Chapter Twenty-Three #3
His arm tightened around me as his quiet laugh warmed the back of my neck. “I can wait.” A quick kiss landed on my nape. “But you should consider moving in. I’ll brief you on closet protocol.”
I nudged him with my elbow. “Don’t joke about that.”
“I’m not.” He played with the medallion hanging over my chest, twirling it in his fingers. “It’s not a joke. I meant what I said. I want everything, and I don’t want to wait.”
My eyes stayed fixed on the reflection of lamplight over the gold, letting that sink in. “Maybe.” It wasn’t exactly a small step, and you were supposed to think these things through. No matter how loudly my heart was screaming yes. “Depends on the amenities.”
Sebastian hummed behind me. His warmth surrounded me, the steady rise and fall of his chest at my back making everything feel… right.
“So what was the plan?” I adjusted myself, settling more comfortably against him. “When was all this supposed to happen?”
“When you were twenty-five.”
“Of course,” I said dryly. “Because I’d be infinitely more mature in a year.”
“A year and a month.” The rumble of his voice vibrated between us. “And it wouldn’t all happen at once. We’d just… start talking. Then a relationship. Moving in together. It was supposed to take years.”
I caught his hand and laced our fingers together, drawing it against my chest. “What if I was in a relationship?”
“What?” he scoffed softly. “Like you cared when I was in one?”
I let out a short laugh. “That’s not fucking funny.”
“It’s really not.” His chin settled over my shoulder.
I hesitated, then, “I tried to talk to Luca. Apologized for being a dick to him. He told me to fuck off.” My gaze dropped. “Which… fair.”
“You did?”
I nodded. “Charlotte made me realize that, even if you were mine first, it wasn’t called for. Plus, it brought up all the mess with my parents, and I just… I didn’t want to be that guy.” I shook my head slightly. “But I was.”
Sebastian stayed quiet, probably processing what I’d just said.
“I reached out too,” he finally said. “Tried to apologize again, but he wouldn’t listen. Not that I blame him.”
The weight of it settled between us.
“I fucked that up,” he added after a second, his voice low. “And I get that it’ll make it harder for you to trust me too.”
My fingers tightened around his.
Sebastian’s ability to stay—to actually commit—had always been a concern to me. But what we’d done to Luca, as fucked up as it was, had been collateral damage from us finding our way back to each other.
If everything Sebastian had said tonight was true—if that ring meant what he said it did—then he’d always chosen me. Above anyone else. And that changed something big, pulling my doubts away from him leaving me for someone else and toward whether he could truly let me in.
“I do trust you, Ash,” I said, quieter now. “I get why this spiraled out of control—for both of us. Just promise you won’t keep things from me, and we can make it out of this mess.”
His hand tightened in mine, holding a little firmer. “I won’t.”
The moment lingered, heavier than before. I kept staring at the gold band—at the promise of what that future could be.
“And then what?” I asked, trying to push past it. “We’d ride off into the sunset?”
Sebastian sighed, like he was attempting to do the same. “We’d move here if you wanted to. Travel together. Find our rhythm.”
“Did you picture kids in this fantasy?”
Sebastian went still. “Is that… something you’d want?”
“It’s something you probably should’ve asked before planning entire lives for us.”
He stayed quiet.
“But no,” I said. “I don’t think I do. It’d be a conversation if you wanted them, but I’m fine being the cool uncle. I figure Henny’s going to have five kids. That’s enough for all of us.”
Sebastian chuckled, tension easing as he relaxed back into the sheets. “That works for me too.”
“Anything else?”
He kissed along my jaw. “Spend the rest of our lives like this—doing whatever we want. Only I’d get to spoil you, like I’ve always wanted to.”
My mouth curved as I tipped my head, his beard brushing my neck.
Then it was there again—the question that had lived in my head ever since that first article came out. “Do we have to hide this time too?”
“No,” he said, voice firm. “No more hiding.”
I turned in his hold, needing to see his face. “Really?”
“Elena knows, and I updated the report with HR a couple of days ago.”
I blinked.
“As for the rest of the world…” He sighed, deeper this time. “Pictures have been circulating for a while now. There are even a couple from the hospital—”
Outrage surged through me. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Sebastian lifted a shoulder, frustration and resignation mixing in his expression. “People are always going to speculate until we say something. All I want to do is tell them to fuck off, shout it from the rooftops… but I don’t want this to hurt you again.”
Hurt me? I held his gaze for a second before it clicked. “Who told you about that?”
“Henny. Oli.” He brushed a strand of hair behind my ear, his eyes lingering on the movement. “I’m sorry, pet. For leaving you to deal with everything. Alone.”
That familiar hollow feeling opened up again. “People are assholes,” I said quietly. “Fuck them.”
Sebastian smiled and leaned in to kiss me.
“You deserve sunlight, my darling. That’s what I want to give you.
I’ll crush anyone who dares say a word to you.
” His hand slid back into my hair, this time holding.
“I mean it, Ethan. I want you on a throne—my fucking king. Untouchable. I’ll protect you from everything. Stand by your side.”
That fire in his eyes, those words, warmed me to my core. I brushed my thumb over his lower lip. “I don’t need protecting,” I said. “That’s not your job. But I’ll take the standing beside me. And the throne.”
Sebastian’s intensity softened into a quiet huff as he nudged his nose against mine. “I love you.”
“And I love you.” I pressed a kiss to his lips. “Let’s conquer the world together.”
The words lingered between us, followed by countless softer kisses, until the edges of the night blurred and we drifted off wrapped in each other.
It felt like the quiet after a fire—smoke still in the air, embers still glowing, but something new already beginning to breathe between us.
We weren’t whole yet.
But we were rising.