Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-One
Alicia's POV
I stared at my phone. At the message I'd just sent.
I love you too. Come back to me.
Had I really just said that? Admitted it?
Sophie sat beside me on the bed. She'd watched me type it. Delete it. Type it again.
"You did the right thing," she said.
"Did I? Or did I just give him exactly what he wants? A reason to think he can control me?"
"He's going into danger, Alicia. He deserves to know how you feel."
"What if he doesn't come back? What if those are the last words I ever say to him?"
"Then at least they're true. At least he dies knowing you loved him."
The thought made my chest tight. Malachi, dead. Gone. Our child growing up never knowing their father.
No. I couldn't think like that.
"He'll come back," I said. More to convince myself than Sophie.
"Yeah. He will. Because he's Malachi Blackwood and he's too stubborn to die."
I almost smiled. Almost.
My phone buzzed. His response.
I will. I promise.
