Whether it’s a memory, wishful thinking, or the whisper of his ghost, I want to believe that everything in my world will be warm and light and whole again. As I approach my favorite spot on the cliffs, I do believe it, because the thunderous ocean always soothes me.

Icy wind sends my hair flying, stinging my cheeks, but I don’t feel the cold anymore. Waves crash against the rocks with a fierceness that mirrors the storm on my heels, but in this violent collision of water and stone, I find the impossible.

Peace.

Tilting my head back, I close my eyes and let the thick snowflakes cleanse my skin. The blanket falls off my shoulders, and I take a step forward, unafraid for the first time since Liam said the most horrifying words of my life…

“Their plane went down.”

The freezing air swirls around me, whispering dark promises, and I brace myself to just…

Let go.

I sway forward, my heart failing to beat, and that’s when I’m yanked back by two strong arms.

“No!” I cry as someone drags me away from the edge. For five endless seconds, I can’t get my vocal cords to work, and then…

I’m screaming and struggling with every ounce of strength I have in me. “Let me go!”

“Never,” Liam says.

“Put me down!” I shout, digging my nails into his forearms.

“No!” he roars right back.

My legs scissor through the air, causing him to stumble. “Why’d you have to follow me? Just let me go!”

With a growl, he sets me on my feet and spins me around by the shoulders, his hands clamping down to keep me in place.

“Did you think I’d let you leave in the middle of the night,” he says, shaking me, “in the middle of a goddamn snowstorm, and not come after you?” Liam’s fury is powerful like the frigid wind, deeper than the ocean’s secrets, and as thunderous as the waves slamming into the cliffs.

Before I can react, he grabs the discarded blanket from the ground, and then I’m back in his arms, bundled in his warmth. He stomps toward the tower, and by the time we reach the penthouse, my teeth are chattering.

The instant the door shuts, his anger seems to bleed from his bones, replaced by a low, anguished grunt. His knees buckle as my name dies in his throat. Even as he breaks down, he’s still protecting me, his body cushioning my fall as we collapse into a tangled mess of heightened emotions and quaking limbs.

“Losing you would kill me.” He grips my cheeks, rich brown eyes smoldering through his tears. “If you want to go over that cliff, you’ll have to take me with you.”

“Don’t say that.” Cold-soaked fear shakes me to my core. “I didn’t mean what I said earlier.”