It should have felt like surrender to give Gabriel a chance.
As if I were returning to a war I’d fought and lost.
Like flaming myself just to check if he’d catch me this time.
But standing there, looking into those golden eyes, watching the way his breath stuttered at my words—
It didn’t feel like capitulation.
It felt like power.
Because this time, it was my choice.”
Not fate’s.
Not his.
Mine.
Gabriel nodded, slowly, as though he couldn’t believe what I had just said. His lips parted a hair, his chest hitching too fast, like he was inhaling each syllable, like he gleaned every unspoken truth behind my words.
“One chance,” he said again, voice gruff.
I tilted my head. "Don’t make me regret it."
A ghost of a smile passed across his face. "I won’t."
I swallowed. "Good."
Silenc
