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“Funny how God seems to have left you to do all the smiting,” Elizabeth said dryly as she and Gary worked to tie him up. He kept up with his unhinged ranting until Gary gagged him.
“Gary, do you have this in hand? There’s something I need to do.”
“What? You can’t leave. The police are going to want to question you.”
“Tell them I had an important errand to run. I’ll come by the station tomorrow to give my statement.”
Gary frowned but nodded. “Alright. Be careful, Elizabeth.”
“I think I’m safe enough for now, now that we have this one in custody.”
That was, in fact, the reason for her errand.
Elizabeth could have died tonight. Life was too short to live afraid. She knew that now. It had taken nearly dying to see it.
The threat to her life would soon be in prison. Sure, there would likely be other threats, but Elizabeth wasn’t going to live her life in fear of what might happen when she could be living in the here and now. And the here and now could be beautiful, if she just had the courage to take that last step and make it so.
That is, if Alex took her back.
Alex could have moved on by now. Alex could well be furious with Elizabeth—she certainly had plenty of reasons.
Elizabeth had made the decision about what was best for Alex without giving her any choice in the matter. She still held that she could never have lived with herself if something had happened to Alex because of her, but that didn’t mean Alex didn’t get to be angry that Elizabeth had taken her choices away.
Then there was the way Elizabeth had broken up with her. It had been a tricky situation, but Alex had every right to be mad that Elizabeth hadn’t found a good way to do it in person.
Despite all of that, Elizabeth had to believe that what they had was strong enough to survive. She loved Alex and she was willing to fight to gain her trust back.
Elizabeth sped through the streets, making her way to Alex’s apartment from memory. She parked haphazardly in the street outside and practically tripped over her own feet in the darkness getting to Alex’s door.
She rang the doorbell, only realizing as she did so that it was the middle of the night and Alex was asleep. Well, this couldn’t wait. She needed Alex to know how she felt, and she needed her to know right now, before she lost her nerve and talked herself into keeping her distance again.
There was no answer, which she supposed was understandable. Alex was probably fast asleep. Elizabeth hoped that she was sleeping without nightmares. She rang the bell again and waited.
A minute later, Alex opened the door, her hair sleep mussed and her eyes only half open. “Lizzy? What are you—?”
“I love you,” Elizabeth interrupted. “Alex, I’m in love with you, and I want to be with you. I know now that I fucked up when I left you, I’m so eternally sorry, I have spent every second since then missing you. And I’m here now, and I’m willing to do anything to make it right.”
Alex gaped at her, apparently lost for words.
“I know this is a lot, especially unexpectedly in the middle of the night. If you want me to leave to give you time to think about it—”
“Don’t you dare,” Alex whispered. Then she grabbed Elizabeth by the front of her silk nightdress and kissed her.
Elizabeth melted into the kiss, letting Alex pull her inside, kicking the door shut behind them. She would be perfectly happy to kiss Alex until she expired from lack of oxygen, but Alex pulled away, leading Elizabeth by the hand to the couch.
“We still need to talk. You hurt me so much. I’ve been so heartbroken.”
“I know, Alex, I’m so sorr—”
“How can I know that you won’t prioritize your career over me again?”
Wait, what?
“What are you talking about?”
Alex frowned. “Well, you’ve done it once. Your numbers are good right now. What happens if they take a bad turn when we get back together? I know how important your work is to you. How can I know for sure that I won’t end up coming second best to your job again?”
“Wait… You think I broke up with you because of my job?”
