I sucked in a sharp breath. “I couldn’t... If something happened to you, because we’re together, I...”

The hand on my jaw kept my gaze glued to his. “I know that my life is tied to yours, that if something happens to you, it happens to me, but that doesn’t keep me from being terrified that I’ll somehow lose you. I will do anything to get to you if something happens. There is nothing that will stop me,” he admitted. “A part of me understands why the senator did what he did. Hell, not a part of me. Everything in me understands, and the knowledge of what I’d do if I lost you? Yeah, that scares me, too.”

A tremor rolled down my spine.

“If my life wasn’t bonded to yours and something happened to you? If you were taken from me, there’d be nothing that would stop me from getting you back. I’d go to the ends of the Earth. I’d barter with everything I have,” he said. “I know that’s wrong. I know how bad that could go, but I would do it. And that’s not because of the fact that if you were to die, so would I. In death, nothing would keep me from you. That I swear.”

It was wrong. It would most likely go bad, but I whispered, “I’d do the same.” And that was the truth. “If you were killed?” Even thinking that hurt. “I’d do anything to bring you back.”

“So, knowing that? I sure as Hell am not going to let some rule keep us apart. Nor the fear of seeing you get hurt, and definitely not the fear of me getting hurt. I’m a lot of things, Trin, but a coward isn’t one of them.” His eyes searched mine. “And you’re not a coward, either.”

“No,” I whispered. “No, I’m not.”

That half grin grew into a smile, the kind that broke and mended my heart in a matter of beats. It was the kind of smile full of promises and possibility, and damn straight, I wasn’t a coward. My fingers tangled in his hair as I exhaled.

“Why is this coming up now and not two nights ago?” he asked.

Because then there’d still been walls. I hadn’t realized it until now, not until those walls were gone. “Because you gave me stars, and that means this is...this is more.”

His thumb swept over my cheek. “I don’t know what more means to you, but it means that I love you, Trinity Lynn. That I’m in love with you.”