I’m more than eager to take her home.
But I can’t just yet.
We have to collect an adorable little girl who’s got me wrapped around her pinky first.
“Well?” Mel says, drawing my errant thoughts back to the present.
“Well?” I echo, a toothy smile stretching across my lips.
“Does this mean you still want to get an annulment?” she teases.
“Most definitely,” I agree. “After all, our wedding was fake. We didn’t really mean it when we got married.”
