Chapter Thirty-Seven

Kristen

The hospital keeps me overnight for observation after running tons of tests. They want to make sure whatever Tessa fed me isn’t going to cause any ongoing problems.

Antoine makes sure I’m okay, then takes me home the next day. But other than that, he doesn’t talk or hug me or anything. It’s like the whole Tessa incident put some kind of “don’t touch Kristen” mental block on him.

Dominic and Liza come over, and they do hug me, one after the other. Liza brings my favorite cheese and tomato pizza from Éternité. It’s a restaurant owned by her cousin, and she got the food specially for me. I devour it.

Dominic does a man-hug with Antoine. “Thanks, brother.”

Antoine shakes his head. “If it weren’t for me, she wouldn’t have been there.”

“I don’t know. Crazies have a way of finding you, whether you want them to or not.”

After Dominic and Liza leave, Antoine cleans up. He still won’t quite meet my gaze. And that’s as messed up as it can get because I know he checks me out all the time when he thinks I’m not watching.

“Antoine, can we talk?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

“What’s going to happen to Eddie and Tessa?”

“They’re both off to jail, ideally forever, but realistically speaking, they’ll get out after a few years.”

“I see.”

“I’m sorry. You got in the crossfire because of my poor judgment.”

“What poor judgment?”

“I didn’t realize how unhinged they were.”

This guy. “How old were you when you last knew them?”

“Sixteen.”

“I did a lot of stupid stuff when I was sixteen. I’m surprised I’m not dead.”

“Yeah?” A corner of his lips lifts for a second. “Well. I gotta go.”

“Stop.” He does, and I glare at him. “Why are you leaving?”

“It’s better this way. Besides, I’m upsetting you.”

“You’re upsetting me because you’re trying to pull away! You’re like, ‘I’m sorry.’ Great! If you’re that sorry about what happened, stay, make it up to me and keep me safe!”

He opens his mouth.

I raise a hand. “Do you know how many times you’ve rescued me?”

He stares, but doesn’t answer.

“Four.” I hold out four fingers to make the point, in case he isn’t getting it. “You pushed me out of the way of that car on that rainy day. You kicked my creeptastic ex from Milan in the ass until he quit bugging me. There was the naked dude in my apartment—”

“You had that under contr—”

“I’m not done. Don’t interrupt.”

He clamps his mouth shut.

“And now Tessa.” His face is darker than a stormy night. Well, I don’t care. I cross my arms. I’m going to say everything I need to say. “What does that tell you?”

He looks at me like I just told him there’s a landmine underneath his foot.

Argh! “The lesson you should’ve gotten is that every time you’re away from me, I get hurt, so you should stick close! Like a magnet!”

“Oh.” Something in his expression eases. “Was that the lesson?”

“Of course! How can you not know, Antoine? I thought you were smart.”

“I am, but I thought maybe you were going to change your mind. After all, Tessa hurt you because of me.”

“So what? If one of my stalkers hurts you, are you going to leave me?”

He scowls. “Hell no.”

“Then trust that I feel the same way about you.”

A smile slowly curls his lips up. The sight warms my heart. He hasn’t smiled since the incident at the grove.

He comes closer, cups my face in his warm, large hands and rests his forehead against mine. “I love you, Kristen.”

“I love you too,” I whisper.

He holds my hand. I feel something hard and slim placed into my palm. I look down and see keys. My gaze jumps back to his.

“Move in with me.”