“Via, I staked my life on it. You dragged me out of the muck. You took my hand. You were so kind.” He couldn’t help but kiss her. “So firm.” Another kiss. “So fucking painfully honest. You told me the truth and I saw it. I understood it. Through your eyes. And I decided I wanted to live. I was dying and taking my son down with me. You made me live, Violetta. And you didn’t even love me then. Now?” He cupped her face and kissed her again. “Now that we’re here, all fucked up over each other? Can you only imagine how good we’ll be for the other? Via, I’ll be here.” He pointed one finger down at the ground, as if to say this house, this earth, this life. “I don’t wear suspenders. I’m not hip. But I’m here. Every day. This house. Matty. I do my job, and I show up. That’s me. No matter if we’re together—if you’re lonely, you come to me. You come to me.”

She nodded her head, her eyes blurry with tears. “I haven’t had that in a really long time,” she whispered. “A place to go no matter what.”

“Well, now you have it. You’ve got me. And Matty. We’re not flashy or exciting, but—”

“You’re perfect,” she gasped out the words. “Exactly what I want.”

There were more words to say. Of course there were more words to say. But the air had gone all bright around them. His kitchen was no longer his kitchen; it melted away into one amorphous blob. In Seb’s mind, there were now three things: Matty, Via and everything else.

And it was Via here in front of him that kept his feet on Earth. Her legs were clamped around him, and her fingers were somewhere, everywhere, they were suddenly hugging so hard it hurt. There were the tears and gasps of two people who’d seen the worst there was and were now seconds away from the best.

He was vaguely aware of lifting her. “Kitchen or bed.”

The words were gruff and he barely recognized his voice as his own. Colors were blurring and sound was moving slow and fast, in great arcing waves.

The only thing that was in bright focus was Via’s face. She cocked her head to one side. “Both?”

A gasping bark of a laugh burst out of Seb as he tumbled backward onto the kitchen floor, holding her tight and shielding her from the impact. They ended up with her on top, and Seb rolled them. He was shocked and thrilled when she continued the roll and pinned him backward again. He saw himself reflected in her eyes. They were both wrecked messes. There were so many emotions on her face, but there was one that was shining through the most.

He’d inadvertently named it before. And now he came face-to-face with it.

Love.

Miss Via DeRosa in love and on top of him. Her body slim and heated in that tight long-sleeved shirt and straight-legged jeans. Oooh Lord. He felt like he’d been holding his breath for years, and she was the first breath of air he gulped down.