Queen of Wild Cards novel Chapter 566

Seeing her in such pain didn't just break his heart—it physically ached.

"Okay, I won't be sad. But Julius, you have to promise to take care of yourself. We need to grow old together, okay?"

She desperately wanted their life to mirror the lyrics of *Growing Old With You*:

*The most romantic thing I can imagine,*

*Is growing old with you,*

*Collecting every laugh and memory along the way,*

*Until we're in our rocking chairs, reminiscing,*

*Until we're too old to go anywhere at all,*

*And you still hold me like I'm your most precious treasure.*

...

She wanted a lifetime with him, and nothing less.

Julius stopped pushing the chair, stepping around to crouch in front of her. He took her small hands in his. "I promise. I will take care of myself, and we will grow old together."

His chest swelled with a profound, overwhelming joy. Stella was openly declaring she wanted him for the rest of her life. She was terrified he would leave her the way her mother had.

He vowed right then and there to treat his body like a temple. He already worked out religiously and never missed an annual physical.

They were going to have beautiful children, and they would raise them together. No child of theirs would ever have to grow up lacking a father's protection or a mother's love.

Looking down at the man kneeling before her, Stella reached out and traced the sharp, masculine lines of his jaw.

It was this handsome face that had completely captivated her, drawing her hopelessly into his orbit before she even realized she was falling.

"Julius Blackwood, you are never allowed to betray me. No mistresses, no looking at other women. I'll get incredibly jealous."

He kissed her palm. "I swear it. I'll never have eyes for anyone but you."

She shifted from gently tracing his jaw to giving his cheek a light, possessive pinch. "And when we're old, you aren't allowed to die before me. I refuse to be abandoned again, and I refuse to be left alone."

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