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Without hesitating, Jake slipped his hand in his pocket and held his phone out to her. “Come on. You can use my phone.”
My sister looked at me to confirm that everything was okay, and I gave her a nod of approval. “It’s okay. As long as you’re alright, we’re fine.”
“I’ll be back,” she said.
With that, Jake led my sister away from where Kane and I were, so she could call our parents. I returned my attention to Kane and allowed my eyes to roam over his face. “Thank you,” I whispered. “I’m not sure what would have happened if you hadn’t come here with me.”
“I never would have let you do this on your own.”
I leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. When I pulled back and looked at him again, I said, “I still can’t believe you jumped in front of a bullet for me.”
Something changed in his expression. His features softened, and after a beat of silence, he said, “I love you, Ellery. I’d never let anything happen to you.”
“What?”
“I love you, princess.”
Tears filled my eyes again. “You do?”
He reached his hand up to the side of my face, cupped my cheek, and stroked his thumb gently over the skin there. “I do.”
Unable to stop myself from reacting, I threw my arms out and over his shoulders. Hugging him tight, but not so tight that I would cause him any additional pain, I felt a gamut of emotions move through me. “I love you, Kane.”
Until he’d just said the words to me now, I hadn’t understood what it was that I’d been feeling lately about him. I knew something was changing. I knew things were different for me, but I didn’t have the word for it.
Once he said them, I realized they were perfect words to describe how I’d been feeling about him.
I was in love with a man for the first time in my life, and it was the best feeling in the world.
“What now?” I asked when I loosened my hold on him.
“We’re going to go and see what the police need from us,” he started. “Then, we’ll make sure your sister is taken care of. If you need or want to see your parents, we can make that happen. But ultimately, I want to get you back home to Steel Ridge, so we can celebrate.”
I loved that he was saying he wanted to get me backhometo Steel Ridge. I loved that he liked the idea of me being there permanently.
“What are we celebrating?” I asked.
“You mean, in addition to the fact that we love each other?” he countered.
“Yes. In addition to that, what are we celebrating?”
He smiled at me and said, “The fact that with what went down today and all that Leo is handing over to the authorities, we no longer have to worry about keeping you hidden. I’m guessing your husband is going to be locked up and tied up in court for a while. You can officially file for divorce, get that granted, and then I can go about fulfilling that promise I made to you. I’m going to give you everything, Ellery. That hasn’t changed.”
I closed my eyes and let out a sigh of relief.
He was right.
I didn’t know the extent of all that Leo had managed to dig up on Patrick. I didn’t honestly care at this point. I just wanted to move on with my life, the life I should have had all along, complete with a guy who loved and cared for me like I deserved.
I was going to be able to file for a divorce.
I was going to have a fresh start.
I might have set this all in motion, but I had no doubt it was because of Kane that it was going to be even better than I ever imagined.
“Are you sure you can get up?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
