Chapter 30
STASSI
Being back here has actually felt pretty good, especially now that Xander is here. Elena has been wonderful with him while Theo's been with Dimitri doing whatever the two of them are up to.
Theo did come to check on us during dinner and introduce Dimitri to Xander, who thought his tattoos were very cool and then asked me if he could get one too—a T-Rex on his neck, just like where Uncle Dimitri has some.
Of course, Dimitri encouraged him, jokingly, but Theo didn't laugh.
Now, it's late and Xander sleeps next to me in the guest room. One arm is wrapped around a new stuffed dinosaur Theo picked up at the airport gift shop. It's small and plush, but already loved.
The TV casts a glow as cartoons play on mute. He wanted a nightlight, and it was the only thing I could think of.
I should probably try and sleep too, but I can't seem to settle. I always feel every bit of the history between Theo and me when I'm here. It's on my mind, either consciously or subconsciously. It hangs like a cloud—a welcomed cloud, but still there nonetheless.
I rub my face, trying to relieve some of the tension, when a soft knock at the door catches me off guard.
Theo pushes the door open gently, his voice low. "Hey."
"Hey."
He steps inside, closing it behind him, but doesn't walk to me right away. His eyes go to Xander first.
"He's out?" he asks, nodding toward his son.
I nod. "Out cold."
He smiles and takes a few steps over to me, his tight black shirt highlighting the perfect curves of his muscles flexing underneath.
He stops just by the bed and holds out a small screen. "You're not sleeping in here tonight," he says firmly.
I sit up, confused. "What do you mean?" I ask, grabbing the monitor and looking. I instantly see me, the bed I'm sitting on, Xander, and Theo.
I look up in the direction of the camera.
"I had it installed when I knew you were coming back with him."
The picture is crystal clear. I can even see Xander's little chest moving up and down.
"You belong in my bed, Stassi, so that's where I want you," he says and brushes the hair out of my face. "Where you should've been all along."
I don't answer right away.
The silence stretches between us, heavier than it should be.
It's not doubt in him. It's doubt in myself. My place. The fear I don't deserve it anymore.
"I…"
Theo crouches down in front of me.
"I've posted two guards outside Xander's door. They're my best men. Three outside. And we've got this." He taps the monitor. "You'll see every breath he takes from my room. You need him, he needs you—we're seconds away."
His hand slides gently up my leg.
"You carried our son all this time alone," he says, voice edged with something primal. "Let me carry you now."
He stands, extends his hand.
"Come on, Stassi. It's where you belong."
I take it.
The moment our fingers link, something inside me shifts. My body remembers what it means to trust him. What it means to be led by someone who sees all your cracks and still calls you his.
As we walk down the hall together, my heart pounds.
Because this isn't just about being together.
It's about reclaiming something we both lost.
It's about coming home complete.
We walk in silence down the hall to his room.
Theo opens the door and steps aside, letting me walk in first.
As I step into Theo's room, I stop.
For a moment, I don't breathe.
The entire space is transformed. It's not the bedroom I remember.
Dozens, maybe hundreds, of roses cover the bed, the floor, the dresser. They're everywhere.
And not just any roses.
My roses.
The same soft pink ones he gave me the night of our first official date, back when we were just starting to believe we could have something real.
Among them are candles. They line the dresser, the window ledge, and the nightstands. Small, flickering flames cast a golden glow across the room. Tiny shadows from the scattered petals across the bed move and dance on the sheets.
"Oh, Theo…" I say, my head and heart racing.
He doesn't say anything at first. Just closes the door behind him and stands there, watching me take it all in.
"I got them from that same florist in Athens. Took a few calls to get so many on short notice, but you know," he says with a smile.
I turn toward him slowly. The candlelight kisses his face, highlights the angles of his jaw, the sharpness of his cheekbones, the intensity in those ice-blue eyes that have never looked at me like this.
"They're beautiful, but why would you do all this for me?"
"Because you never got to come back to me properly." He steps closer. "You left carrying my child. You came back with the weight of worry and guilt on your shoulders. It's time we rewrite our story."
"I didn't expect this," I say.
"I didn't expect a second chance." He pauses. "But life has an interesting way of reconnecting people that are soulmates."
He guides me gently to the center of the room where a small velvet box sits on the corner of a table surrounded by roses and candles.
My heart pounds harder.
"I told myself I would wait until the danger was behind us, but I don't want to wait anymore," he says, voice low and smooth. "Not after everything we've been through."
He lifts the box but doesn't open it. "Because the only thing that makes any of our crazy lives make sense is you."
Tears sting my eyes.
He drops to one knee.
"I never thought I'd have this. A real family. A chance to be more than a shadow behind Ares. But you gave me something I never knew I needed—meaning. You and Xander. You made me want to build something that lasts," he says, opening the box.
The ring is a large diamond in a claw setting. Smaller diamonds flank it. It's elegant. It's beautiful. It's me.
"Anastasia Milonakis," he says, taking my hand. "Be mine now and forever. Will you be my wife?"
Tears blur my vision.
I realize my chest is rising and falling rapidly. My body feels numb and I can't even think straight. It's always been Theo. He's the only person who makes me confront myself. When I don't feel like I deserve something or I'm not worthy of receiving it, he gives it to me. He makes me feel it.
Since that night in his office, my dress covered in vodka, I knew then what I know right now.
I was put on this earth to find this man before me.
Tears stream down my face. Happy ones that I'm not eager to wipe away or hide.
"Yes, Theo," I say. "God, a thousand times, yes."
He springs to his feet, pulls me into him, and kisses me. Deeply. Passionately.
We pull back and I hold my hand out to admire the ring.
"It's so beautiful."
"I'm glad you like it."
"Like it? I love it!"
I glance around at the roses, the candles, the soft shadows dancing across the walls.
"I can't believe you did all this for me," I say and pick up one of the roses.
"They're your favorite. Of course I'd get them," he says and kisses me again. "I'll cover your world in them every day if it'll make you smile."
"You being in my life every day is all I'll need to smile," I say.
My heart is full like I've never felt before.
This man.
He's mine.
And now, I'm his, completely.
He runs a hand down my arm, his touch featherlight until it reaches my wrist. He raises it to his mouth, presses a kiss there. Then his mouth moves to my collarbone, the base of my throat, the hollow behind my ear.
"Theo…" I gasp.
"You're wearing my ring now, Stassi," he says. "You know what that means."
I nod, breath trembling.
"You belong to me."
"Yes, Sir."
"Good girl."
He lifts me effortlessly and playfully tosses me onto the bed. Rose petals fly into the air and rain down on me.
He climbs on top of me and kisses my neck.
"We'll take our time tonight," he says against my skin. "I want to remember every sound you make when you wear this ring."
As we start to kiss, I know our fates are sealed forever.
And if the world ever tries to come for me or Xander again, they'll learn what happens when you touch what belongs to Theo Kastaris.