Looking back, Crystal realized now that she had loved the idea of escaping her mother more than she’d actually loved Bill when she got married. For years, that had been enough for her. She’d been content to take the scraps of affection he’d tossed her way because it was preferable to being at home and constantly criticized by her mother. It had also been one of the first times in her life that her mother had seemed almost proud of her. Or at the very least, she hadn’t been as disappointed. But when Ella and Declan had shown her what true love actually looked like, that had been the end of that happy bubble. She’d wanted Bill to be more like Declan—which hadn’t worked at all. And in truth, it wasn’t really his place to change. He had stayed exactly the man she’d married. If anything, he had more right to argue that she wasn’t the woman he’d married.

Poor Bill. Even though she was a bit pissed that he’d run straight to her mother over her quitting the counseling sessions, she couldn’t really hate him for it. He’d been reeling since she’d asked for a divorce, and he had yet to recover. She didn’t think it was because he was heartbroken as much as he was struggling to adjust to the change in his life. He couldn’t fathom why she was suddenly not content to be his wife. She’d been truthful when she’d told him the day she left him that they both needed to be free to find what they were looking for. When he did finally move on, she sincerely hoped he would meet the one for him—because it wasn’t her. That had never been clearer to her than it was now. After being with Mark, she couldn’t go back to settling again for less than what she needed. She knew what true passion, desire, and—God help her—love felt like. It was a fire that consumed you. It took your very worst parts and made them into something new—better than you had ever been before. The fire burned so brightly, you wondered if you’d survive the flames. And rolled up within all of those exhilarating feelings was the counterbalance of peace. Just a feeling of knowing that you’d found the ultimate connection. The one that would spin you higher than you’d ever been before and then be waiting to catch you as you came down.

With these thoughts racing through her head, Crystal pushed the cover back and slid from Mark’s bed. Even at her worst moments, she’d never been the type to hide away from the world, and this wasn’t the time to start. She quickly splashed some water on her face in the bathroom before running a brush through her hair. Then she went in search of Mark.

She had almost given up and was going to get her phone to call him when she noticed someone sitting on the back deck facing the beach. She halted and turned that way, silently opening the door and walking barefoot across the warm wood to where he was seated. She ran a hand over his shoulder, letting him know she was there, before saying softly, “I was wondering where you were. I couldn’t find you.”

He reached back, capturing her fingers in his and pulling her around to sit on his lap. She cuddled closer to him, and for a while, they were content to watch the waves crash against the shore. In the distance, she could see people on the sand enjoying the warm day, but strangely enough, it still seemed as if they were in their own private world. “Feeling better, Angel?” he finally asked against her ear, causing her to shiver.

“Yeah, I’m good.” She smiled. “Nothing an hour in the DeStudo bed couldn’t take care of.”

He snorted, squeezing her lightly before relaxing his grip. Then he began speaking and by the end of what he had to say, she realized that she’d never really known what true fear was until that moment. “My parents weren’t that different from the ones that my friends had growing up. They weren’t like the ones on television shows, but they were all I knew, so I adjusted to their quirks pretty early on in life. Then I started spending a lot of time with Denny, and things were different at his house. He had a mother who did all of her own cooking and cleaning. Plus, she actually enjoyed having us around. His father was quiet and worked long hours at the auto shop he owned, but he was never too tired to toss around a baseball or spend time teasing us about some girl we liked. The funny thing, as we got older, I liked staying at Denny’s because his parents cared, even though it came with rules, and he liked staying at my house because mine didn’t give a damn where we went or how late we stayed out. I could have a party most anytime I wanted to because they either weren’t around or didn’t care if we used the pool house.”

“So each of you wanted what the other had?” Crystal asked when Mark paused to gather his thoughts.

“Yes, for a while, that was exactly it. Then, as my father started to drink more and more and the arguments between him and I ramped up, Denny gained a new appreciation for what he had at home. By the time we were eighteen, he avoided my house about as much as I did. That saying that you need to be a drunk to live with one is very true. Other than my mother, no one wanted to be around my dad when he was intoxicated. I’ve even blamed her through the years, thinking if she’d just get fed up enough to force him to get help, maybe he would change—or at least want to. But she’s always been right there, his enabler. I guess I should admire her unconditional love, but who is that helping? It’s certainly not good for him, and I can’t see how it can be for her either.”

“She seemed as if she wasn’t happy about it earlier,” Crystal pointed out. “She forced him to leave when he clearly wasn’t ready to.”

Mark nodded. “That was unusual. It did prove what I’ve long believed. She could so easily bend him to her will if only she would try. But I dare not hope that today was anything more than a momentary lapse in patience on her part. Celine has always been a permanent fixture in Team Marcus’s camp, and I don’t see that changing.”