Chapter 36
Ace
I don’t think I knew peace until I held her.
Brittany.
My girl, my hurricane and my calm all wrapped into one.
She was curled on the couch now, breathing soft and even, her head in my lap, hair fanned out like a golden halo. The TV played some old movie in the background, but the sound was low, just a murmur in the quiet room. The rain pattered against the windows, soft and rhythmic, like the universe was trying to rock her to sleep too.
I watched her chest rise and fall, my hand stroking gently through her hair, and I felt something deep in my chest I didn’t have words for.
She made me feel... needed.
Wanted.
Not because of my last name, not because of the money or the reputation or the goddamn legacy my father hammered into me since I was old enough to walk.
But because I was me. Because I showed up. Because I loved her.
And God, did I love her.
I loved the way her nose scrunched when she was annoyed.
The way she laughed too loud at her own jokes.
The way she let herself be soft with me when the rest of the world demanded she be steel.
And tonight — tonight had shattered something in me.
When I walked in and saw her on that couch, knees tucked up, shaking, lost inside herself... I think my heart cracked right down the middle. And when she climbed into my lap, wrapped her arms around my neck, let herself fall apart in my arms — it wasn’t a burden.
It was an honor.
It was the most important thing I’d ever done.
I smoothed her hair back again, watching the way her lips parted slightly in sleep, the faint crease still between her brows.
“I’ve got you, baby,” I whispered against her hair, even though she couldn’t hear me. “Always.”
I leaned back against the couch, eyes half-closed, feeling the weight of her against me.
And for a moment, just a moment, I let myself believe this was it.
That maybe I could have this.
That maybe, just maybe, I could get away with loving her without the world ripping us apart.
---
My phone buzzed on the table.
I stiffened.
Carefully, so carefully, I shifted Brittany off my lap, tucking a blanket around her. She stirred, murmured something soft, then settled again.
I grabbed my phone.
