Chapter 71

Lei tipped his head, studying my face with ardent, luminous eyes. “I had my earphones on. They’re new. They’re sound blocking.”

“And you walked around your apartment looking like that for how long?” I knew we were both raw and nervous, trying to find a way to bridge the gap we’d both created.

“Just a few hours.” Lei touched his face. “If you’d shown up ten minutes earlier, you’d have found me in a cape and mask.”

“Did it help?” I whispered, taking a shy step toward him. “To feel like him?”

“I already feel like him.”

“Lei…” I took another step.

“I saw your, uh, bag in the entrance,” he said, tensing. “Tell me what that means.”

“What do you think it means?” I carefully, gently, put my hand on his chest, over his beating heart.

“Tell me,” he breathed, taking my face in his hands. “Say it.”

I stared into his black eyes, those eyes which had haunted me during those lonely nights. “I want to come home, Wilhelm,” I said, leaning into him. “I’m sorry I ever left.”