Page 94 of Breaking Eve

He laughs, bitter. “You’re the only one who thinks that.”

“I’m the only one who matters,” I reply.

He turns, looks at me, eyes shiny in the dark.

“You ever going to leave?” he asks, voice rough.

I shake my head. “Never.”

He wraps his arms around me, holding me so tight I can barely breathe.

“Good,” he says. “Because I don’t know what I’d do if you did. Probably hunt you down and kill you, then kill myself. There’s no life after you.”

He runs his fingers through my hair, slow and gentle.

“When this is over,” he says, “when we’ve burned it all down, I’ll build you something better. Something real.”

“I just want you,” I say.

He kisses the top of my head. “You have me.”

We drift off, still tangled together, the future uncertain but the present… perfect.

For the first time, I believe it will last.

For the first time, I’ve found my home.