“I killed Fitzgerald because he took me from the streets when I was sixteen. Held me for two years as his personal sexual slave. Because he raped Gabriel’s mother. Because he hurt Honor’s stepfather. Because he had Alex’s father murdered.” She took a breath. “Because he hurt Zac. And it was my turn to protect him.”
The silence deepened.
She didn’t look at anyone else. She looked across the room at the still figure of the man she loved. A man carved from stone. The only sign of life, the golden flames in his eyes.
A man who’d always been alone.
And it struck her then, a realization she knew down deep in her bones.
He’d been at her side for seven years. He’d pulled her out of hell and stopped her from returning to it.
It wasn’t only her turn to protect him. It was her turn to show him he wasn’t alone.
It was her turn to show him he could trust her.
“Zac, I was going to tell you to go,” Eva said, her voice only a little unsteady. “That I’ve paid your price. Taken your punishment. That I won’t hold you here anymore. That you’re free.” She braced herself, looked into those cold amber eyes. “But I’m not going to. Because the fact is you’ll never be free of me. No matter where you go, no matter how far you run, I’ll always be there. I love you and I’m not letting you go. Not ever.”
* * *
Everyone was looking at him, shock on their faces, and yet he was barely conscious of them. Barely conscious of the room around him. All his attention focused on the woman standing in front of the fire.
His whole world had taken on the shape of her. White hair and gray eyes. Slight, fragile curves. Pale skin. Delicate as an alabaster vase, yet with a backbone of pure titanium.
He felt brittle in comparison. A hollowed-out façade of a man. All he was, eaten away by the fire inside him, the anger he couldn’t get rid of. The memory of a sister he couldn’t let go.
He’d been strong coming in here. Resolute in his intentions. He’d listen to what she had to say, then he’d let them know, one by one, that he was leaving New York. And never coming back.
He’d expected her to set him free. He’d never expected her to fight.
She was all he’d thought about for so many years, been close to her for so long, and yet it was only now, right this single, incandescent instant, that he truly saw.
Standing in front of the fire, the flames behind her, she looked … strong. Resolute. And not the brittle, breakable kind of strength that came from denial, but the true lasting kind that came from acceptance.
She was a warrior. She always had been.
And now she’s fighting for you.
Something inside him expanded like the sudden gasp of a long-denied breath.
The silence was complete and yet still he didn’t move. Didn’t look away from her.
You should trust me, she’d told him. I’m not Theresa.
Only now did he understand what she’d meant. He had to trust her not to leave him. Trust her not to destroy him.
I’m not letting you go. Not ever.
Theresa had never fought for him. She’d turned her head to the wall and died.
“No,” he said in a voice that didn’t sound like his. “No. No. No.”
Shock fell across the room.
Eva’s mouth opened, pain flashing in her eyes.
“No,” Zac repeated, in case they hadn’t heard it the first four times. “Fucking no.”
He shoved himself away from the couch, his footing unsteady. He was shaking.
Eva stood there, staring at him. Her chin coming up. Resolute.
“No!” he roared.
And then he was rounding the couch, heedless of everyone else in the room. Kicking aside the coffee table with all the food on it, everything smashing on the ground.
He didn’t care. There was only one thing in the world that mattered. Only one thing that would ever matter.
“Zac?” someone demanded. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“Hey—” someone else said.
“Everyone get out!” Eva shouted, her face white.
Zac didn’t bother to see if they obeyed because by then he’d reached her and she was in his arms, where she’d always belonged. Where she’d always been meant to be.
Her hands pushed against his chest. “Zac, wait—”
But he didn’t wait. He cupped her face in his hands, cutting her words with his mouth. Kissing her as if all the air in the world was contained in her. As if she were his one hope of survival.
She was still for a moment, but he didn’t stop. Gently coaxing her mouth to open, stroking the fragile bones of her jaw with his thumbs, letting her taste his desperation. His need.
Eva shivered and then she melted, her lips parting under his, the delicate touch of her tongue. Nothing then but sweetness and heat. Everything he’d ever wanted right here in his hands.