Bared Souls

This romance unfolds through alternating voices, those of Alma Weber and Leo Harding. Leo has warned Alma that he will bring her to ruin, yet she chooses him anyway, convinced that what they share is worth the risk, even though she is not ready for the burden of his inner struggles.

Alma looks back on their relationship and admits that a love strong enough to wound you is also the kind you cannot easily walk away from. She would not undo any of it, though she has come to see lasting devotion as more of a hope than a certainty.

Leo tells his side. He believes he is unworthy of her and admits that he selfishly wants to keep her, the person who has changed him, and the future they could build together. Expecting his darkness to catch up with him, he still clings to the hope that he is wrong. He does not believe in fate, but she makes him want to.