Page 164 of Unleashed
He reached into his jacket and didn’t drop to one knee.
He didn’t need to.
“Peyton,” he said, steady and sure.“I don’t want to own your life.I don’t want to rescue you.I want to walk beside you every day, for the rest of it, if you’ll let me.”
He opened a small velvet box.Inside, a simple, elegant ring caught the light.
“Marry me,” he said.“Not because we survived—but because we choose each other.”
The room fell away.
Tears blurred my vision—not from fear, but certainty.
“Yes,” I whispered.Then louder.“Yes.”
Creed’s breath shuddered as he slid the ring onto my finger.He didn’t pull me close.
He waited.
I stepped into him.
The applause came later.Celebration would follow.
But in that quiet space between us, with my mother’s art watching from the walls, my future felt steady in front of me.
Curiosity had once pulled me into dark rooms, dangerous men, and truths I wasn’t ready to face.
It had cost me safety, sleep, and innocence.
It taught me that wanting to know more can open doors you can’t easily close.
But it had also led me here.
To truth.
To love.
To a man who stayed.
To a future that belonged to me—not my past.
Creed leaned down, his mouth brushing my temple.“Ready to go home?”
I smiled, finally unafraid of the answer.
“Yes.”
Because curiosity does have consequences.
And this time—
I chose mine.
