Page 57 of Love on the Edge
CC’s been asking about her less and less, but it still happens. And every damn time, it hits like a gut punch.
I could lie. I could tell her what I always have—that Valeria is training, that she’s busy, that she’ll see her soon.
But I don’t have that excuse anymore.
So, I tell the truth. The only truth that matters. “I miss her too, squirt.”
CC nods, as if she understands something I don’t, then skips off. Just like that.
I exhale, dragging a hand down my face. I need to stop thinking about her.
I need to focus. I need to fight.
Because I can’t lose CC.
And because Valeria is already gone.
She doesn’t want me.
And I have to let her go.
I pull into the courthouse parking lot, gripping the wheel tighter than I need to. This is it. The trial, the fight, the last battle I never wanted but sure as hell won’t lose.
I cut the engine and step out, rolling my shoulders, inhaling the cold air like it might settle the tension coiled in my chest. It doesn’t.
My parents, Ryan, Nina, and Drew are already on the sidewalk waiting for me. But standing next to Nina is someone I wasn’t expecting.
Valeria.
I stop short, my breath locking in my chest. She’s here. Not in my memory. Not in my dreams. Right here.
She steps forward, her gaze locked onto mine, steady, unshaken. Determined. “Ethan.”
Just my name. Simple. But it slams into me, like something deep and aching finally being touched.
She looks different. But not really. The same, but more.
She’s wearing a fitted navy coat, the color making her brown eyes sharper, her skin warmer. It cinches at her waist, elegant, structured, effortlessly her. Her hair is down, waves cascading over her shoulders, the ends curling slightly from the winter air. There’s something about it, about all of her, that feels softer. But she’s still Valeria. Still steel beneath it all.
Still the woman I love.
I clear my throat, stepping toward her. “You came.”
Her lips press together for half a second before she nods. “Of course, I came.”
I swallow hard. “You didn’t have to.”
Her breath shudders slightly, the first crack in her composure. “Yes, I did.” She exhales slowly, her breath visible in the cold air. “I left when you needed me. I’m not making that mistake again.”
Everything inside me stills.
She left. When things got hard, when Margo came back, when everything was falling apart—she left. And it hurt more than I let myself admit. But now, here she is, standing in front of me, choosing to come back.
Her hands clench slightly, like she’s trying to steady herself. “I was scared, Ethan. I was scared of what Margo being back meant, of what it would do to you, to CC. I was scared I would just be in the way.” Her throat bobs, her voice barely above a whisper now. “But I wasn’t protecting you. I was protecting myself. And that was selfish.”
She blinks hard, like she’s trying to push past the emotion tightening her voice. “I should’ve stayed. I should’ve fought for you. I should’ve fought for us.”
The world around us blurs, the courthouse, the people, the trial waiting inside—none of it exists in this moment. Just her. Just me.
