Present day

I see it in his face—he’s expecting me to reject him and everything he is. But Lachlan Mount doesn’t know me as well as he thinks, and apparently, I didn’t know myself as well as I thought either.

The story Magnolia told me made me sick to my stomach. The story Lachlan recounted made me want to vomit even more, but for a completely different reason.

I don’t fear him at all. Not a single bit.

Finally, I’m starting to understand who he is at the most basic level. Lachlan Mount will never be a storybook hero, but I guarantee Rubio would call him a savior. I’m sure there are plenty of others who would as well.

Lachlan Mount lives by his own code, completely unapologetic about his actions, but that doesn’t mean he lacks honorable motives.

“You deal out justice as you see fit, but I don’t think you ever hurt an innocent intentionally.”

“Don’t lie to yourself and pretend that me saving a couple of kids offsets everything else I’ve done. You couldn’t find a soul blacker than mine if you dug into the depths of hell.”

He truly believes his own words. I see it on his face, but I think he’s wrong.

“You want me to say I’m repulsed by you? Then look me in the eye and tell me that you would sacrifice me to save yourself.”

Lachlan’s dark gaze goes wide before he reins in his shock. “What the fuck are you trying to prove?”

“Tell me.” My demand is as rigid as the man beside me. “Make me believe it.”

His face twists into a mask of disgust. “No fucking way.”

The triumphant smile that tugs at my lips is probably as twisted as the feelings coiling through me, but I don’t care.

“You’d die for me. You’ve already shown me that. You’d walk into a hail of bullets to save me from one. You wouldn’t let the doctors touch you until they finished with me, even though you needed them far more than I did. If you want me to believe that you’re a monster, then you’re going to have to do a hell of a lot better, because all I see is a man worthy to stand at my side.”

Shock flashes across his face. “I fucking terrorized you. Don’t make this out to be a goddamned fairy tale, Keira. That’s sure as hell not what it is.”

He looks away, and this time, I reach out and mimic one of his favorite moves. I cup his stubble-roughened cheek in my palm and turn his head back to face me.

“I don’t want a fairy tale. I thought I had that once before, and look how it ended. I want real, and you’re the most real person I’ve ever met in my life. You don’t hold back a single one of your sins. What you do hold back is the motivations behind them, and those motivations make all the difference in the world.” I pause, watching as a flicker of disbelief creases his brow, and then . . . hope, maybe?

He doesn’t realize yet that he doesn’t need hope. He already has me.

“You didn’t terrorize me. I might’ve been a little terrified of you, but I wanted you just as badly, if not more. Magnolia was right about a few things, including the fact that you’d fuck with my head and make it go to war with my body. But she was wrong about what matters most. She told me I couldn’t afford to let you get to my heart. The truth is, I can’t afford not to, because it would be my biggest regret. It’s already yours whether you want it or not.”

Lachlan’s eyes close for a single beat. When they open again, it’s like I’m staring at a different man. “Thank Christ, because I have no fucking clue how I could force myself to let you go.”

“I wouldn’t let you.”

“I don’t deserve you.”

He believes what he says. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to change his mind, but I’m going to do everything I can to show him he’s wrong.

I lean in closer to him. “Luckily, that’s not up to you. It’s up to me, and I’ve already made my decision.”

His arms slide around me. Carefully, mindful of our injuries, he guides me back into bed beside him and holds me against his battle-scarred body. My cheek to his chest. His chin resting on the top of my head.

Lachlan Mount may think he’s a cold-blooded monster, but I hear and feel the steady rhythm of his heart beating against my ear as I drift off into sleep.