Hope blazes inside him like wildfire, deep and unexpected and stronger than he's felt in longer than he can remember. He closes his eyes against it, trying to keep her from seeing it in his face. Hope's a lie. He won't lie to her.

She deserves the truth. All of it.

His next breath is ragged as he raises their joined hands between them. He keeps his eyes closed as he kisses the inside of her wrist, his lips warm against the delicate skin over her pulse and lingering for a moment before he lets go of her entirely and takes a small step back.

"I'm a broken man, Sharon." He opens his eyes again and looks back at her, hope smashed flat and buried like it was never there in the first place.

"I'm a worse bet now than I was that night in Leipzig. Before I tried to kill you."