Page 91 of From Rome, With Hate

“But after…” A tear slips from her eye. I catch it with my thumb. “When we met here and decided to separate…”

“You’d already made your mind up about what I did with Macy, and honestly, I let you because I deserved it. I deserved for you to believe I’d cheated on you because I’d already destroyed your life. After the day we met in the library, I inserted myself into your world when we’d only known how to despise each other up until that point. I’d already broken your heart, and I thought you would have been better off without me. Then you could go on living your life the way it was meant to be from birth. With you hating me.”

“You should have told me the truth, Rome.” She tilts her head. “All this time, I believed…”

“I should have, and I’m so sorry.” I sigh. “I don’t know if it would have changed things if I’d have told you, but I thought itwas the right thing to do at the time. I wish I hadn’t, though, because you deserve the world, Lark, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted for you.”

I cradle her face in my hands, feeling sick to my stomach, worried I’ve lost her. That this one night has been momentary. I don’t know what I would do if I lost her again.

“I don’t know if it would have changed things, either,” she says, rising up on tiptoes, bringing her face closer to mine. “But I understand, Rome, and I believe you.”

I sigh with relief so loud, it makes Julianna chuckle.

We can finally breathe.

“I’ve made mistakes.” Every honest word I tell her is another step toward healing what was left broken between us. “So many.Toomany. I don’t intend on spending the rest of my life making them. I’ll do whatever it takes to prove to you I meant those words the day we got married. You are the love of my life, Lark, and I’m sorry I ever made you doubt it.”

With pink cheeks and tear-filled eyes, she sniffs, her mouth curling into a smile. “Well, shit.”

“What?” I caress her cheek.

“As much as I’ve hated you over the years, I never thought I’d hear those words again. I’ve wanted you to say them for so long.”

“We’ve never been very good at communication, have we?” I tease, kissing her.

“Oh, no.” She pulls back, groaning as she buries her face with her hands.

“What?” I chuckle, pulling her hands down from her face.

She stares up at me with doe-like eyes. “We’re the miscommunication trope.”

“What’s the miscommunication trope?” I scrunch my nose.

“It’s a type of trope from books that readers notoriously hate,” she explains, gesturing with her hand. “Selene—my best friend, and Holt’s wife—she’s a romance author. One night,she explained to me what tropes are in romance novels, and I specifically remember her talking about the miscommunication one.” Her eyes widen. “Because it isnota popular one.”

“What’s wrong with the miscommunication trope?” I ask, honestly intrigued.

“Readers feel the characters could have solved all their problems if they had just talked to one another. All the drama is unnecessary and frustrating. When I think about it, Romeo and Juliet is probably a prime example of miscommunication.”

I press my lips together and cradle her face in my hands. I think about Julianna and the complexities of our marriage and everything that transpired. “I don’t know anything about a miscommunication trope, but I agree, we weren’t the best at talking openly and honestly. But we were eighteen years old, Lark. We fell in love and made hasty decisions against impossible odds. Mix that with losing our daughter, it all became a firestorm we couldn’t escape.”

She works her lips under her teeth as she thinks about what I’ve said. “You’re right.”

“I think it’s time we forgive ourselves, Lark,” I lean in and whisper against her mouth. “What do you think?”

Staring up at me with those eyes I fell in love with all those years ago, she smiles. “Way overdue, Rome.”

“Good.” I slip my hands down her back and under her ass cheeks. Lifting her, she wraps her legs around me as I carry her to our bedroom. “Now, let me make up for lost time before Marcus gets back.”

She giggles, and my heart flutters. “I love Marcus and all, but I wouldn’t be terribly upset if he wanted to stay in the city a little longer.”

We laugh, and the last time I was this deliriously happy was with Julianna, here in this room.

Her laughter subsides when she turns around and places her hands on the closet shelves in front of her. She bends until her perfectly round ass is staring up at me. Looking over her shoulder, she bats her pretty dark lashes and lifts the hem of my shirt to reveal her smooth, bare ass. I can see her dripping pussy from here.

“Is this how you want me?” she asks seductively, and, fuck me, it’s beautiful.

My cock hardens in my sweatpants. I step forward, smoothing my hand over her full, supple ass cheek. “You’re playing with fire.”