How to Belong with a Billionaire (Arden St. Ives #3)

by Alexis Hall

I was terrified of what it might mean if you were right. And so I ran to Nathaniel to prove you wrong. But you weren’t. And I couldn’t go back, and couldn’t go on, and then…then you came to save me again.”

He turned into me, stifling an amused sound in my hair. I hoped someday he would learn to laugh freely, but until then, or even if he never did, all his secrets would be safe with me. As cherished as his kisses.

It was close to midnight, maybe even a little after it, which meant that we’d slipped into the magical space between days, when the teeth of the past were blunted and the future a starbright road.

“I want to live with you wherever would make you happiest.” He gazed at me, searchingly. “Did I misjudge? You’re welcome to stay at the penthouse with me. Or we could move back to One Hyde Park. Or I could buy you a mansion, or an island, or a windmill, or a yacht or—

“I’m worried this could leave a permanent mark.” “I hope it does,” I said, surprising myself by how fiercely I meant it. “That way you’ll always be able to see the difference between something like this and what we do together.” “I should learn to bear my own scars.” “You have enough. I’m proud to bear this one for you.”

“My beautiful Arden,” he said. “My love. My treasure. My perfect boy.”

I love you, and I want you—this you, the one who’s offered me his heart, and a life, and a home. Not some hypothetical you who could have existed if things had been different.”

All that time, waiting like a fool for an ending. When what I’d really wanted—what we’d both needed—was a beginning.