RISK(76)

May closes her eyes tight, her brow furrowing. "I think I feel it too."

"It's in here." Ellie taps the middle of her own chest. "If you stand very still you can feel the magic, can't you?"

"I feel it." May smiles as her fingers trail over Ellie's cheek. "You're crying too, Ellie. You feel the same thing that my daddy does?"

Ellie shifts her focus to me. Her eyes lock with mine. "I feel everything your daddy does. Everything he feels for me, I feel right back."

I crouch too, wrapping my arms around May and grabbing hold of Ellie's forearms. "There's more to the story, May. Daddy just learned more about the story this afternoon."

She turns abruptly to face me, her small hands darting to my shoulders. "Tell me. I love this story. I love magic."

"Kip's sister is the bravest person in the world." I try to keep my voice calm, even though everything inside of me is spinning. "She saved a life. She saved the life of a little princess."

"Like a real princess, Daddy?"

Ellie looks into my eyes. I take a deep breath, but it does little good. My pulse is racing, my mind is on full-throttle and my world is complete. This is what love is. All of this. The three of us. Me and Ellie and May.

"What was the name of the princess, Daddy?" May turns back to look at Ellie before she cups my cheeks in her palms.

I tilt my head slightly so I can see my beautiful Ellie. My warrior. My hero and the love of my life.

"Princess May. She saved Princess May on the day she was born."

Ellie sobs. She leans forward but I hold her steady. May turns and throws her arms around Ellie's neck. "Don't cry, Ellie. She saved the princess. The magical girl saved a princess in the story. I think the princess is me."

I nod as I cling to them both. I rest my forehead against Ellie's, whispering to her, "She is the princess. You saved May, Ellie. The baby you saved is our May."





Chapter 53


Ellie




He pushes his fingers into my hair, holding me still as he kisses me. He kisses me like his life depends on it. I pull back. I have to.

"How is this happening?" I cling to the front of his T-shirt. "You have to let me think for a second."

"You've been quiet since we said goodbye to Jersey and May at the theater." He tucks my hair behind my ear. "I know it's a lot to take in, Ellie. I want us to go the shoebox apartment so I can show you the blanket May was wrapped in and the note."

"I want that." I do. I've wanted that since he told me that May was the baby at the pharmacy. On the walk back to my place after we said goodbye to Jersey and May, Nolan explained about the newscast footage and how he'd watched as I was wheeled out of the pharmacy on a stretcher. He saw the woman with the baby. The baby who was wrapped in the same torn quilt that May was wrapped in when she was found in the lobby of his building. I remember every detail of that quilt. I remember my blood spattering onto it after I'd been shot.

"I have to get Annie's journals." I motion toward the hallway. "I keep them in my shoebox. It's under my bed."

He takes a step in the direction of my bedroom. I stop him with a pull on his shirt. I didn't know if Adley would be here when I told Nolan I wanted to come here. I'm glad that she's not. I need time with just him to absorb everything. It's too much. I can barely wrap my mind around the fact that May was that baby. I can't grab hold of the reality that he is Rigs.

"You treated me like shit," I blurt out. "I'm mad at you."

He kisses my forehead. "You have every right to be pissed as hell at me. I was an *. I'm sorry, Ellie. I lost it when I saw you with Wolf."

"He was helping me," I explain. "This week is a hard one for me and I saw him there and he asked how I was doing and I lost it. I cried because Annie and I used to share a package of candy whenever we found enough change in the park to buy it. I went there for May. I went to the store to get a necklace for May."

"I've never been in love before." His arms circle me. "I don't know how to do this. I need you to guide me, to help me. I need you to tell me when I'm f*cking shit up because I cannot lose you. I won't. You are my breath now. If I lose you, I lose me."

"Never stop talking to me." I bump my fist against his chest. "Never do that. We can work out anything if we talk. If you go radio silent, I can't deal with it."

"It won't happen again." He trails his lips over my forehead. "I promise I will talk to you if I lose my shit over something I see or hear. I'll discuss it with you, Ellie. I won't shut you out."

"I love you so much," I whisper. "I was scared that I lost you forever."

"You love me?"

I look up and into his handsome face. "I love you more than anything. You know that, Nolan."

"I hoped that you loved me." He moves his hands to cradle my face. "You haven't said it yet, Ellie. You didn’t tell me that you love me."

"I love you," I shout. "I love you, Nolan."

"I love you too."

"Promise me you'll never shut me out again. Promise me you won't let your huge ego destroy us." My mouth curves into a smile.