Page 223 of Heartless Sinner

My stomach dropped.

“But I understand why you did it now.” He held my stare. “And I forgive you.”

My breath caught, my stomach settling some.

“I forgive you, Daphne. That doesn’t mean the trust magically comes back. It doesn’t mean I’m not still fucking hurt. But I don’t want to hate you for it anymore.” His voice softened. “Your father and those other men would’ve figured out a way with or without you. They took advantage of your anger and lied to you about what they were planning.”

I nodded because I was finally seeing that more clearly too. It didn’t erase what I’d done. I’d still planted the recorder. I’d still trusted the wrong people. But I’d spent months carrying the entire assassination on my shoulders when they’d never even told me that was the plan.

“I don’t know where we go from here … if there’s even a future for us.”

“I could fight it,” Brooks said. “Tell them you’re my Fawn.”

“I don’t know if it’ll matter.”

“We have to try.” He rested his hand on my knee through the sheets. “My father hurt your family just as much as your family hurt mine. I’m not saying we’ll be the fucking Brady Bunch in-laws, but I’ll talk to him. You could’ve destroyed him after the shooting. You knew about the affair. You knew what he’d done to your mom. And you still didn’t say anything. You had your chance to get your revenge but didn’t.”

“I felt so fucking guilty for what I’d done that I never would’ve said anything about your family.”

“There’s a lot of trust to be earned, Daphne.”

I nodded.

“But you’re the woman I love. My Fawn. And if there’s any chance for us, then I’m going to fight for it. Promise me you’ll do the same.”

I slid across the tangled sheets and straddled his lap, burying my fingers in his bedhead hair. “Every single day of my life.”

I hesitantly lowered my head to brush my lips over his.

He tightened his arms around my waist as he kissed me, and for those seconds, the rest of the world disappeared.

We’d both grown up in worlds that made love feel like something people lied about.

Something that belonged in fairy tales, not our families.

I didn’t believe that anymore.

Maybe Brooks and I still had a chance.

But is hope really enough?

Our table was crowded, and a damp breeze rolled in from the ocean. Brooks had one arm stretched across the back of my chair.

We were in a small café overlooking the ocean. The Havens and Sons were with us.

Blair and Enzo were absent, unsurprisingly.

They’d started their honeymoon, hiding out somewhere here in Calira.

After our talk that morning, Brooks and I had spent hours catching each other up on everything we’d missed over the past few months.

For the first few hours, neither of us had our phones, so there was no outside world to interrupt us. Mine had been in my purse on the yacht, while Brooks’s had disappeared sometime between him diving into the ocean and dragging me back to the dock.

Elodie had eventually shown up at my room with mine. She’d rolled her eyes when she noticed Brooks in my room and shot him a stern look before saying, “Remember what I said.”

He’d nodded and given her a thumbs-up.

When I’d finally checked my phone, my screen was flooded with texts.