Chapter 10 - The Last Touch
The rain was pouring down in sheets over the Calder Community Clinic, washing away the dirt of the city streets.
Roman Calder walked through the front doors alone.
He wore no gloves, no high collar, and no armor. He walked with his hands in his pockets, his gray eyes locked on Victoria, who was standing in the center of the lobby, her lighter still flickering.
Her three armed men stood near the walls, but they did not move. They had seen the black sedans that had surrounded the block, and they knew that their employers had already abandoned them.
"Roman," Victoria gasped, her eyes wide as she looked at him. "You... you came. Without your gloves."
"The gloves were to protect me from people like you, Victoria," Roman said, his voice entirely calm. "But I don't need them anymore."
He walked over to Maggie, who was sitting quietly in her chair.
He did not look at the lighter or the armed men. He looked only at Maggie.
Slowly, he reached out and placed his bare hand on her cheek.
The skin of his palm met the soft, warm curve of her face.
There was no pain. There was no fire.
There was only the quiet, beautiful reality of a man who had finally returned home.
"One," Roman whispered, his gray eyes shining with tears he had held back for eleven years.
"Two," Maggie said, her hand reaching up to cover his.
"Three," they said together.
Victoria let out a sharp, hysterical cry and dropped the lighter. It hit the wet carpet and went out with a soft, pathetic hiss.
Within seconds, Declan’s men rushed in, securing the armed men and escorting Victoria out into the rain, where the police were waiting to return her to the Swiss sanatorium—this time, permanently.
The lobby of the clinic became quiet again, save for the soft sound of the rain against the glass windows.
Roman looked down at Maggie, his hand still resting on her cheek, his thumb gently tracing the soft line of her jaw.
"You saved me, Margaret," Roman whispered.
May you like
"I didn't save you, Roman," Maggie smiled, her warm brown eyes filled with an endless, beautiful tomorrow. "I just held the pressure until you were ready to heal."
He leaned down, his lips meeting hers in a soft, gentle kiss—a touch that carried the weight of eleven years of silence, and the promise of a love that would never burn out.
