Keira stopped reaching for her phone and instead watched the scene before her, quietly, contemplatively. She noticed a young couple hurriedly writing their names on a padlock in thick sharpie, then hurrying to lock it on the bridge before the security guards noticed. They succeeded and giggled, rushing away together with heady abandon. They were the epitome of love, Keira thought, reckless, giddy, a team of two, impervious to the outside world.

She yearned for that feeling again. She’d had it with Shane, even though very briefly. With Cristiano it was completely different; she had no idea how deep things could have gone with him if it hadn’t been for his surprise girlfriend showing up. She didn’t think there was love on the cards for them—at least not her definition of it, her American version of it—but something unique, wonderful, and beautiful might have developed there if it hadn’t been ruined.

Just then, a young man walking hand in hand with his girlfriend got down on one knee. Keira watched the girlfriend’s face as it burst into surprise, shock, and elation. Keira herself felt a confused mixture of happiness for the girl, alongside her own feelings of being crushed. It was the same way she’d felt when she’d found out about Shelby and David’s engagement; wanting at once to be happy for her friend but unable to stop the sting of pain it caused in her, the amplification of her loneliness.

As the girlfriend nodded yes, her eyes glittering with tears, Keira took her phone out of her purse and composed the email to Elliot she’d been dreading and delaying.

Elliot,

I think you know what this message is going to say. I feel terrible for letting you down, and Viatorum, which has become like my second family. The opportunities you’ve given me have been incredible. But if my niche at the magazine is to write about romance then I can no longer write for you. My own love life is in shambles. I have twice lost relationships and I’m just not strong enough to tell the whole world about it. I’m sorry.

Keira.

Her thumb hovered over the send button. But before she had a chance to press it, a sound from behind caught her attention. It sounded like her name being called.

Keira assumed it was just wishful thinking on her part, but turned nonetheless, squinting down the length of the bridge. And there she saw, with surprise, a figure running toward her.

“Keira!”

She clutched her gaping mouth in shock and disbelief. There was no mistaking who the figure was.

Cristiano.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

Keira stared at the approaching figure, her mind too shocked to do anything.

How? How had he found her?

Overwhelmed, Keira finally snapped to attention. She turned and began to run. She didn’t want to see him, not now, and especially not in such a strange, sudden, and unexpected way. She was too embarrassed by everything that had transpired.

Cristiano, however, was a much faster runner than Keira. She heard his footsteps behind, growing louder, getting closer. He caught up to her, grabbing her by the elbow, stopping her in her tracks.