“Where’d Daddy go?” he asked, hopping up on the barstool across from where I’d been pacing in the kitchen.
I don’t have any clue, I thought. But instead of letting him see I was freaking the hell out, I smiled and lied. “He had to run a quick errand. He’ll be right back.” I hope.
It was getting late, so I made Eli a sandwich for dinner with a handful of his favorite chips on the side. He ate in front of the television while I resumed my pacing and dialed Pierce’s cellphone number every five seconds.
All of the calls went to voicemail, but that didn’t matter, because five minutes later the front door swung open and Pierce came walking through.
I started in his direction, feeling my eyes go wide the closer I got. “Holy shit,” I hissed, keeping my voice down so Eli wouldn’t hear. “Pierce, you’re covered in blood!”
He looked down, seemingly in a daze, like he hadn’t noticed until just then that his button-down was completely ruined.
“It’s not mine.”
Well that certainly didn’t make me feel any better.
“Jesus Christ. Get upstairs,” I ordered. “Change out of that before your son sees and freaks the hell out.”
He did as I commanded, and I went back into the living room to make sure everything was good. Eli had finished his sandwich, so I hustled him into the shower before going to check on his father.
I made sure the shower was running before I inched Pierce’s bedroom door open. He was standing in the middle of the space, wearing nothing but his slacks, holding the shirt in his hands like he was inspecting it closely.
“Whose blood is that?” I asked as I closed the door behind me.
“Frank’s.”
“Oh my God. Have you lost your mind?” I screeched. I stormed over to him and snatched the soiled shirt from his grasp, then I headed into the bathroom and stuffed it in the wastebasket. There wasn’t a drycleaner on the planet talented enough to get that shirt clean again. “What the hell were you thinking?” I snapped as I stomped back into the bedroom.
“He had to pay,” he grunted, a look in his eyes I’d never seen before.
I drilled my finger into his chest. “Maybe so, but it’s not your place to dole out his punishment.”
“It absolutely fucking is,” he grated, the ice completely gone from his eyes as fire flashed so bright it melted everything.
“No. It’s not,” I barked. “I don’t know what kind of savior complex you have going on, but I don’t need rescuing. What happened with Frank was over and done with a long time ago. I’ve moved on with my life. I don’t need you swooping in to avenge me, or whatever the hell you’re doing. You and I are nothing. You saw to that.”
He grabbed my wrist before I could pull my hand back, placing my palm flat on his chest, directly over his heart. I could feel it beating wildly beneath his breast and pulled in a stuttered breath.
“You’re mine, Marin.”
Oh no. No way in hell. I couldn’t do this. “I’m not,” I whispered, feeling that burn behind my eyes.
His voice changed all of a sudden, dropping low and going so tender I lost my battle with my tears. “You are, baby.” I slammed my eyes closed, feeling them leak out and spill down my cheeks. I lowered my head and gave it a shake. “Yes. You are,” he continued, his gentle voice battering at my defenses. I felt his fingers beneath my chin as he pressed my face back up to meet his. What I saw in his eyes when I looked up at him stole my breath. “You’re mine, Marin. But more importantly, I’m yours.”
“Don’t say it if you don’t mean it,” I said in a barely-there whisper.
“I mean it, sweetheart. I love you. I’m in love with you. I have been for a long time now.”
“Pierce—”
“I hate that I hurt you, but you have my word, I’ll never do it again.”
This couldn’t be real. I had to be dreaming, because this was too good to be true. “But you said—”
“I lied. You knew it all along. So did I, but I was scared. I lost something I cherished once already, and I’ve been terrified that if I let myself love someone like that again, I could lose her too. I told myself I couldn’t love you because I wouldn’t be able to survive losing you. But it doesn’t matter, because I love you anyway. Lying to you and myself is never going to change that, so I’m done fighting it.”
I pulled at my hand, trying to break his hold on me. “Stop it.”
“I want you, Marin. I want everything. I want to wake up with you every morning and go to bed beside you every night.” He took my face in his hands, leaning in so close his lips brushed against mine as he spoke. “I want you to keep loving my son with all your heart and giving him something I thought he’d never have. And I want you to keep loving me, because I’m so crazy, stupidly, insanely in love with you, I can’t breathe if you aren’t near me.”
He closed the last miniscule bit of space and kissed me. “Say you forgive me, baby, because I’m done living without you.”
“Is this for real?” I croaked, my heart lodged in my throat. It couldn’t be. I couldn’t believe it was possible that I’d melted the Ice King.
“Nothing will ever be more real than this. Let me have you forever, Marin.”
I wasn’t sure there had ever been a more moving, more romantic declaration of love. I was pretty sure Pierce just took first place in that. “O-okay.”
His lips smiled against mine. “Really?”
“Yeah. Really.” My forehead puckered into a frown. “But if you ever hurt me like that again—” I started to warn, but he cut me off.
“Never again, baby. I swear. Tell me you love me. Please.”
God, this man. “I love you so much, Pierce. You have no idea.”
He laughed and kissed me again. Over and over. Speaking through kisses. “I think I might have some idea. After all, you’ve got the shittiest poker face on the planet.”
I pulled back in an attempt to scowl up and him, but he wasn’t having any of that. His lips were on mine again when the bedroom door came flying open. Eli stood there in his little man pajamas, looking up at us with his face twisted in disgust.
“Eww! Are you guys kissin’?”
I leaned into Pierce and giggled into his chest as he rounded me with his arms. “Yeah, buddy. That’s what two grownups do when they love each other.”
He gave that a think, his little brow furrowing and making him look even more like his father. “If you guys are kissin’ and you love each other, does that mean Mar-Mar can be my mommy down here on earth?”
I honestly wasn’t sure how much more my heart could take at this point. Breaking away from Pierce, I moved toward the little boy who owned my heart so completely, I knew I’d never get it back. And I was totally fine with that. As far as I was concerned, the Walton men could keep it forever.
I crouched down in front of him and took his hands in mine. “I’ll be whatever you want me to be, Eli, Eli, the coolest guy. It doesn’t matter what you call me, because I’ll always be your Mar-Mar. You will always have me. Does that work for you?”
He scrunched his little lips to the side in thought, then eventually shrugged. “Yeah, that works.”