SOPHIA

Thanks to the mysterious antibiotics provided by Scanderoon, or as Tilda called him, Roonie, I was feeling better. My throat felt less raw, but my lungs still felt like someone had scraped them with a steel rake.

Nathan fluttered around me like a worried mama bird. He combed my hair. Brought me soup. Washed my feet. Asked me a million times if I was okay.

"I feel like I’ve been in this bed forever," I said. "Let’s go out for lunch."

Nathan wanted to princess-carry me down the block to the eatery on the corner. "I should probably walk," I said. "I need to work on getting my strength back."

The feared Duke Stonehart of the Northern Realm pouted. Like a five-year-old whose candy had been taken away. I bit my lip to keep from smiling.

"You’re still having issues with breathing," he said. "Exertion is probably not good for you."

"I can manage to walk to the corner," I told him. "I’ll lean on you. If I get tired, I’ll tell you."

"Very well." But he still looked unhappy.

The way Nathan cared for me was a stark reminder of how much Jace hadn’t given a damn about how I felt. Nathan showed his love to me all the time with words and gestures. He told me I was beautiful. He held me while I coughed myself raw. He fed me dumplings.

His pampering brought so much joy. Whenever I was around him, I felt like a better version of myself. I wanted to love him the deep way he loved me.

Yes, I definitely wanted him to feel the same way. However, it was difficult to pamper a man insistent on seeing to my every need. (I know. Poor me, right?) He knew me better than I knew myself. He took care of things before I’d even thought about them, much less asked for them.

I would have to figure out some ways to show him my love, too. That he was just as important to me as my next breath, my next heartbeat. I wanted him to feel like he was the only man in my world, my heart. The one I’d missed in my first life. How could I have forgotten him? How could I have chosen Jace instead of Nathan?

And me ... the stupid me, the one who thought Jace hung the moon and stars. The one who put up with Penelope Shire in the hopes that Jace would eventually pick me, his wife. But he was never that interested. He went about his life like I wasn’t even part of it. I took care of his grandfather, his home, even his mistress. And what did he have to do?

Live in the Capital and work and play. He and Fabian Velle were well known in the gambling halls. He and Penelope attended the official events hosted by the Capital’s elite.

Jace left me in the countryside to fend for myself. For three years. I was so desperate to catch his attention. To feel loved.

My parents were cold, at least to me. For my brothers it was a different story. They were given anything they wanted. When we were children, they got the best toys, the best food, the best everything. I was left to feel unwanted.

Unloved.

Until Nathan.

He’d given me the gift of his love. His endless, unconditional love. Who else in the world truly had that?

In my last life, I barely remembered Nathan in my childhood. And I don’t he’d appeared before me as an adult. He wanted me to be happy. He thought Jace would give me that happiness.

That was real love, letting go of someone who was your very heart if it meant their happiness. He’d gone to live in the Western Realm and hadn’t known that I’d died so miserably.

I was glad for that.

Heaven had given me a second chance. I hadn’t blown it by chasing the husband who never wanted me. Instead, I was chasing happiness.

Happiness with the man I loved.

"A silver ingot for your thoughts," said Nathan.

We stepped out onto the wooden sidewalk. Nathan held my hand and together, we headed toward the little eatery for lunch.

"A whole silver ingot? Not gold?"

Nathan laughed. "I’ll give you everything I have Sophia."

"Well, my thoughts, for you, are free."

A woman with two children in tow pushed past us. One child, the older one was laughing and teasing the younger one. The mother looked harried. "Pardon," she said. Burdened with bags, she was have a difficult time keeping up with her children.

Nathan swung me so that my back was against the wall, covering me with his large body. He protected me without thought for himself. Putting me first.

He looked down, and our faces were mere inches apart. I looked at his lips, soft and the color of roses. He was so handsome.

"If you continue to look at me like that," he said softly, "I may do something ungentlemanly."

A thrill zapped me all the way to my toes. "Did you still want to know my thoughts?"

His hands were pressed on either side of me. His dark eyes riveted to my mouth. "Yes."

"I was thinking that I love you."

He went completely still. His gaze pinned mine. "What did you say?"

"I love you."

He kissed me.

Soft. Sweet. A single brush of the lips. Then his mouth moved against mine. Tender. Slow.

My heart raced as put his hands on my waist and drew me closer to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood up on tippy-toes as our kiss deepened. I threaded my fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.

It felt like a hundred butterflies were fluttering in my belly.

I thought my heart might burst.

To my disappointment, Nathan released my mouth. He put his forehead against mine and closed his eyes.

We were both breathing heavily.

"I love you, too, Sophia," he said. "You are my heart."