Chapter 250

• My words stalled, caught in my throat as his warm breath fanned against my face. The scent of sweet
• mint swirled around me, both cold and hauntingly familiar. He was far too close, close enough to erase the narrow space between us with just one movement.
• Part of me was ready to abandon the bitterness I'd clung to, though the memories of a year’s worth of pain couldn’t be forgotten so easily. He'd made a terrible mistake, and while I’d forgiven him, I wasn't sure if I was ready to open myself to him completely again. There was a longing there, intense and dangerous—a pull toward Leonardo that I knew would consume me if I let it. With him, I would burn with passion and surrender, worshiping him just as he would me. Yet my heart wasn’t prepared for such a surrender, not before I’d come to terms with all that had happened. I needed to lift the weight of that year- long sorrow off my shoulders.