But, with Walter Noir in a body bag, it felt like we could finally take the first step on the road to recovery.
And, for me, that first step was finishing what I’d started years earlier.
I pressed my lips to her forehead then sat on the edge of the bed and repeated, “Wake up, baby.”
She moaned sleepily, stretching her body before curling around me. “Mmm,” she purred.
“I’ve got a surprise for you, but I need you to wake up.”
“If it’s hospital food, I’d rather sleep. The nurses were in and out all night.”
She was not wrong. Thanks to Clare, Elisabeth hadn’t sustained any substantial injuries during her ordeal. The doctor had only kept her overnight for observation as a precautionary measure. Thankfully, the nursing staff seemed to have missed that memo. It was usually my job to be overprotective when it came to Elisabeth. It was nice to finally have a team at my back. She argued with me about damn near everything, but she was too polite to argue with them. So I’d gotten to sit back and watch them do my dirty work.
“The doctor will be around in a little while to sign your release papers, but first, we have to take care of something.”
She pried one eye open. “What kind of something?”
I smiled and ran my finger through her hair. “Making you Elisabeth Leblanc—with an S and a lowercase B—again.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “What?”
“Reverend,” I called over my shoulder.
“What?” she repeated louder, sitting up.
“Ms. Keller,” the hospital chaplain greeted from the doorway, a Bible tucked in his hands in front of him.
“I’m sorry. Who are you?” Elisabeth said in a sugary-sweet tone before turning an angry scowl on me.
“I’m Reverend Potter. I understand you’d like to get married today?”
She blinked once.
Twice.
Thrice.
And then she opened her mouth to speak only to close it and blink again.
Closing her eyes, she shook her head and said, “Can you give us a minute, Reverend Potter?”
“Of course,” he replied, backing out of the room.
I remained impassive, sitting on the side of the bed. I knew what was to come. I also knew how’d it end. And that was the only part I cared about.
“Roman,” she started in the faux calm she used so often right before she lost it.
“Lissy,” I purred back in a real calm I used so often when I knew she was gearing up for an explosion.
“Why is there a reverend in my hospital room at six thirty in the morning?” More of her faux calm.
“Well, I didn’t expect him to be here at six thirty, but I guess you get VIP treatment when you donate two hundred thousand dollars to the hospital chapel.” More of my real calm.
Tick.
Tick.
Boom!
“Two hundred thousand dollars?” she accused. “What the hell, Roman!”
“Calm down. It’s not a big deal. I needed a last-minute chaplain. Besides, I can write it off on my taxes.”
“Your taxes?” she scoffed. “You think I’m concerned about your tax shelters right now?”
So fast that she didn’t have time to react, I thrust a hand into the back of her hair and then I hauled her toward me until our mouths were less than an inch apart. Her breathing sped, and her eyes flashed wide. I rued the day she’d lose that heated surprise every time I got close. The way her mind fought the attraction but her body melted at the first touch.
I nipped at her bottom lip. “I figured it had to be the money because I know you couldn’t be upset about becoming my wife again.”
“This isn’t the right time,” she whispered, her attitude already fading.
“No. It’s the perfect time,” I replied. “I could have lost you yesterday, Lis. I never would have recovered knowing all of the memories I missed out on with you. I wasted two years I could have been waking up with you. Holding you. Living at your side. Two fucking years I can never get back. Two years I will regret for the rest of my life. Two years I will spend a lifetime trying to make up for. And the first step in that is not wasting another second without you being my wife. This is a new day. And we’re starting a new life. When we walk out of this hospital, we’re doing it together—the way we were made to be. Marry me, Lissy. Right here. Right now.”
Her green eyes sparkled as she lifted her hand to my cheek. “Why do you always have to piss me off? Why can’t you just start with the romantic speech?” She hooked her arm around my neck and pressed her lips to mine.
“Because then I’d miss your attitude,” I murmured, pushing her back onto the bed and following her down.
She giggled against my mouth.
“Is that a yes?” I asked.
She stared up at me like the innocent angel I’d met all those years earlier.
And then she gave me back my life. “It’s always a yes, Roman.”
Five years later…
“Don’t forget to pack the bottles!” I yelled down the stairs to Roman.
“I said I’ve got them already!” he yelled back.
“You don’t have to be so rude, you know?”