"Is that the truth?"
"Yes, damn it." Her voice caught, but she ignored it.
Then he lifted his hand and cupped her cheek. "You want me to take it on faith that you'll be honest with me from here on out? I want the same thing from you. I will not abandon you, no matter what. I love you, too-I always have. Buying you this house-asking you to marry me-I'm just trying to show you that I won't leave you. God knows I tried and see where it got me? The moment I set foot back in Denver, I looked you up and hired you."
Her throat started to close up. "Can we do this? Can we actually make this work?"
He pulled her into him. "I won't give up on you, Leona. That was the mistake I made last time. I gave up on you-on us. I didn't fight for you. I was stupid and a coward, and I believed that rat of a man when he told me that I could never have you and I will forever regret that."
"Oh, Byron-" she started to say, but he shook his head.
"I should have waited for you. To hell with that-I should have come after you." He dropped his face and leaned his forehead against her hands. "I should have come for you because that's what a Beaumont does-we fight for what we want, to hell with what anyone else thinks. And I didn't. I hope... I hope you can forgive me for failing you."
The strain of the afternoon was too much for her. She couldn't stand in judgment of him-she wasn't doing all that great of a job at standing, period. Tears started to trickle down her face as her legs shook.
Byron sat on one of the island stools and pulled her onto his lap. He stroked her back.
"I didn't tell you I thought I was pregnant," she said, her voice trembling as the tears started to spill down her cheeks. "I was afraid-afraid that you'd find out who my father was and we'd lose everything we had. I should have called you the moment I found out-I should have told you the moment I suspected. But I was scared, too. And when he showed up-he made it seem like everything I'd ever been taught about the Beaumonts had come true."
"If I had asked you, a year ago..." He shifted, pulling his key ring out of his pocket. "If I had asked you to marry me before it all went to hell, would you have said yes? You never answered that question the other night."
She curled up into him, feeling warm and safe. "I would have. I would have said yes."
Byron hugged her fiercely. "I need you. I've always needed you. I thought- I was afraid you didn't need me."
She looked up at him, unable to stop the tears. "I need you, too. I want this to work so badly, Byron."
"I'm here for you now and I will always be here for you and Percy. No more running, no more hiding. Just you and me and our family." He unhooked the engagement ring from the key chain and held it up. "Leona, I have a very important question for you."
She grinned. "Not an order this time?"
"No. No more orders. Will you marry me? Not for Percy, not for the baby but because I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life by your side. Because it was always meant to be this way-you and me, together."
"Yes, Byron. Yes." Leona couldn't fight the tears-happy tears-as he slid the ring onto her finger.
"Oh, babe," he whispered against the spot right below her ear. "It's going to be different this time. I want to go to all your appointments and hear the heartbeat and everything. You and me, babe. You and me and our family."
And then Leona was laughing and crying all at the same time and Byron was kissing her and she was taking the ring from him and putting it on her finger.
"Marry me," Byron said, wiping away her happy tears with his thumb. "Not because you have to and not because it's the best way to protect Percy-marry me because you want to and I want you to."
"Oh, Byron," she said, throwing her arms around his neck and holding him tight. Finally, finally things were going how she'd always dreamed they would. She'd told her father off and defended herself and Byron was here and she'd forgiven him and he'd forgiven her and they were together. They'd always be together.
"Tell me what you want," he whispered against the sensitive skin of her neck. His voice had dropped an octave and he pressed her against his body-all of it. "Tell me you want me."
"You," she whispered back. "All I want is you."
"Then I'm yours. Forever yours."
And that was a promise she knew he'd keep.