Love Me Long (Love Me Book 4)

Chapter 27 (The End)

It was dark, and a streak of light followed by the loud boom of thunder woke Chloe. She sat up and looked around her, noting the Valentine was gone. Flinging back the covers, she stood, wincing when she heard another clack of thunder shake the house.

The smell of cooking registered, and she followed her nose into the main room, where she saw Valentine at the stove, cooking something that smelled delicious.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, taking in her mussed state.

"I could eat," she admitted, walking past him and towards the set of glass doors at the other end of the room. The storm that was raging was intense, and as the lightning pierced the dark sky, it lit up the courtyard.

"Did the storm wake you?" Valentine inquired from across the room.

"It was either that or the smell of food." Chloe looked over her shoulder at him. He looked relaxed, and she couldn't remember the last time she had seen him that way. Even twelve years ago, before she had left, he had been stressed about what was about to happen.

Chloe watched the rain in silence as he continued to cook, and she only joined him when he told her the food was ready.

They sat at the table and ate in silence. Chloe didn't know how to begin the conversation that she knew they had to have. She needed him to do the heavy lifting, and he must have sensed it.

"Should we start at the beginning, when I first realized I loved you, or twelve years ago when I broke us both by sending you away?" He leaned forward, watching her closely.

"Would you do it again, send me away?" she asked.

"Yes, I would. I know that's not what you want to hear, but it is the truth. It would have been selfish of me to keep you near. To let you make your life about mine. My only thought was that if you were safe, everything else would be alright." He stood and picked up their empty plates, walking them to the sink. Then he turned and looked at her from across space. "I was selfish in the end anyway because I sent you away with words of love despite all of my best intentions. I didn't want to do that. I wanted you to hate me so much that you would forget me."

Chloe shook her head. "Why do you always underestimate my love for you? You could have told me you hated me, and I still would have waited. Some would call it weakness or lack of self-respect, but I call it love. It's not something you can turn on and off like a light switch." Chloe stood too, moving to sit on the couch and look into an empty fireplace. "Let's not go over it all again. Let's talk about when I showed up in Drevniye last year."

"Alright," Valentine agreed, walking towards her and sitting in a chair opposite Chloe. "When I got out of that truck and saw you, I thought I was dreaming. I hadn't slept in almost two days. When I realized you were real, I was angry."

Chloe nodded. She remembered the moment well.

"I knew what you wanted, and I couldn't give it to you. You wanted me to be pleased to see you and greet you with words of love and welcome, but all I could think of was the battle that was coming and how you were right in its path. I knew if you were hurt, everything we had survived would be for nothing. I felt helpless." Valentine rubbed his face. "You are so beautiful. Seeing you as a woman and not a girl stole my breath for a moment."

His words stole Chloe's breath.

"You are my greatest weakness. Not letting you stay, not giving you everything you want, is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. When you asked me to save Dimitrie, I couldn't say no. You looked at me with such faith."

"You would have saved him even if I hadn't been there," Chloe insisted.

"No, Chloe, I wouldn't. I would have let him die, someone would have taken his place, and the war would have continued. You're begging for his life was like a punch to the gut. It reminded me that I no longer have empathy or concern for my fellow man, especially my enemy. That's a dangerous line for a man to walk. You made me feel ashamed." Valentine shook his head. "I wanted to get you away from there, somewhere safe, so I arranged a swap of personnel and sent you to your father, but I was ashamed once again when I saw how much you had missed him. It's true. I didn't keep him from you, but I didn't insist that he go and see you either. Keeping him close was a way to keep you close."