Page 68 of Carter

You were born to be with me.

You were born to be Sasha. I am asking you to choose whether being Bachman can hold all of that woman, not replace her.

She freezes. Every muscle in her body tenses.

She says, “No. I’m not. I know it. You know it, John knows it, Bronson knows it.”

“All we know is what a strong woman you are. And how much we love you and want you in our family,” I say.

“But the way John looked at me. He thinks you’d be better without me.”

“He doesn’t want me to have to live a minute without you,” I say. And it’s true. Even if she can’t see it through his brash nature. “John is a secret softie and a romantic.”

She says, “But you broke up with me once before, because I couldn’t hold up my end of the deal. This time I really screwed up. I just knew you’d be better off⁠—”

I feel a tightening in my chest, remembering that night, the night she denied me and I left the house for her to collect her things. I stop kissing her collarbone. I say, “Sasha, I asked you if you wanted to live the Bachman lifestyle. You said I’d have to find a way to live without you, that you’d never give your submission. I didn’t break up with you because you made a mistake. Essentially, you broke it off with me when you chose no. That day, in my office, when you came to me, when you asked me to take you back, when you told me that you would give me the gift of yourself, that’s when we truly started our lives together. And there’s no giving up or running away. And there’s certainly no me being better off without you.”

I cup her face. “And submission does not mean deciding for me that I would be happier without you.”

She blinks.

“You do not get to sacrifice our marriage without allowing me a vote.”

A watery laugh escapes her. “That sounds suspiciously like you are telling me not to be submissive.”

“I am telling you partnership is not selfish control and it is not self-erasure. It is trust in both directions.”

She sniffles. She dabs at her eyes. “There’s not?”

“No, baby girl. You’re stuck with me.”

A tiny smile appears on her lips. My heart wells. I say, “And we are going to make this thing legal. And permanent. And Bachman. Before all the eyes of our family.”

Her brows rise. “You still want to marry me? Not some easier version of me?”

“I want you. Fiery, impossible, generous, ambitious you. Today, in fact.”

Her face scrunches. Adorable. “But… how? Our family isn’t here. It’s just us. And my parents.”

“Remember when I told you we were going on our honeymoon before our wedding? I believe we were scheduled to leave just hours after you took off.”

“Yes, so?”

“It wasn’t a surprise honeymoon I had planned. I couldn’t bear the thought of you having your wedding at the gym. And not having your parents present. And I know they can’t fly. So, instead of a honeymoon, with a little help from the Beauties, we planned a wedding. Here in Greece. This week.”

“The Bachmans are here?”

“Almost all of them. Bronson and Paige are still on their honeymoon, and a few others had to stay behind to keep things in order, but otherwise, they’re all here. Shopping, beaching, eating. Waiting for me to say the word.”

She’s shocked.

“Then we head off to our real honeymoon on our family private island—it’ll be your first chance to go, as an official wife of the family, but I’m afraid it will be a short vacation. We’ve got to get home to Squish.”

“Squish?”

“Your kitten. I named him after we almost ran him over for the second time that night. I brought him home for you and he’s there, now. Tess wasn’t up for a wedding, and ah… Rockland’s stationed here so he’ll be at the ceremony. I think she’s avoided crowds, avoiding him. She was more than happy to stay home and care for Squish till we get back.”

She stares at me for a long time. Then she grabs my face in her hands and kisses me. She says, “Carter, there’s no one like you in this world, is there?”