All he could do was shake his head. A hurricane of emotions swirled through him then. On the one hand, he was beyond happy. This was everything he and his partners had been working toward for so long. But on the other hand, being one step closer to finding the treasure meant that Mia was one step closer to leaving.
But does it have to be that way? he asked himself a little desperately.
Himself answered back with, No way to know until you ask.
Except it wasn’t a question that jumped out of his mouth. It was a statement.
“I love you.”
He wasn’t sure who was more surprised by his outburst, him or her.
Her. Definitely her, he decided a second later when her face blanched and the pulse beating in her throat went thready.
Fuck. So much for living up to your nickname. Romeo was romantic. That was just...clumsy.
“Breathe, Mia,” he instructed quietly and watched her suck in a ragged breath. He opened his mouth to add, he wasn’t sure what, but she beat him to the punch.
“I love you too.”
He blinked, not quite believing his ears.
His heart believed them. And it couldn’t decide whether it wanted to burst with joy or fly out of his mouth on wings of happiness. Maybe both. Fly out of his mouth and then explode like a confetti cannon, leaving little paper hearts raining down around them.
He had to make sure the pain meds weren’t making him hallucinate. “You do?” he asked cautiously.
“Of course I do. You’re the most amazing man I’ve ever met. The most amazing person I’ve ever met.” She shrugged. “How could I not love you?”
With every word out of her mouth, his elation grew. In fact, it was so big by the time she finished speaking that he would swear it took up all the space inside him, swelling in his chest and his throat. Which was why his voice was breathy when he said, “Okay, then. Let’s throw out our plans to stay forever single. Let’s see if two people who don’t have any idea how to make a relationship work can actually go the distance. Let’s give this...give us...a chance. Let’s be each other’s ride-or-die. What do you say?”
As far as speeches went, it wasn’t great. Let’s be each other’s ride-or-die? Really? That was the best I could come up with?
When she lowered her head, seemingly unable to meet his eyes, his soaring heart sunk like an anchor.
She whispered something he couldn’t hear. His voice was louder than he would have liked when he asked, “What? What did you say?”
She lifted her head, and he saw her eyes were filled with tears. “I can’t, Spiro. I wish I could. I wish I was a different person.” She hiccupped on a sob as a tear spilled over her bottom lid and raced down a cheek he knew from experience was warm and satiny soft. “I wish I was someone who was...worthy of you.”
“What are you talking about?” His agitation was evident in his voice. “You are worthy of me. You’re the only person who’s ever looked at me and seen me. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted but didn’t think I could have. Mia—”
“But I’m not worthy of you!” she wailed. “I’m not who you think I am!”
His mind flew back to the conversation they’d had about marriage, to his feeling that there was more to the story, more to her reasons for not wanting a happily-ever-after, than just not thinking she’d be any good at it because she’d never been shown the way.
“Then who are you?” he asked quietly. “What aren’t you telling me?”
The tip of her nose was pink when she shook her head. “I can’t.” Her thin shoulders quaked, and he motioned for her to come closer.
“Of course you can. You can tell me anything.”
His frustration and his panic increased when she shook her head again and, instead of coming closer, she actually took a step back. A step away from him.
His heart lurched in his chest in a bid to follow her.
“But I can’t,” she insisted. “Because I want you to always look at me the way you’re looking at me right now. Please, Spiro...” For the first time, he experienced no joy when he heard his name on her lips. “I want...I want to live in a world where you’re out there somewhere thinking of me as someone who’s good. Someone who could be worthy of you.”
He shook his head helplessly. “What are you talking about? You don’t think you’re good?”
She didn’t answer him. Instead she said, “But it would kill me if you ever saw me the way I see myself. The way I am.”
“Mia, I—”
“Time to check your vitals and do another breathing test,” the big, male nurse who’d worked the day shifts boomed as he sauntered into the room. His gaze pinged between Romeo and Mia, and he was quick to add, “Or I could come back in fifteen minutes.”
“Yes,” Romeo blurted at the same time Mia said, “No. Please, do what you have to do to make sure he gets better.”
Andre looked unsure as he watched Mia walk stiffly to the door. Romeo didn’t need a mirror to know he looked panicked.
Maybe it was arrogant, but he’d never wanted a thing so much only to have it beyond his reach. Not that he could remember wanting anything or anyone as much as he wanted Mia. But the things he had truly gone after? He’d always gotten.
Maybe I’ve lived a charmed life after all.
“Mia, don’t go,” he said hoarsely, feeling like if she walked out the door, he might never see her again.
She stopped at the threshold, and he felt a moment’s relief. It was fleeting, because the next words out of her mouth sounded like goodbye. “Thank you, Spiro. Thank you for loving me. It’s the greatest honor of my life. But you deserve someone so much better than me.”
And then she was gone.
Chapter 25
Five days later...
Doc walked into Romeo’s hospital room and smiled when he saw Romeo sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed not in an indecent hospital gown, but in jeans and a T-shirt. Doc was also pleased to note Romeo’s color was back and the beard he’d grown while recuperating was gone.
In fact, the bastard looked healthy enough to run a marathon. And the only way anyone would know he’d been shot in the chest a week and a half earlier was the outline of the bandaging showing through the thin cotton of his shirt.