His lips twisted. ‘For years, my runaway brides,fokk, two of them, consumed my every thought. I imagined I’d be angrier than this, yet now, Suri and Shiloh seem like distant shadows.’
He arched a brow. ‘Could it be that having a living, breathing wife has somehow taken away the fantasy? Because deep down inside, I find that Ifokkin’ don’t care anymore about either of them.’
Saba’s soul lurched.
He hesitated, tilting his head. ‘I also realize something else. If she hadn’t run to Zolan, I’d never have hadwhateverthefokkthis with you. While I’m still navigating how I relate to you, woman, you are intriguing enough to want to keep around.’
Saba blinked as he spoke, her heart beating so fast that the thunder of blood drowned her hearing.
Then came a quiet, unexpected joy.
It wasn’t that she needed the comparison to her sisters, who had left him.
Nada, she had long made her peace with that.
However, to listen to him finally speak those words, to see the realization dawn in his eyes that their marriage was not just an empty, barren union, was a miracle she hadn’t thought would ever come.
Their eyes locked, and he smiled, a softening visible in his eyes.
It was as if the onus of agony had lifted, almost as if the room exhaled, and Saba let the moment settle, savoring it before speaking.
‘That gives me so much peace to hear Mak. I’ve seen you carry this burden with such anguish,’ she said, her eyes searching his, ‘that part of me wondered if you’d ever recover from it.’
‘What helps is that you’re more virtuous than your sisters. You stood in their stead and honored their promises,’ Mak rasped.
She tilted her head, studying him. ‘They made their choices at your expense. They bothfokkedup, and trust me, I don’t absolve either of them. But you don’t owe me a comparison. I never needed to be better than them. I just wanted to be enough for you. Perhaps one day I will be.’
‘Maybe you already are.’
Mak’s rasp seemed filled with wonder.
Her soul lurched, and hope rose as she sensed the remnants of his old hurt fade, replaced by a more substantial and profound connection.
Finally, Mak spoke again.
‘Santefor telling me the truth. It can’t have been easy, for you’ve had to betray your sister’s confidence.’
He rose and rounded his desk, striding to its front, leaning a hip on the edge, gazing down at her.
‘I couldn’t keep it from you anymore, myŠar,’ Saba said. ‘Not if I were to hold on to the covenant of our marriage.’
Their eyes met in a silent exchange of tacit desires and truths, sensing this pivotal moment would change everything for them.
Mak’s gaze held as he reached a hand for hers.
She took it as she stood and moved closer to him. He lifted it, kissing the tips of each finger.
With uncharacteristic tenderness, he cradled her hand against his chest, his touch sending a jolt of awareness coursing through her.
Their eyes locked in a bond that transcended mere words as her heart and stomach fluttered with wild emotion.
She ached with the intensity of her feelings for him, emotions she’d long tried to bury these last few weeks now surging to the surface with undeniable force.
‘Give me time,’ Mak said with quiet conviction, squeezing her hand before releasing it. ‘To process everything.’
She nodded, unwilling to push him beyond his limits, which would only drive him further away.
‘Also, please understand,’ he implored, his voice rough with sentiment. ‘What you’ve shared about Shiloh is a lot to take in. It has little reflection on you. I need space to work things out in my head.’
