“But—but this is incredible.” So much so that I had to lean against the hood of his rental car. “Thank you,” I said. “Thank you for getting my father out of this mess.”
“You’re welcome, but my motive was a selfish one, too. I don’t want to lose you.”
“I don’t want to lose you, either,” I said. “I miss you so damn much.”
“But you need to go in with eyes wide open. Because Kevin is going to be pissed and he just might be vindictive. I’m getting out—I already told you that. I’m cleaning up my various businesses, and if I can’t clean them up, I’m dumping them. Ending them altogether or selling my share to Tyler and Cole. I’ve been cleaning up for a while now, ever since my mom died, and I don’t think there’s a stitch of evidence for him to latch onto. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’ve done things. Things he can jump all over. He might not be able to make it stick, but he can still make life miserable for us.”
He took my hand and raised my fingertips to his lips. “In other words, as long as Kevin’s determined to poke around, I’m still not a safe bet.”
I looked at him, thinking of the way he made me feel. Of my uncle’s regret. Of my mother.
Most of all, I thought about what I wanted.
And what I wanted was this man.
“I love you, Evan. I want to go home. And I’m willing to accept whatever risk.” I drew in a breath. “I don’t want to ever be without you.”
“And you never will be,” he said, then pulled me into a long, deep kiss punctuated by that extra special Evan kick that I loved so much. “Do you want to go back to Chicago right away?” he asked.
I frowned, not sure what he was driving at. “Why? Do you want to stay in California for a while?”
“I was thinking we could take a short detour on the way back,” he said. “A weekend in Italy? Or we could just go wild and spend a full week there. What do you say?”
I laughed, delighted with the man, with the world, with the whole entire universe.
“I say that sounds absolutely amazing.”