Page 244 of Marrying My Ex's Brother
“I love you,” I say.
The words come out rough. Unpolished. Almost unwilling.
But true.
Anya goes completely still.
I have said many things in my life that changed rooms. Orders. Threats. Verdicts. This is different. This changes me.
Her tears fall faster. “You do?”
I almost frown. “Yes.”
She laughs through the tears, a small broken sound. “You sound offended.”
“I am. You seem surprised.”
“I thought…” She shakes her head. “I don’t know what I thought.”
“I know what I thought.”
“What?”
“That I would rather tear down a city than live in one without you.”
Her face crumples.
I kiss her before she can apologize again. Not hard. Not desperate. Just my mouth on hers, careful because she is hurt, and because for once I don’t want to take anything. I want to give her something solid enough to hold.
When I pull back, she touches my scar. “I love you too,” she whispers.
Everything in me goes quiet.
I press my forehead to hers, and for a moment, neither of us speaks.
I let myself have it.
One minute. Only one.
Her breathing. Her hand over mine. The knowledge that she’s alive, that the baby is alive, that love has come into my life in the least gentle way possible and still, somehow, arrived.
Then the minute ends.
Because there’s still one thing left.
I stand.
Anya grips my hand immediately. “Where are you going?”
“I’ll leave men at the door. No one enters unless you approve it. Not doctors without identification. Not police. Not family.”
“Yaromir.”
I bend and kiss her hand. “Viktor stays here too.”
“No. Where are you going?”
I look at her.
