“Why did you fucking leave her, Phillipe?" Bringing his eyes back to mine, he swallows and simply replies,"I wanted to see if I could.”

“I hold my finger up to his lips. He flicks his eyes down to look at it."You're absolved," I tell him.He brings his eyes back up to mine. There's no fucking way he knows what that word means. That's a word I dream someone will say to me.So I put it in his language. "You're free.”

“Why am I good to you?” he repeated, his lips brushing against mine as he spoke. “Because I can see you are broken. And I want nothing more than to put you back together.”

“I am giving you these to commemorate the fact that I have already given you my heart.” He swallowed thickly as his eyes searched hers. “This is my way of saying that you, Julianne, are the love of my life, and I want something of mine with you always. Don’t you see? These diamonds represent my heart. You can’t refuse them.”

“Unhappy? I was lucky. So, so lucky. And I couldn’t see it.” His eyes met hers. “I love you,” he said. “And you make me happier than I ever thought I could be. And now that I know what it’s like to be someone else—to lose myself—I want my life back. My family. You. All of it.” His eyes darkened. “I want it back.”

“He leans back and stares down at me, and then I suddenly see it there in his eyes, unconcealed. The lust. The want. He wants me. He’s trying to seduce me. I’m so completely fucked.”