Page 112 of His Forced Irish Mafia Bride

I saw it register in her face. Maeve didn’t move for a moment. Neither did I.

The room stayed quiet, but it wasn’t the same silence from before. It didn’t feel like waiting anymore. She looked at me for a long time.

Then she said it. “I love you.” She didn’t hesitate or turn away. I didn’t speak immediately.

Not because I didn’t understand. I’d known it for a while, even though I hadn’t said it out loud. I took a slow breath.

“I know,” I said.

Maeve’s eyes stayed on mine. I stepped closer, but not all the way, just enough to close the distance between everything that had been between us before.

“I love you, too,” I said.

Her shoulders eased slightly when she heard it, like something she’d been holding inside finally had somewhere to land. For a moment, neither of us spoke again. That confession didn’t feel new.

It felt like something that had been there already, just not allowed to exist openly until now. Maeve looked down briefly, then back up at me. “I meant it,” she said quietly.

“I know,” I said again.

She didn’t step back. She didn’t ask anything else.

And I didn’t, either. There was nothing left to resolve now. Nothing left to explain or undo. Only what we’d chosen when everything else was stripped away.

I stayed where I was, close enough to feel her presence. Maeve moved, slowly at first, like she was still testing whether the moment would hold.

She came closer. I didn’t move away. She stopped right in front of me, looked up for a second, and then leaned in. Her head rested against my shoulder.

I lifted my arms around her without thinking too much about it. I pulled her in closer. She let out a small breath when I did it, like something inside her finally settled. We stood there like that for a while.

Maeve shifted slightly, getting more comfortable against me. “I didn’t think it would feel like this,” she said.

“Like what?” I asked.

“Like I can finally breathe.”

I knew what she meant. I looked out toward the window with her still against me.

The light outside was soft now. Late afternoon. Everything was calm. “It took us long enough,” I said.

She made a small sound that could have been an agreement or amusement. I wasn’t sure. I just held her. After a while, I spoke again.

“You know,” I said, “I could still technically send you away.”

Maeve lifted her head slightly. “What?”

I kept my face serious. “I mean, I built this whole system. I could undo it. Very professionally and dramatically.”

There was a pause. Then she looked up at me properly. “You’re ruining this moment.”

She pinched my arm. I let out a yelp. “Violence already,” I said.

“You deserved that.” Her voice was lighter now. I looked down at her. She was trying not to smile, but she was losing.

I relaxed my hold on her slightly, then pulled her back in again. “Okay,” I said. “I’ll behave.”

“You’d better,” she said.

We went quiet again after that. But it didn’t feel like before. It felt easier.