I giggled, snuggling closer, then grew somber as my thoughts regressed to my ordeal. “I love you, Nico,” I confessed softly. “I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember. When I was trapped in that freezer, all I could think about was that I’d never see you again, and that scared me more than the thought of dying. I know we may still have stuff to work out, but you’re it for me. Always have been, always will be.”

His fingers tilted my chin, bringing my face to his before his lips brushed mine in a tender kiss. “You’re everything to me, Ladybug. I know a lot of things went wrong for us, but sometimes, that’s what has to happen before things can be right—before we could arrive at this very moment.”

“I think so too,” I whispered.

“Love you, Ladybug.”

“Love you too, Nico.”

Chapter 27

“This shit ends now,” I insisted.

If I hadn’t been so caught up in what I planned to say, I would have laughed at the stunned expressions on my family’s faces. First thing the next day, I’d called my parents and sisters together, along with Nico, for a sit-down. My opening line seemed to grab everyone’s attention.

“No more secrets, no more lies. Our lives are complicated enough; the last thing we need is to keep secrets from one another. Not only that, but it weakens us. If we can’t rely on each other in this life, then we have no one. I don’t want that for myself or any of you. I should have said something a long time ago, but I got caught up in the lies and my own issues.” I turned to my parents, softening my tone. What I was going to say would tear them apart, but I needed to come clean. “If I’m going to lead the charge and air all my dirty laundry, then I have to go back to the beginning. Daddy, that night Marco was killed, I wasn’t asleep. I saw the whole thing.”

My father’s eyes, usually so guarded and stoic, suddenly became a window to the crippling pain he carried inside him. I recognized it instantly because it mirrored my own. We bore the same ugly scars that night had marked us with, and for once, we could share in our heartbreak with someone who truly understood. I leapt from my seat and flung myself into my father’s welcoming embrace.

“Baby girl, why didn’t you tell us?” My mom’s voice shook as tears filled her eyes.