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“I forgot how depressing this place is,” I say as I come back into the living room with the last box of stuff. Ronan’s sitting on my couch, frowning at his phone. He’s been doing that a lot lately, especially since the ambush at the warehouse. When he told me about that, I nearly lost my mind—he’d been inches from getting killed.
But he survived, and he seems in better spirits than he was before.
“I didn’t,” he says, making a face. “When I saw the way you were living, I knew I had to do something about it.”
I make a face at him. “You’re so full of shit. You were just trying to manipulate me to get what you wanted.”
“You’re what I wanted.”
“Oh, wow, how romantic.”
He grins huge. “Come here, love.”
I throw an old stuffed elephant at him. He easily bats it away.
“No, thanks, I’ll keep my distance.” I start going through the kitchen, but I don’t need plates or knives. I take a few mugs I’ve had for a while and feel some kind of sentimental attachment to, but mostly it’s all staying behind. “Are you sure about all this? I mean, you don’t really want my stuff cluttering up your house, do you?”
“That’s exactly what I want.” He watches me as I brush hair from my face and bend down to look in a lower cabinet. “Seriously, love, we don’t have to keep going over this. I want you to move in for real.”
“I know you say that now but think about what it means—” When I stand up straight, he’s right there, a few feet from me. I laugh and hold up my hand as he comes closer. “I’ll be there in the morning. I’ll be there at night. No more privacy. No more quiet afternoons.”
“And no more quiet sleep, considering how loudly you snore.”
“Asshole, I do not?—”
He darts forward and grabs my waist. I yelp, try to wriggle away, but he pins me back against the counter and buries mymouth with his. I whimper into that kiss despite myself, and the moment his tongue brushes against mine, a big part of me relaxes.
“I want this,” he says softly after he breaks off the kiss. I crave him still and my heart’s racing in my chest. “You’re mine and I’m yours. We can make a new life together, and if you don’t like my current house, we can get something new and make it both of ours.”
“Seriously? You’re willing to move for me?”
“Within reason.” He frowns and narrows his eyes. “I’m not going to some weird Italian neighborhood.”
I slap his arm and laugh. “I wouldn’t dare.”
“Then relax. I want this.”
“I do too.” I lean against him and let myself relax. “I’ve just been on edge since the ambush, you know? My stupid head keeps telling me that I’m only trouble, that if you get hurt it’ll be all my fault, that our family is suffering because of me.”
“None of that is true.”
“I know. I mean, I’m trying to know.”
“One of these days, you’re going to wake up in bed next to me and realize you haven’t had any self-deprecating thoughts in a long time.” He tilts my chin up so we’re looking into each other’s eyes. “You’re going to look back at this and wonder why you ever hesitated. You’re going to wonder why you didn’t throw yourself into my arms and stay there for as long as you could.”
“Sounds pretty arrogant to me.”
His lopsided grin makes my heart melt. “And yet it’s true.”
He kisses me again. I return that kiss, wondering if maybe he’s right, if I’ll look back on this as the beginning of something better than I ever imagined. I feel myself on the cusp, and all I need to do is take one more step. Ronan’s family is being kind to me. Life with Ronan himself is incredible. I’mhappywith him. I feel more fulfilled than I ever would’ve guessed.
My demons still nag at me. I’m still worried I’m cursed and I’ll somehow destroy his family from the inside simply by being a part of it. But when he’s kissing me, that stupid voice in my head trying to make me feel bad about myself goes quiet, and that should be the biggest sign that I’m right where I need to be.
The kiss deepens, lengthens, and his hands move around to grab my ass, and my pulse races in my chest.
Someone knocks at the door.
Ronan pulls back. I’m breathless and aching for him to ignore it and keep kissing me.
