Page 89 of Virtue & Vengeance

More candles and bouquets of pink roses filled every available surface. I’d never seen anything like it before in my life.

The world outside the window bustled, everyone rushing and moving at the speed of their own lives, but inside this place … our place… everything slowed for me as I took in the gorgeous space surrounding me.

I swiped at a tear when slipped from my eye and began to roll down my cheek.

That’s when I saw him.

Zander.

He stood across the room from me, his arms tucked behind his back and a sweet grin on his face.

“You did all this?” I asked, my arm sweeping wide as I motioned to the room around us.

“You told me I had to be sweet.”

I chuckled, feeling my heart swell with love.

“I did, but this…” I lost my words as more happy tears clogged my throat.

“Is nothing less than you deserve,” he said as he moved across the room and toward me.

Taking my hand, he pulled me further into the room. Hundreds of rose petals were laid out in the center, forming a perfect circle. Zander pulled me into that circle before kneeling in front of me and placing a soft kiss on my hand.

“Zander,” I whispered, feeling my heart skip a beat.

“I’m going to ask you again,” he said. “And if you say no, I’m going to continue to ask you every day for the rest of your life.”

He pulled out the small velvet box, and I frowned.

“Where did you…”

He grinned knowingly up at me. “Was this what you were looking for earlier?”

“How did you know?”

“Come on now, angel. You didn’t think I wasn’t going to take security measures after you broke into my safe once already,” he chided.

Then his face cleared and his emerald eyes captured me.

The ring box cracked when he popped it open and my eyes settled on the gorgeous five-carat ring he had been hoarding.

“Eden Vaughn, will you marry me?”

I swallowed, losing my voice for a few seconds before I was finally able to answer.

“Yes,” I whispered. “I would love nothing more than to marry you.”

I was crying by the time he stood and took me into his arms. And when he slipped the ring on my finger, I swore to myself that I would never take it off again.

“I’d thought you’d given up on me,” I said, swiping at my tears. “When I didn’t see the box inside the safe, I thought you changed your mind. I thought I’d lost you.”

He laughed, settling his soft lips against my cheek before he softly whispered, “Never, Eden. I’m yours forever.”