Chapter Five: The Truth Between Them

Luca found her there an hour later.

Still sitting. Still crying. Still staring at nothing.

“Sarah?” His voice was sharp. Worried. “What happened? Are you hurt?”

“Olivia came to see me.”

He froze.

“She told me about the Russians. About the price on my head. About the deal you made. Right after you left me.”

Luca’s face went pale.

“I was going to tell you.”

“When? On our tenth anniversary? When I’m old and gray and too tired to be angry?”

“I don’t know.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I was trying to protect you.”

“By lying to me?”

“By keeping you alive.”

Sarah stood.

Her ribs screamed. She didn’t care.

“I spent five years thinking I wasn’t good enough,” she said. “Five years wondering what I did wrong, why you left, why I wasn’t worth staying for.”

“That’s not—”

“I know that now.” She stepped closer. “But knowing doesn’t undo the damage. Knowing doesn’t fix the nights I cried myself to sleep.”

Luca’s face crumpled.

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

“I would take it back if I could. Every moment. Every second of pain I caused you.”

“I know that too.”

She reached for his hand.

He flinched. Like he expected her to push him away.

Instead, she pulled him closer.

“I’m still angry,” she said. “I’m still hurt. I’m still not sure I can trust you.”

“I understand.”

“But I’m also still in love with you.”

Luca’s breath caught.

“I never stopped,” Sarah continued. “Even when I tried. Even when I dated other people and built a new life and told myself I was over you.”

“Sarah.”

“I was lying. To myself. To everyone.” She looked up at him. “I’ve been lying for five years.”

Luca pulled her into his arms.

Carefully. Gently. Like she was something precious.

“I love you,” he said against her hair. “I’ve always loved you. I’ll always love you.”

“Then don’t leave again.”

“Never.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise.”

Sarah buried her face in his chest.

His heart was racing. So was hers.

They stood like that as the sun set over the garden.

Two broken people.

Trying to heal together.

---

Six weeks later, Sarah went back to work.

Her ribs were healed. Her wrist was strong. The stitches had come out, leaving a thin scar above her eye.

She looked different in her scrubs.

Luca noticed.

“You’re beautiful,” he said from the doorway of her on-call room.

Sarah looked up from her charts.

“You can’t be here. This is a hospital.”

“I know.” He stepped inside anyway. Closed the door. “I needed to see you.”

“You saw me this morning.”

“That was six hours ago.”

She sighed. Set down her pen.

“Luca, I have surgeries scheduled. Patients who need me.”

“I know.” He crossed to her. “I just wanted to tell you something.”

“What?”

“Jake won’t be a problem anymore.”

Sarah’s heart stopped.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing you wouldn’t approve of.” He sat on the edge of her desk. “He’s been arrested. Multiple charges. Assault. Stalking. Breaking and entering.”

“The police actually arrested him?”

“They had help.” Luca’s smile was thin. “Anonymous tips. Evidence that appeared out of nowhere. Witnesses who suddenly remembered what they’d seen.”

“You did that.”

“I made some calls.”

Sarah should have been angry.

Instead, she felt relief.

Real, overwhelming relief.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Luca reached for her hand.

“You don’t have to thank me. You just have to be happy.”

“I’m working on it.”

“Good.”

He stood. Headed for the door.

“Luca?”

He turned.

“I meant what I said. In the garden.”

“I know.”

“I’m still scared.”

“So am I.”

She smiled. Small. Tentative. Real.

“Then I guess we’ll figure it out together.”

Luca crossed back to her.

Kissed her forehead.

“Together,” he agreed.

Then he left.

Sarah sat in the silence.

Her phone buzzed.

Dinner tonight? I’ll cook.

She typed back: You can’t cook.

Then I’ll order in.

Deal.

She smiled at her phone.

For the first time in five years, the future didn’t look empty.

It looked like possibility.

It looked like him.

👉 [Tap here for Next Part] 👈