“Oh, Julian…” I can’t imagine what it took for this strong, ruthless man to admit this. “You won’t lose me. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I know you’re not.” His eyes narrow, all traces of vulnerability fading from his features. “Just because I love you doesn’t mean I’ll ever let you go.”

A shaky laugh escapes my throat. “Of course. I know that.”

“Ever.” He seems to feel the need to emphasize that.

“I know that too.”

He stares at me then, his hands holding mine, and I feel the pull of his wordless command. He wants me to admit my feelings too, to bare my soul to him as he’s just bared his to me. And so I give him what he demands.

“I love you, Julian,” I say, letting him see the truth of that in my gaze. “I’ll always love you—and I don’t want you to ever let me go.”

I don’t know if he moves toward me then, or if I make the move first, but somehow his mouth is on mine, his lips and tongue devouring me as he holds me in his inescapable embrace. We come together in pain and pleasure, in violence and passion.

We come together in our kind of love.

The next morning, I stand next to the runway and watch as the plane carrying my parents home takes off. When it’s nothing more than a small dot in the sky, I turn to Julian, who’s standing beside me holding my hand.

“Tell me again,” I say softly, looking up at him.

“I love you.” His eyes gleam as he meets my gaze. “I love you, Nora, more than life itself.”

I smile, my heart lighter than it’s been in weeks. The shadow of grief is still with me, as is the lingering feeling of guilt, but the darkness no longer clouds everything. I can picture a day when the pain will fade, when all I’ll feel is contentment and joy.

Our troubles aren’t over—they can’t be, with us being who we are—but the future no longer frightens me. Soon, I’ll need to bring up the pretty doctor and Peter’s plan for revenge, and at some point later, we’ll have to discuss the possibility of another child and how to deal with the ever-present danger of our lives.

For now, though, we don’t need to do anything but enjoy each other.

Enjoy being alive and in love.

Epilogue

Three Years Later

Julian

“Nora Esguerra!”

As the president of Stanford University calls out her name, I watch my wife walk across the stage, garbed in the same black cap and gown as the rest of the graduates. The robe billows around her petite frame, hiding the small, but already visible bump of her stomach—the child we both eagerly await this time.

Stopping in front of the university official, Nora shakes his hand to the sound of applause and then turns to smile for the camera, her delicate face glowing in the bright morning sun.