“I’m not going to a fucking ball.”
Rafe sounds outraged. Slowly, I open my eyes. “You’re still here.”
“Stasi.” His voice is full of relief, and he presses his lips against my hand.
And then I’m surrounded. Silas, Kit and Rafe, all three of them around my bed. Silas leans forward, picking up my other hand. “How do you feel? You’ve been out for a few days.”
I frown. “I feel… I feel okay. Was it bad?”
“You nearly died,” Rafe says quietly. He looks terrible. “Kit and Silas had to resuscitate you. Twice.”
My eyes open wider, taking them all in. None of them look like they’ve slept for days, and I jerk my head to the side. “Ellen – where’s Ellen?”
“Ellen is fine,” Kit says gently. “Thanks to you. We’re all fine because of you, Stasi.”
They’re all watching me with warmth in their eyes. Rafe presses his forehead against my hand. “I’m sorry.”
I blink. And my lips tilt up. “You did say that while you were unconscious. Quite a few times.”
Green eyes watch me.
“I’m serious,” Rafe says softly. Kit and Silas step away from the bed, giving us privacy as Rafe leans in. His hand cups my cheek. “I thought I’d lost you. You were dying in front of me, Stasi. And I realized that I’d been an idiot.”
“Only then?” I choke out. Rafe helps me sit up, holding a glass of water to my mouth that I finish before I look back at him.
“You were an idiot,” I say quietly. He looks down. “But so were Silas and Kit, Rafe. Well. Mostly Silas.”
There’s a cough from across the room, and I have to smile.
“If you haven’t worked it out by now,” I say gently, “I’m a little bit lost for you, Rafael Tate. For all of you. Even though you absolutely are an idiot. And you have a lot of making up to do.”
The smile slowly creeps across his face. “I’m in need of a partner in crime. Care to fill the spot?”
I take a breath. “Can’t fill a spot that was already filled. And I took that place years ago, Rafe.”
His laugh is low. “You did.”
I reach out for his hand, but my eyes drop to my own.
I freeze, staring down at the ring.
Silas appears next to me. He takes my hand in his, tracing my fingers. “You kept it. All this time.”
I can’t stop staring at it. I’ve never put it on. But it fits me perfectly. And then I look up at him.
“I should have told you,” I whisper. “But… I don’t think I was quite ready to part with it, yet. I haven’t been without it all these years.”
“Well,” Silas says carefully. He curls my fingers over the ring. “Now you don’t have to be without it, ever again. It’s yours, Stasi.”
I jerk. “You can’t. It’s your mother’s ring – I can’t keep it!”
He leans down, pressing his lips against mine. “That ring is for the woman I intend to marry, Anastasia. That’s what my dad always told me. And there is no one else that I plan on marrying anytime soon.”
I can’t speak, my heart filling up.
But then I croak. “Marriage?”
He hums. “I’m the oldest. Seems only fair that I get to make you Mrs Anastasia Tate. The twins can be your secret lovers.”
Rafe flushes. Kit wiggles his eyebrows at me.
“Right,” I breathe. “So… that’s all sorted, then.”
“Not quite,” Kit says, folding his arms. “There’s something else we need to do first.”
